Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here is one for ya all.

i need to know how to remove thick green algae in a pool before adding fish for AP.

Situation is this:

Pool has LOTS of algae
sun is now very bright during the day, feeding the algae problem.

high% shade cloth has been organised to combat algae re-growth.

From what i have read, pool owners usually super chlorinate to 30PPM chlorine which kills the algae and then they use a floc to help drop it out of suspension, vacuum the and filter the pool. then back wash the pump.

Question:

Should i super chlorinate the pool (this level should reduce down to "normal" within 48hrs of bright sunlight) then use thiosulphate to neutralise the remaining chlorine,

OR

attempt to cover the pool completely for 2 weeks with think black builders plastic?

Pros and cons i can see:

superchlor will kill EVERY THING including any bacs that are allready established in the pool

Plastic may not work

Thoughts and discussion welcome

I live in Florida and we see this problem all the time when pools are left unattended. I've cleaned up a lot of them. This is how I would clean a pool of 60,000 litres.

1. Brush the pool to loosen up all the algae from the sides. Make sure you have a pattern planned before you begin because you'll quickly be working in the dark.
2. Put in 10 litres of pure Chlorine. Turn on the pump and leave it running.
3. Day two, put in another 10 litres of Chlorine. By now you are cleaning the filter very often.. It really helps if you have a filter that you can backwash. If not, be prepared to clean often. Turn the pump off at night or the filter will completely clog.
4. Now it's just a matter of brushing and cleaning the filter. The pool should look blue again after about a week. It'll go through various colors before it gets there.

If you have a lot of sun, the chlorine will be gone in about 10-12 days. Of course you can neutralize if you're in a hurry.

Good luck!!

how quickly are you trying to get rid of the algae? Tomorrow or two weeks?

Thanx jazz.

Jaymie, everyting is set up, purchase of fish is dependant on removal of algae, its swinging PH as high as 8.9

So i guess two weeks is OK. I would really like to leave what life there is in there alive.......................

What about one of those big UV filters temporarily?

i got a 27 watter, don't know if it is big enough for a pool

shhhhhhhh

Or seeing as how you want a solution without compromising the good bacs... why not give the barley straw pallets a go..... don't know how quickly they'll work.... how big a tank?

This mob reckon a pack will treat 3000ltrs.... twin pack for under $10...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Barley-Straw-Alg ... dZViewItem

would need a 10 pack and i have heard its only good for prevention. Emirs ot a fan

PM'd you about a concentrate extract from the same mob... treats 20000ltr....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Barley-Straw-Ext ... dZViewItem

Don't know how effective... have heard of the use in aquaculture dams.

a UV will also not kill the alge in the pool only what passes through it and i doubt it would be big enough to do much untill you had it under controll

dont suppose you have an ozone generator ? that dissaptes much quicker than chlorine LOL

my 2c would be go with the chlorine then the shade

That might be a go-er in combination with the light exclusion (black plastic)

Thanx

Add tilapia.

That would be lovely, except for the 10k fine

gee Steve, you guys get off easy

BTW we dealt with two tilapia from the creek the other day.