Strange substance on pond

[paddy_36]

A really strange film has appeared on the surface of my garden pond. It's whitish in colour and oily-looking, but suspect it may be off all the birds that have been having a splash in there recently! Will it be harmful to the fish in the pond, and should I do anything to try and get rid of it?

[elled]

hi paddy i had something like that appear on my pond last year after putting in a pond plant someone had given me (my question on it is on the next page to this re fish pond) i dont know what it was but it killed my fish so perhaps try n transfer your fish to somewhere else if possable untill you can sort it out to be on the safe side

[Thunderbird+]

Its possible, the oily film could be a form of pollution due to the decomosition of a water lily and deep water aquatic foliage or the accumulation of dead leaves, this can seriously deplete the oxygen levels.

You could try pulling a sheet of newspaper over the surfice to remove the film, but if the problem is severe it could result in you loseing fish, which could decompose and make the problem worse as the bacteria will use up even more oxygen, in this case you may need to drain it, clean it out and re stock with new plants.other possible causes cuold be- over-stocked with fish or lack of oxygenating plants. Hope this is of some help.

[Thunderbird+]

One other thing that I just thought of is maybe its pollen thats responsible for the film (a lot of tree pollen about at this time) hopefully a good shower of rain may disapate it All the best.

[paddy_36]

Hi elled and Thunderbird, thanks for answers. Haven't added anything to the pond at all since moving in here over a year and a half ago, and this is the first time I've noticed this. It wasn't a gradual thing either, it appeared overnight. elled, saw your question but didn't notice that you'd said your pond also had a whitish film on it - hope you managed to get it fixed but was sorry to hear about your fish. Thunderbird, you might be on to something - will try to skim it off somehow. There were no floating fish earlier, but I'm scared to look now!