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Started By
Message
Sugar kettle water feature opinion
Posted on 3/3/24 at 10:15 am
Posted on 3/3/24 at 10:15 am
I have a large, iron, kettle I use as a water feature. Been having it for over 10 years. Water gets cloudy and algae builds up every so often and I have to drain and clean it.
Trying to extend the time between cleanings, I started to throw in a piece of pool chlorine tablet. Not thinking, this helped with the algae, but started to cause iron blistering on the side of the kettle. That caused rust colored water which is just unacceptable. I removed my fountain and removed the iron blisters. I plan to use rust convertor to try to stop the rust process, but unsure of what to do after that.
Do you think I should just paint the inside with black rustoleum paint or go with something like flexseal? Or other suggestion?
Obviously, I will not use chlorine anymore regardless of my remedy method.
Trying to extend the time between cleanings, I started to throw in a piece of pool chlorine tablet. Not thinking, this helped with the algae, but started to cause iron blistering on the side of the kettle. That caused rust colored water which is just unacceptable. I removed my fountain and removed the iron blisters. I plan to use rust convertor to try to stop the rust process, but unsure of what to do after that.
Do you think I should just paint the inside with black rustoleum paint or go with something like flexseal? Or other suggestion?
Obviously, I will not use chlorine anymore regardless of my remedy method.
5
Posted on 3/3/24 at 10:59 am to sosaysmorvant
Is selling it and swapping for a fiberglass one out of the question? I feel like people pay decent prices for used CI kettles. I have a fiberglass one with a fountain and it is zero maintenance other than throwing a chlorine tab in once every couple of months. I guess it doesn’t look as real as an iron one, but I doubt anybody ever looks that closely at it.
Posted on 3/3/24 at 11:17 am to bluemoons
Nah, it looks great and weighs a ton. Just trying to clear up my ugly water issue.
Posted on 3/3/24 at 12:45 pm to sosaysmorvant
Algae is going to be a problem. It is what it is. I don't have a fountain feature like that, but I have a few birdbaths. I'm not going to use chlorine tablets on those. About once a week after rinsing them out I add a few drops of dish detergent. It doesn't harm the birds and when the Starlings show up they get a bubble bath going which has seemed to help the algae growth. After a couple hours the water settles down and there are no suds. I used to use Dawn, now I use a natural soap that is "plat based".
Posted on 3/3/24 at 1:44 pm to sosaysmorvant
I've had a 4' iron kettle for 20 years with a DIY fountain. Ater the 1st 6 years it started to have rust blisters pretty bad. After thinking about possible fixes, I did the following. Drained, let dry, removed scale with twisted wire brush on angle grinder, treated remaining rust with phosphoric acid, soap & water wash, dry, primed with a gray auto primer, epoxy coated. It has looked great for 14 years.
Phosphoric acid for rust is sold under many brand names. Naval Jelly is one of the oldest. It converts rust to stable iron phosphate. I bought the pond epoxy from LINK /.
My original plan was to put a coat of black epoxy paint over the clean surface, but I ended up liking the gray interior.
It was labor intensive. Having aged 20 years, I wouldn't do it myself again.
I've seen a few fiberglass kettles that haven't been maintained and have been in full sun... unattractive like an abandoned boat.
Phosphoric acid for rust is sold under many brand names. Naval Jelly is one of the oldest. It converts rust to stable iron phosphate. I bought the pond epoxy from LINK /.
My original plan was to put a coat of black epoxy paint over the clean surface, but I ended up liking the gray interior.
It was labor intensive. Having aged 20 years, I wouldn't do it myself again.
I've seen a few fiberglass kettles that haven't been maintained and have been in full sun... unattractive like an abandoned boat.
Posted on 3/3/24 at 1:56 pm to Tree_Fall
quote:
I've had a 4' iron kettle for 20 years with a DIY fountain. Ater the 1st 6 years it started to have rust blisters pretty bad. After thinking about possible fixes, I did the following. Drained, let dry, removed scale with twisted wire brush on angle grinder, treated remaining rust with phosphoric acid, soap & water wash, dry, primed with a gray auto primer, epoxy coated. It has looked great for 14 years.
Phosphoric acid for rust is sold under many brand names. Naval Jelly is one of the oldest. It converts rust to stable iron phosphate. I bought the pond epoxy from LINK /.
My original plan was to put a coat of black epoxy paint over the clean surface, but I ended up liking the gray interior.
It was labor intensive. Having aged 20 years, I wouldn't do it myself again.
I've seen a few fiberglass kettles that haven't been maintained and have been in full sun... unattractive like an abandoned boat.
Thank you! This is the type advice I was looking for. Can you post a pic of your kettle? Wondering how the grey looks. Currently, I do not have fish. May put them one day.
Posted on 3/3/24 at 11:04 pm to sosaysmorvant
After you get it fixed you can by algae treatment solution from Home Depot that is safe for birdbaths.. hobby fish ponds….
It is just a spoonful every now and than.. amount based on water size..
It is just a spoonful every now and than.. amount based on water size..
Posted on 3/4/24 at 10:16 am to sosaysmorvant
Copper sulfate for algae.
Posted on 3/4/24 at 10:23 am to sosaysmorvant
quote:
Just trying to clear up my ugly water issue.
Get a pond algae cleaner from Amazon or a pets store if you want to use chemicals.
Barley is a non chemical alternative. Can also be bought on Amazon.
Posted on 3/4/24 at 11:07 am to White Bear
quote:
Copper sulfate for algae.
Also known as root killer. It inhibits algae and mold growth, especially in wood. I used to use natural gourds only for Purple Martins. The last ones I got ready for use I soaked in a copper sulfate solution before painting. I used to only get a couple years out of natural gourds, but the treated ones lasted basically five years with just one touch up paint job in the third year. This year all will be replaced with S&K plastic gourds that I've had really good luck with. Money wise, after finding the natural gourds and buying them, cleaning, prep, priming and painting, the plastic gourds are about the same price now. The Martins have taken well to them and you can add different things to these gourds, like tunnel entrances and owl guards.
Anyway, that's the end of my Martin gourd ramble that started with copper sulfate.
Posted on 3/4/24 at 11:15 am to LegendInMyMind
Copper is corrosive to cast iron. I’m not saying you can’t use it but I would do some research.
Posted on 3/4/24 at 12:14 pm to skidry
quote:
Copper is corrosive to cast iron. I’m not saying you can’t use it but I would do some research.
I've never had reason to use it on anything cast iron. It is a great wood treatment is all I have experience with. I've never even used it as a a root killer, which is what it is marketed as.
Posted on 3/5/24 at 6:14 pm to sosaysmorvant
My FIL puts some goldfish in his cow watering troughs...big, metal pipe conversions...the water is always crystal clear and he doesn't feed them and they reproduce.
I wonder if something like that would help.
I wonder if something like that would help.
Posted on 3/5/24 at 6:28 pm to DMAN1968
quote:
My FIL puts some goldfish in
That's what I do with mine and I;ve never had an algae problem.
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