A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 How to keep water clean in wine barrel fountain?

I have water plants, (water lettuce and hyacinth - something like that) and I have a few goldfish.

It is a 2-tier fountain with a pump.

Am I asking too much to have it crystal clear?

do you have a pump with a filter? we had put in a pond on june 1 of this year and by july 1 it was looking like pea soup. it was getting greener by the day. we have a pump that has a bio filter in the bottom. the filter came with the bio balls in the bottom and 2 layers of black mesh to filter with. we went to all the pet stores and made calls to companies and ended up spending lots of money on chemicals that did not work. finally i had some fiber fill batting that i use in pillows and quilts and i ask my husband to put some of it in the filter below the black mesh. you would not believe it but by morning the water was crystal clear as has been ever since. he changes the batting about 1-2 times a week. but it is worth it. our pond is beautiful now and i love seeing my fish again. my husband told them at the pet store about what he did and the lady said oh yes that works great but we are not aloud to tell people that it will work. yea i guess so since they would never make any sales on those expensive chemicals that don't work. and also don't buy your batting at the pet store it is way to expensive, go to walmart, in the fabric section and buy a bag for like $1.25. it will last a while. the batting traps all the really small particles. it is great!!! i will have photos on here soon of our beautiful pond . good luck. et me know if it works for you.

I have heard that the type of filter floss that is made just for aquaria is of a different type than that of the pillow stuffing type. The pillow stuffing type has finer strands and fibers and that it can be harmful to the gills of your fish. I dont know how much truth there is in this and was wondering if anyone has heard anything similar?

good morning.


That is the rumor we have heard here in Pa also.... We have had a pond for about ten years now....we use the aquarium filter floss as an added extra....we also have a biological filter with lava rocks incorporated into our 3 tier waterfall... this seems to help alot normally.

I will try and call a really good pet shop today and find out. This pet shop has such strict rules that they want to test your water before they will sell you any fish, and if you have too many fish they won't sell you any fish at all. I don't buy my fish there because I have too many babies born naturally in both the pond and the aquarium...lol....luckily for us
I will post again later today and let you know what I found out.....

Off to try and get hummingbird photos as I just figured we have 2 of them visiting us this morning....lol

feel free to check out my pond photos on photobucket....I also have alot of butterfly photos under critters.....

Kratz7