Pond algae control with UV or ultra violet light

The Blue Light Miracle Worker Your Pond Will Love. Pond algae control or removal of algae in fish ponds will allow crystal clear pond water to be guaranteed if a biofilter or pond filter is combined with ultra violet lights unit. Do this properly and you will NEVER have an ugly green pond ever again. Always be aware that high fish stocking density, warm water and lots of sunlight means a bigger ultra violet lights unit will be required.

There are many manufacturers of UV lights. This one was made in UK.

I live in South Africa where green algae and pea soup water can be a big problem. Here pond algae control is essential to remove algae in fish ponds. On this page and in view of the magic that an ultra violet lights can work in a pond I have reproduced an extract from my book on the subject of ultra violet lights or uv in a fish pond.

UVC or uv light are common alternative names which find widespread use in pond keeping circles. However an uv clarifier must NOT be confused with an uv steriliser as used in the food industry.

This is the short extract: 

South Africa is truly a land of sunshine. It is a country offering a wonderful climate to ourselves and our fish. However if we did not have ultra violet lights or uv on our side we would not see much of our fish.

You see: warmth and sunlight mixed with nutrients emanating from fish secretions and food excesses create perfect conditions for green algae to grow no matter what kind of biofilter we have and no matter how good it is.

These normally green plants replicating at the rate of 30 times per hour under ideal conditions can quickly give a fish pond a pea-soup appearance. This pea-soup needs to be seriously avoided if we want clean and clear water.

Persistently green water can easily lead to fish deaths from oxygen starvation and ammonia poisoning as you will have understood from other chapters in this book.

What is ultra violet lights or uv for short?

Technically it is a source of light enjoying a particular wavelength and it appears to be blue. What is important to us is not what it looks like so much as what it can do for us. Equally important is what it wont do.

A word of caution NEVER look directly at ultra violet lights lamp it can damage your eyes badly.

Here's the summary: 

Ultra violet light clarifiers will ...

Ensure pond algae control by killing any algae in fish ponds exposed directly to the uv rays ie those pond algae circulating in the pond water

Do the best job of clearing algae in fish ponds when designed to cope with the system installed for pond algae control

Provide clear water when designed and installed correctly without any doubt so long as murkiness is due to presence of algae in fish ponds.

Ultra violet light clarifiers will NOT ...

Kill any pond algae in fish ponds not exposed directly to the uv rays eg blanketweed, or pond algae in fish ponds attached to pond surfaces

Kill bacteria or viruses only fish pond algae. The design is such that pond units cannot reach sufficiently high radiation levels.

Normally effect medication so does not have to be switched off during treatment ... but always read instructions on medicine to make sure.

Do any harm to plants, fish or filter bacteria needed for efficient nitrogen cycle functioning. Only fish pond algae is affected.

Choose the correct wattage. The unit must be correctly sized to take into consideration stocking density, sunlight exposure and water volume. My book contains a very good table illustrating how ultra violet light lights wattage requirements change with variations in these parameters.