amber pond water

by Shawn
(Hamilton, Ontario)

Our pond has been open for a couple of weeks now. Fish and plants survived the winter. Added barley pellets two days ago and now althought still clear, the water has taken on an amber colour. We live in Ontario and the pond is in full sun. Anyone know the reason for this and should I be concerned?

Doug says that brown water is usually an organic matter issue of some kind. Barley pellets aren't "supposed" to do this but.... :-)

It wouldn't surprise me that they're doing this because water temperatures are usually the key issue in whether this kind of product works. See the article here on water temperatures and using barley straw.

The good news is that this will all work out once the water temperatures move upwards.