How Do I Keep The Water In My Indoor Fountain From Getting Slimey?

Finally set up the fountain in the Mauna Kai Lounge & I was wondering what to put in the water to prevent sliminess?

chlorine or bleach may do it
just a lil bit....
that slimy stuff is probably algae...

...or a straw.

You use an algicide, you can find it at Home Depot or where ever they sell fountains.
a few drops a week in the water should do the job.

chlorine or bleach could damage plastic tubes or the pump, so you have to be carefull about caustic chemicals.

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2010-04-13 17:34 ]

Any pictures?

Thanks for your help, guys. LOL, you're a jewel! :lol: Trav, I've asked Hanford to move my thread from Other Crafts to Home Tiki bars. When he does, I'll post some new pics, but he's a busy human & I have to be patient. Keep an eye out, though, for Mr. Tiki's escapades in Boston.

Hey Big Kahuna,
Not sure if you plan on keeping fish in there, but if you are i'd avoid using bleach or chlorine as it will kill them.

As for the slime, it is most likely some sort of algae. Algae is hard to completely eliminate and is also completely harmless, it just looks unsightly. Like any plant it needs food and light to grow. When it starts getting out of control you need to look at what is causing that and that is going to be, excess light and/or excess nutrients (i.e. food-rotting plant material,fish waste,dead fish?,overfeeding).

As soon as it has one it will proliferate, give it both and it gets out of control.
What you need to do is increase the water changes. Small amounts more often are better than large amounts now and then. Then work out the source, be it too much light or too much food, or a combination of both and work out how to cut down the culprit/s.

Just remember "The solution to pollution is dilution".

Hope that helps.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2010-04-13 21:05 ]

If you leave the pump on 24/7 it will stay clean. Its the stagnation that makes it icky. Leaving the pump on will require you to add water more often unless you have a toilet bowl float thing.

I have a fountain inthe backyard with a float filler. The filler is in a large white plastic paint bucket and piped over to the fountain. I have the bucket hiding behind a bush about 20 feet away from the fountain. The water level in the bucket is the same level as the fountain.

Without the auto filler it was running dry in 3 days.

BTW the pump will probably last longer if you leave it running. Ive had the pump running for 4 years solid now and still going strong/

hope this helps

Big Kahuna & Gonzo, we need a pictures of your fountains in the Ponds thread.

I put a filler valve in mine too but I wasn't so discreet. This is from a swamp/evaporative cooler, you can see the green float just about dead center in the pic, it kinda blends in with the lily pads

Outdoor ponds get algae too but my big problem is long stringy moss. Swizzle is right, if you control the light you can control the moss. The lily pads cover most of the surface of the water in the summer and the moss dies out (mostly)

PS - Kahuna, waiting to see Mr Tiki's next adventure :)

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-04-14 11:45 ]