Wall Water Features

I've bought a waterfall kit from Home Depot and I'm wondering if I need anything else to keep the water clear?

This what the product says online.---------This kit is an innovative addition to the water feature market. Kit can be used to create a waterfall on an existing or new pond. Kit comes complete with a 16 In. waterfall weir, an 1150 gph waterfall pump, 20 Ft. of 1 In. corrugated tubing, a 6 Ft. by 5 Ft. peice of PVC, liner and filter media. Waterfall weir creates a 16 In. wide wall of water. It is simple to install and creates a beautiful waterfall and sound of flowing water in your pond. Features a 2 year warranty on the pump

Public Comments

1. Depends on if you plan on putting plants or fish in it - if so, you'll need a biological filter set up. If not, then they make chemicals you can add to the water to keep it clear, but i wouldn't recommend that - wildlife LOVE ponds and you don't want to make them sick. The more plants you have the less algae you have, and the algae that grows along the side of the pond is GOOD to have - that keeps your water balanced. The kind of algae you don't want is that nasty floating algae that turns your water a pea-soup green. Plants in the pond steal the nutrients the algae needs to grow, so the more the better. Also the more sun your pond gets, the more algae you get so place it accordingly. Hope that helps.
2. you need to have 60 % of the water surface covered with plants to keep the algae from taking over your pond. In the spring the water will turn green as it warms up, this is normal and will last about 6 weeks . do not keep cleaning the pond, and adding fresh water as you will only make the process start over and prolong it. The first plant you need to put in your pond is a floating underwater plant called oxygenating grass. There are several varieties of it. You can add a water lily, and perhaps some water lettuce and water hyacinth if you are in a state where it is legal. It is usually not in southern states. There are a lot of marginal plants also but most do not do much for covering the water surface. The oxygenating grass helps add oxygen to the water and also shades the surface to help prevent algae from growing. Another good algae fighter is a bundle of barley, I am not sure why this works, but it does. It helps control both floating and finamentous algae. You buy it at a garden center that carries water garden products, and throw it in your pond. It will float for a few days and then sink out of sight. It is not a good idea to add chemicals to your water to keep the algae down, sometimes they make it worse in the long run instead of better. that is a good waterfall kit, I have seen it. It should suit all your needs and be a beautiful addition to your pond.
3. you probably cant keep the water clear unless you pput chlorine in it. if you do put the chlorine in it you can put any plants in the pond or they will die. the pump should help the water from being too dirty, but algae is common, but with some water lilyies or cannas ther will be covered up
4. I mostly agree with Isadora - but have never had particularly good results with barley hay, barley straw, barley straw extract, or barley balls. It just decomposes and adds to the ammonia/bio-load. If you don't know what "bio-load" is, I would urge you to understand the concept of "cycling," too. Basically, you are trying to create a miniature, artificial ecosystem and to do that, you need water (obviously), fish, and plants. Fish waste, dead vegetation and bugs, etc., combine and break down to produce ammonia. Ammonia is lethal to fish, but there is a natural bacteria that "eats" ammonia and converts it to niTRITES. Nitrites are also lethal to fish, but there is another type of naturally occurring bacteria that consumes the nitrites and turns them into niTRATES. Fish can tolerate nitrates in levels under 20-30 parts per million, and plants LOVE nitrates - they are basically fertilizer to plant life. You will have ammonia and nitrites occurring in your pond whether you add fish or not - just not as quickly. If you have have ammonia, you will eventually have nitrites, and if you have nitrites, you will eventually have nitrates. That's just how a pond works. However, because water with nitrates in it is considered "nutrient-rich," you will grow plants in it no matter what! Mother Nature will supply her own, in the form of algae, or you can supply more desireable plants that will consume the nitrates, thereby making it unavailable to the algae and inhospitable to support algae growth. Heavy feeding water plants like water lillies, canna lillies, water lettuce, water hyacinth (if it's legal in your area), and my personal favorite, water iris, basically "scrub" the water by taking up all the nitrates in their roots. This leaves your water clean and clear and hospitable to fish and other aquatic wildlife. So the natural key to a good, clean, healthy pond with clear water is having plenty of plants, and in the right mixture. Oxygenating plants like anacharis are good, but be aware that many fish will eat them. Fairy fern (azolla) is a good floating plant that will provide cover and shade (also reducing your algae's ability to reproduce), too. The 60% is a pretty good rule of thumb - look into veggie filters (just Google it) if you don't want to take up that much area of your "main" pond with plants. Ultimately, you will be much happier with a naturally balanced pond than you will with one that you have to constantly rush out and buy chemicals to treat it with to maintain. Hope this helps.