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My husband & I moved into a house in the Albq. NM area last fall. We found a pond in the backyard, decided to clean it up & enjoy the water feature. Only to find a turtle (RES) living in it. The house had not been lived in for some time, & we discovered the turtle had lived on birds & bugs. I will try to attach a pic of original pond. After cleaning, & re-introducing turtle (Lucky), lucky we found him, back into the pond. NM went into the coldest winter in 90 yrs. (see pic) temps went down to -9 degrees. Lucky lived through winter & We committed to keep him going, healthy & happy. We have put in a new larger pre-formed pond liner, 135 gal, new pump & filter, air bubble stones (2-5" flat airstones) live underwater plants, & umbrellas to block direct sunlight. We are in the process of creating a "play yard" basking area that is fenced in with large basking stone, sand area, & a small feeding pond that can be easily cleaned. Just recently, learned of this website, & believe Lucky is not a he, he is a she.
Now here is my big question...How do we keep the algae from growing in the pond!? I have purchased sucker fish, (which Lucky eats), moss balls (atleast 6), umbrellas, air stones, cleaning, feeding outside the pond (in an aquarium), plants, Oh PS there are some feeder fish that have survived "Lucky" & live in the pond too. I have considered the pet store algae eliminators, but don't want to use due to the chemicals, & I'm pretty sure it wouldnt be good for fish & turtles (even though it says its OK) PLEASE HELP...
? dont know how to attach the photos.

If you're doing all of the above and algae is still a problem then you should try a UV sterilizer. This is the primary topic regarding algae issues: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=28813

For photos, you can upload through the Full Editor or Post Reply buttons. If not, you can link it from a 3rd party site (tinypic.com, imgur.com, photobucket.com. etc). Feel free to email me those pics too.

Thanks Steve for the link & info. If what I have in place now dosn't work I will try the UV sterilizer. This is certainly a work in progress.

more pics of the work in progress

You'll need to have something to prevent escape and protect from predators. You 'll probably want to consider temporary indoor accommodations for when the temperature drops.

Wow how did lucky survive that? o_O

I know, we were sooo surprised & happy. I kept the fountain/waterfall running all winter so the water wouldnt freeze all the way. This year/winter lucky "Lucky" will be coming inside & stay in a 55 gal tank.