Foam

[goldie]

Does anyone know what causes foam on the surface of a pond?? We have had the pond for several years, and didn't have a problem until last year. The pond isn't over stocked ( goldfish and 3 orf) frogs and plenty of plants including Lily's.....The fish are fit and well.....and NOT over fed....... We have treated the pond twice this year with a product ( sorry I can't remember its name) and the foam dissapears......but as soon as we have heavy rain, or we have to top the pond up with water, back comes the foam.....When we turn the pump off the foam dissapears.....
So the fish are well and not overfed, but the pond looks awful.....help!!!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Foam often indicates too much protein or rotting solids in the water, does the pond have much silt/mud at the bottom? If the pond is near a lawn, lawn clippings that get blown into the pond can also contibute to this, is the pond filtered at all? Was the product you treated the pond with for the foam or something else?
I would buy a water quality test kit (the test tube ones are much more accurate than the strip test ones) for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and post the stats here as this will give us a very helpful insight into whats going on with your water quality .

 

[black angel]

Fish sex causes foam too. After the cool rain or topping off with cool water might cause the males to get excited. Can you get a pic?

 

[The-Wolf]

another thing that can cause a foam on a pond is a kH below 3;
check your kH as this buffers the pH and a low one can lead to a
pH swing, which is not good for the fish.

 

[tjp]

hello ann

ours does that .. when we top the pond upbut not rain .. i dont know what it could be