Ultra violet light maintenance simple but necessary
Clear water as distinct from clean or purified water is obtained by using an Ultra Violet Clarifier (UV for short). These pond products have been one of the best inventions ever for the pond keeper but surprisingly only a very small percentage of pond keepers around the world know of their existence.
One important maintenance point has to be made.The UV lamp inside the UV unit has to be replaced after about 8,000 hours use. This is every year at least in practice. This is a must because the lamp has exhausted its radiation capacity after this period.
The best time to install a new lamp is early spring. If your pond starts to go green even if the 1-year is not up it is probably time to replace the lamp in your UV unit. If your pond remains green after installing a new lamp then remove the quartz tube and clean it to allow maximum UV intensity through the quartz tube. It may be a good idea to clean the tube when you replace the lamp anyway almost certainly it is covered in dead algae, calcium salts and so forth.
You clean the quartz tube by immersing it in dilute acid even vinegar will do for some time before wiping the surfaces clean.
Most people in our country try to control algae by adding chemicals to the pond. This can create more problems than it resolves and is also a very expensive way of trying to control green water since chemicals have to be put into the pond every week. Some of these chemicals are also poisonous in overdose situations and the fish get killed and also the plants die.
An UV can only kill algae that are exposed to its rays. Filamentous algae you see on the sides of the pond will not be affected. Similarly blanket weed cannot be controlled using an UV unit.
It does only one thing: IT KILLS SUSPENDED ALGAE and therefore prevents water from going green. In killing the algae it also results in the algae clumping together so that these dead algae can be mechanically filtered out of the water.
This is what happens:
Water is pumped from the pond through the UV unit and normally before the water reaches the biofilter. As the water passes through the quartz tube inside the UV unit the ultra violet radiation from the lamp (acting like very powerful sunlight) bombards the algae cells, which are suspended in the water flow. These algae cells, and only those that are suspended in the water then clump together.
The action of the UV light is to destroy the cell walls of the algae and this allows the small particles to stick together. If the intensity of the UV is sufficient to destroy the algae cells more quickly than the rate at which they are reproducing then the water will not go green. It is as simple as that. This is why the power (watts) of the unit chosen must be matched to your pond size.
The golden rule of pond keeping also applies here. If you are not sure go one size bigger.
So efficient is the combination of a good biofilter and an UV that most suppliers will guarantee crystal clear water when its correctly specified products are used.
If you have never used an UV you will be amazed at the difference it makes to your water.
Buy the low cost combo pond filter and UV containing Alfagrog or Supra as it's called in USA
"The Complete Pond Solver" by Tony Roocroft
Pond and pump troubleshooting guide
2005 Edition. Essential reading for anybody who wants or has a garden pond. Get 12 Excel pond calculators free as well as "Water Lilies and Pond Aquatics" ebook also free
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Important Fish Pond & Water Garden Articles to View... - Learn how to choose a fish pond pump ... pond pumps circulate oxygen enriched water to keep fish and pond filter bacteria alive. Fish pond filters make sure water gardens remain clean and healthy for you and the pond fish. Learn how to choose a UV light for your fish pond... UV sterilizers make sure backyard ponds remain crystal clear and green algae free. Water garden plants help to keep garden ponds in balance by removing nutrients on which pond algae feed. Most fish ponds and water gardens are built from flexible pond liner. If your fish pond ever suffers from blanketweed this is the page to view.
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