It's Not That Easy Being Green

The green water continues, but my buddy in the PondersBible group says to just be patient...be patient...be patient. He says cleaning the filter would be taking a step backward in the process, as we want the good bacteria to build up in the tub. Steve wants to clean off the pads. Our buddy says it won't hurt but it'll just be wasted energy. He says the pond will cycle clear to green to clear go green to clear, etc., each cycle taking a couple weeks or so, until it settles down and just stays clear to infinity and beyond. It's driving Steve nutz to see the muck in the filter. I can't blame him - the concept is a hard one to get used to: leave it dirty and it'll be clean. But everything I've read on it says you must just be patient...