String Algae

[shad3rd]

I have a small problem with String Algae. Water is crystal clear. Plants are looking good. Fish seem very happy (they even had babies which will eventually become another issue..too many fish). However I have developed some string algae. I have the toilet bowl brush and remove some everyday. Should I worry about trying to get it all (which I think is impossible.) I believe that SA is a plant of sorts so I was wondering if my pond plants are fighting with the algae for nutrients. Any suggestions? This is a SMALL pond 250 gallons. 7 gold fish and 3 babies. There are a LOT more floating plants than the picture suggests.

 

[Tula]

I don't worry too much about string algae, removing most of it, but leaving some for water quality and the fish to munch on. If you pond is completely covered with floating plants, you might consider thinning them a bit.

 

[JohnHuff]

Just keep removing the SA like you're doing. SA removes nutrients in the water, think of it as nature's detoxifier. They're not toxic to the fish.

 

[dieselplower]

I would test for ammonia, nitrate, and phosphorus and see what you have in there for the algae to eat.

 

[CometKeith]

First off very pretty pond. I like the way it looks so natural. Next, I agree with diesel and the comments above him. A little string algae is not a big deal but usually the beneficial bacteria will starve string algae of nutrients. So why is it growing so much in the middle of the summer? I have a few questions.... Do you have a biological filter? or.... maybe you are overfeeding?

 

[JohnHuff]

I would test for ammonia, nitrate, and phosphorus and see what you have in there for the algae to eat.

When the algae is there, the readings should be pretty benign. It's when you kill the algae that you see spikes. That's one thing WB used to repeat.

 

[dieselplower]

I don't care what waterbug says. Right now hes over on some other pond site bashing this one. I'd be more interested to see numbers, especially phosphorus.