Green Trough Water?

Question

My horses trough water is green after only a few weeks. Is there any way that I can clean it without having to drain the whole thing? She drinks a lot so should I let her drink it down a lot then drain and clean it? Thanks in advance for your answers.

Answer 1

its algae.

theres no safe horse way to get rid of it that i know of. But pressure washers seem to be the fastest easiest way to get rid of it.

Answer 2

let the horse drink it down and then dump the trough over,buy yourself a long handled tire brush and a small tub(so the horse has water to drink out of while the big trough dries out) and a sprayer nozzle.let the trough dry out for a day then lay it on its side and spray it with the nozzle and scrub out the trough with the brush,it doesnt have to be spotless just to get the larger alge out then fill it and let your horse drink it down,do this every time and your trough will be cleaner longer everytime.i have a 350 gallon tank for my livestock and i scrub it out weekly.

Answer 3

I have the same problem with my water trough. It doesnt hurt the horses at all, very natural, but it does look gross to the eye. Anyways maybe get a scrubber and scrub the edges, and get one of those pool tools, the ones with the screen on them. Then wave it through the water and it will sift out the pieces of algae. This should work

Answer 4

haha a few weeks? you have it easy. the algea grows in our troughs after a few days

its becuase of the sun. the only snitary way to take care of t s to drain it. scrub it with diluted bleach and rinse rinse rinse.

Answer 5

Best advice I can give is to keep the trough in the shade and keep it as clean throughout the day as possible with a strainer or something similar to that.

I have a friend who bought a couple gold fish to throw in the trough which apparently eat up the algae? I asked her why gold fish instead of those algae eater/sucker fish thingys... *I know don't you love my scientific names for things? I sound so smart.. pshh... LOL* ....Well anyway back on subject. I can't vouch for that but for her it works.

Your horses trough should be kept clean, drained and scrubbed about every one or two weeks anyway.. so you're kinda stuck there.

Answer 6

Most likely your horse isn't going to drink this water if it's as bad as you say. If you only have one horse drinking out of a LARGE water tub, then I'd size down. Your horse is going to be healthier if she is given fresh water daily as she will drink more nice clean water than smuggy green water.

WalMart has some round tubs in the container section that only run around $6. They are great for horses but will need to be filled daily.

IF you prefer the bigger tub, a small amount of chlorine will do the trick and be safe for your horse to drink from.

Answer 7

Yes, the green is algae, but you have to clean it more often than that anyway!  Every time the horse puts his nose in the water to drink, he's transferring all kinds of bacteria - including fecal bacteria - to the trough.  It's breeding in there, along with the algae.  It's a nasty soup.  If the algae's only on the trough it's not as bad, but if the water itself is actually green it's definitely time to change it.

Drain it, and scrub it out with fresh water.  I use a brand spanking new toilet brush for this - good size and shape, and made for scrubbing.  Bleach and soap can contaminate the ground around the trough.

I usually let my horses drink it down before I drain it, but this one sounds too far gone to me.

Answer 8

The green is algae, the algae will not hurt the horse, cleaning it with something like bleach will get rid of the green algae but will hurt your horse, so best to leave it alone. If you want, you can stop using the trough and use an alternative source for a while and let the trough sit (empty). The sun will clean it, but, as it does no harm, don't worry about it.

Answer 9

1. keep out of the sun, and remove leaves/debris daily.

2. scrub it out and drain it at lease 1ce every 2 weeks

Good luck. My old farm used feader goldfish. they eat the muck out and the horses dont mind and if they get them its just protein. but with the fish you cant clean out the troughs

Answer 10

The green is caused by algae and bacteria in the stagnant water. It is not fit to drink. Drain the trough and scrub it with soapy water and rinse it well before refilling.

*Edit Note: There is really no safe substitute for cleaning the trough but there are products which help to conserve water by making emptying the trough for cleaning a less frequent task. One of those products is the Bioverse Stock Tank Cleaner. The submersible dispenser kit and refills can be purchased at most feed stores but here is the Bioverse link if you want to look it over. See "Stock Tank Submersible Dispenser" for the kit and "Stock Tank PRO Refills" for dispenser refills:

http://www.bioverse.com/category.php?iCA...