Tea-colored water is something that happens to most Oklahoma outdoor koi ponds, and for those encountering it for the first time, it can be quite distressing. This is when your Oklahoma pond is clear, but the water has a distinct brown or orange color to it. Like many other Oklahoma pond problems, you have to understand and address the root of the problem to get to the solution.

What Causes Tea Colored Water
Tea colored water is caused by the buildup of tannins in the water. Tannins come from plants, usually plants breaking down in some way. Various species of plants create tannin, which is the ingredient that gives Western tea its brown color. Tannin plays an important role in protecting plants from predators, and is also responsible for the management of plant growth. They provide color as well as astringency to certain brands of wine and even coffee. But while brown is a delightful color to have in these beverages, it is the last color most pond owners want in their water. 

The Cure for Tea Colored Water
Fixing the tea coloration in your Oklahoma pond water requires two basic steps: get rid of the source that’s putting it in the water, and taking it out of the water itself.

The first step is generally pretty straightforward, if not always easy. You need to get excess plant material out of the water. Leaves and sticks on the surface or around the edges of the water are part of this, so skim away. If you have enough tannin-producing debris in your pond to be causing real problems, though, than your source is probably on the bottom of your pond. You need to manually remove vegetation debris (leaves, sticks, and especially acorns) from the bottom of your pond. You’ll probably want to deal with your sludge layer as best you can, as this is where most of that debris will eventually end up, and it’s a major source of tannins. As long as the source is in there, your water will keep coming up orange, no matter how you treat the water.

Once you’ve got the source of the tannins dealt with, getting rid of the tannins that are in your water is much easier. A partial water change will help, and bacteria and algae in your pond will break down the tannins over time, but the quickest and easiest way to get rid of the tannins is to add activated carbon to your pond. This will bind with the tannins (and a lot of other unwanted vegetable by-products) and take them right out of the water.

​For daily pond tips Monday thru Friday like and share our facebook page. To receive our monthly newsletter click here. Remember we are always just a click away from solving your pond problems!

Our outdoor design center is located at 9105 NW Expressway, Yukon, OK  73099. Please feel free to stop by for more water feature inspiration.
 
Continental Ponds is offering this pond information as a personal information source to our website visitors. Pond services are performed in Oklahoma City, Norman, Moore, Nichols Hills, Edmond, Yukon, Shawnee, Newcastle, Mustang, Bethany, Piedmont, Guthrie, Jones, Chandler, Midwest City, Del City, Shawnee, Tuttle, Blanchard, Bridge Creek , Warr Acres, Woodlawn Park, Lawton. Fish and Koi Pond Maintenance and Construction, Streams and Waterfalls, and Fountains are all in our wheelhouse of talent. Explore our website for more ideas. Like our Facebook page for daily tips and inspiration.

​As we approach the drooling dog days of Oklahoma summer, there are five things that you need to remember about Oklahoma Pond Maintenance to  keep a balanced ecosystem pond along with happy fish! Take a moment to refresh your memory with these important mid-summer Oklahoma pond tips:

Oklahoma Pond Maintenance: Aquatic plants
Aquatic plants such as waterlilies help provide fish with shade from the heat of summer sun, cooling the water and making algae control easier. Add floating plants and remember to fertilize all plants during the heat of the summer.

Oklahoma Pond Maintenance: Add oxygen to your pond
Place an aerator in your pond, or you can also install a fountain with a pump if your pond doesn’t have a waterfall or stream built in. The more water is moving around, the less algae will occur.  Oxygen is very important in the summer months. Add an aerator before the dog days of summer. 

Oklahoma Pond Maintenance: Fish feeding
If you feed your fish, feed them in the morning and be careful not to overfeed. Uneaten food decays faster in warmer water and can pollute the pond. Also, feed your fish only as much as they eat in three minutes. That’s as much as they need. Stop feeding if water starts to become cloudy.

Oklahoma Pond Maintenance: Decaying leaves
Be sure to remove dying leaves and flowers before they have a chance to decay in the warmer water. This will help prevent pump clogging and additional algae growth.

Oklahoma Pond Maintenance: Is there really a leak?
Often, people do not realize how much water can evaporate from a pond during the dog days of summer. In Oklahoma we typically lose 1 to 2" of water a week.

Remember these are averages, some Oklahoma ponds may not experience evaporation levels this high. Other ponds with large pumps pushing high volumes of water, or ponds designed with multiple waterfalls and a lot of cascades and splashing may have evaporation rates much greater than these. And let's not forget that Oklahoma wind.

Continental Ponds offers Mid-Summer Checkups and Services.  Contact us for more information about how we can help you with your summer pond maintenance.

For daily pond tips Monday thru Friday like and share our facebook page. To receive our monthly newsletter click here. Remember we are always just a click away from solving your pond problems!

Our outdoor design center is located at 9105 NW Expressway, Yukon, OK  73099. Please feel free to stop by for more water feature inspiration.
 
Continental Ponds is offering this pond information as a personal information source to our website visitors. Pond services are performed in Oklahoma City, Norman, Moore, Nichols Hills, Edmond, Yukon, Shawnee, Newcastle, Mustang, Bethany, Piedmont, Guthrie, Jones, Chandler, Midwest City, Del City, Shawnee, Tuttle, Blanchard, Bridge Creek , Warr Acres, Woodlawn Park, Lawton. Fish and Koi Pond Maintenance and Construction, Streams and Waterfalls, and Fountains are all in our wheelhouse of talent. Explore our website for more ideas. Like our Facebook page for daily tips and inspiration.

Continental Ponds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OK) is branching out into the social media world. In an effort to try and get our message out to the masses, we have followed the lead of many industry professionals, in utilizing social media as a marketing tool!  As we all know, the internet has an answer for anything you want to know and that’s not going to change. The Oklahoma pond industry is no different, every so called "expert" has an opinion on how things should be done.
As the leader and innovator in the Oklahoma pond industry using state of the art Aquascape components and methodologies in pond and water feature design, construction and repair. From cascading waterfalls to koi fish and lily filled ponds, to fountains and streams surrounded by aquatic plants, bogs and wetlands, to rainwater harvesting system. We feel it's our job to provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision on all your Oklahoma water feature needs, thanks to the web and social media!

How to clean your Oklahoma Pond.
 
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All about the Aquascape BioFalls. What is a BioFalls and how does it work?
 
String Algae control in the Oklahoma Water Garden
 
What is a wetland filter?
 
All about the Aquascape Skimmer. What is a Skimmer and how does it work?
 
Learn more about LED Pond & Landscape Lighting for your Oklahoma Landscape
 
Should I repair or Renovate my Oklahoma Pond?
 
What is evaporation?
 
Oklahoma Pond & Waterfall leak detection and repair.
 
Links to various repairs and what you need to fix them.                   
1.  Biofalls screw replacement.
2.  Skimmer screw replacement.
3.  Seaming liner. 
4.  Pipe repair
5.  Pump Problems
6.  Bubbling liner
7.  Bubbling liner repair
 
Project Showcase: Take a look at the transformation of this pond to pondless conversion.