I have some algae on the sides of my pond and on the bottom, all less than an inch long. I understand from different post here this is normal and acceptable considering I'm in full sun for a good part of the day. The fish don't seem to eat it, the baby fish use it to hide. Looks fine to me and quite natural.
My friend that also has a pond here has ZERO algae on her pond walls and bottom. Its all clean as whistle. Like she just dropped the pond liner in last week (its several years old). I don't think she gets as much sun as me. But still I would expect some algae. She says her UV light stops it - but as I understand UV light (and it could be wrong) they stop the floating green water type algae, but not the kind that attaches to the walls. She does have algae in her water bucket.
Could it be hers is more shaded then mine? Her water has less nutrients in it?
Which brings me to my second question. My water is off the charts hardy (I think its like 900 ppm). I had to use 38 drops for the GH testing.
So it seems I have ALOT of minerals and whatever in my well water. Its seems to be fine for the fish but the plants don't seem to love it. Would I benefit from using some RO water (filtered down to 9ppm, so very pure water)? Since we have gotten quite a bit of rain I have noticed the string algae has reduced in the pond.
I know the PH is related to the GH and KH, so I don't want really pure (is that right word) water in there? I know hardy water holds its PH steady, but I was thinking of doing a big water change 40% to 50% with the RO water.
My friend that also has a pond here has ZERO algae on her pond walls and bottom. Its all clean as whistle. Like she just dropped the pond liner in last week (its several years old). I don't think she gets as much sun as me. But still I would expect some algae. She says her UV light stops it - but as I understand UV light (and it could be wrong) they stop the floating green water type algae, but not the kind that attaches to the walls. She does have algae in her water bucket.
Could it be hers is more shaded then mine? Her water has less nutrients in it?
Which brings me to my second question. My water is off the charts hardy (I think its like 900 ppm). I had to use 38 drops for the GH testing.
So it seems I have ALOT of minerals and whatever in my well water. Its seems to be fine for the fish but the plants don't seem to love it. Would I benefit from using some RO water (filtered down to 9ppm, so very pure water)? Since we have gotten quite a bit of rain I have noticed the string algae has reduced in the pond.
I know the PH is related to the GH and KH, so I don't want really pure (is that right word) water in there? I know hardy water holds its PH steady, but I was thinking of doing a big water change 40% to 50% with the RO water.