alge overload

[mr.spooky]

so,, for the past few weeks, weve noticed that around 12 noon, there was alge that would "float" to the top. this wouldent hapen in the morning, or the evenings.. in the mornings, the water would be as clear and clean as botled water,, but as the sun started getting up, so would the alge.. any way,,,, we live in southern Ga, and id say that the temp is reaching up into the high 80f by now. our pond has minimual shade:yikesu:,, but thats what we have. weve been adding microbe lift as per directions for the last 2 weeks now but just today it has gotten worse than ever. there sems to be some "string" alge building up as well.....
being new to the pond life,,, id like some more experienced people to point me in the right direction for a plan of attack!!!!!! iv atached a pic.

thanks
jason

 

[addy1]

Plants would help, they compete for the nutrients that algae likes. Also lily pads, water lettuce any thing that covers some of the surface to cut down the sunlight.

jw has put a net bag of cat litter where the water flows through it like your water fall, she says it really helps with the algae.

Peroxide granules, hydrogen peroxide works..........i have heard that it makes the koi gills red.

 

[mr.spooky]

thanks for the reply.
there is a few floating plants that are starting to double and triple,,, but as you can see,,, not many, yet.
it seems like i scamed over the catlitter thing,, i need to go back and reread it.
that stuff was amaising. its like it took over in 12 hours!!!!
jason

 

[addy1]

Yep that is the way algae is, not there and then attack! lol
Just put some in a net bag and place where there is some good water flow.

 

[marla]

I agree more plants...also more oxygen might help add some airstones or a fountain pump for a while.

 

[talal101]

im confused, does any plain cat litter work?, and how does it work? and does it combat all algae or just certain types?
thanks

 

[addy1]

I really have no clue, unless it just sucks out the algae as it flows through the litter. She says it works great. The red walmart pure clay kitty litter, cheapest thing you can buy.

"Sometimes locally here in West Virginia, we put the kitty litter in nylon hose and put the nylon hose full of kitty litter near the stringy algae we are trying to kill, sometimes we just dump it loose in the pond and let it go wherever it wishes. It depends on what we are trying to do with it. With a really good mechanical filter system, I like just dumping it over the side of the pond, within a day as Chris Neaves posts in his article on this site the clay is cleared up and the pond is simply gorgeous. If the pond has marginal mechanical filtration, or the stringy algae is at a particular spot such as a waterfall, we put it nylon hose and drop the hose at the stringy algae site. Try various ways and see what works for your system. The kitty litter is the equivalent of those quite expensive products called Refine and Refresh which are touted to be so great for koi ponds. The essence of this treatment is to turn our recirculating koi ponds into the equivalent of mud ponds by adding enough clay of the right type so the correct mineral content leaches into the water to provide optimum koi health."

 

[bsr8129]

hmmm interesting, i am having a string alege overload on my pond, i pull out handfulls every day and it just grows back quicker and quicker. I have some kitty litter left over from doing some dart frogs enclosures and might try adding it to a nylon hose and placing it near the algae. My only fear is the fish trying to eat it or what ever comes of the clay being harmfull to the fish.......

 

[j.w]

Just make sure the litter says 100% clay w/ no additives such as perfume etc. Wal-mart has it in 25lb bags for $2 or $3 bucks. Red bagged and mine was called Special Kitty :alieneyesa:

 

[bsr8129]

ya i have the blue bag, Dr. something from petsmart, as I have used this with my dart frogs it has no additvies just pure clay. I new there had to be more uses for kitty liter then, kitty liter and backgrounds for frogs.

Is it better to put it in the filter or along the edges of the pond where the string algae is growing?

 

[j.w]

I put mine in sock type bags and I have a finch seed bag that I got from Lowes or Home Depot that works great too. I've never just thrown it in the pond cuz I don't like the mess. Some people use it in the plants for the pond as soil or mix it w/ gravel or pond soil etc. It works best when water is flowing over it to spread it around the pond for string algae. I just hang mine near the water fall or under it. You could even set a big screened block of it in there and let a filter hose flow over it anywhere underwater. You need to replace it every few months as it will wear out in the sock things or blocks. The plants I think you can just replace it whenever you repot them or mix in some new w/ the old :alieneyesa:

 

[mr.spooky]

thanks! i might give the litter a shot. does a UV light not kill this stuff?????
jason

 

[talal101]

Thanks for the information guys and a uv will only kill free floating algae not algae stuck tothe sides of the pond

 

[shakaho]

I get the bubbly algae, but never in the fish pond. It must be good to eat. If I take some water out of the pond and put in in a container, within a day it is totally covered with little green bubbles. I'm trying to grow duckweed in a container, and the bubbly algae just takes over. I put some algaecide in the container, and now there's a ring of white bubbles around where I poured it in. (Don't put algaecide in your fish pond!)

I just got some "koi clay." The container says in is Calcium Montmorillonite Clay and that that is the highest calcium-content clay in the world. It's supposed to provide valuable minerals to your fish, improve color, bind toxins, and clarify water by acting as a natural flocculent. It doesn't make any claims about algae. I can't think of a reason why it should reduce algae (which doesn't mean there isn't a reason). Advocates of koi clay say kitty litter is a poor substitute. I don't know if that is true, but since clay can contain a wide variety of components, all clay isn't equal.

I use kitty litter to plant my pond plants. It has many other uses. I add it to my garden plots to help my FL sand retain a little moisture. It's good for soaking up spills. Up north, we always had a bag of kitty litter in the car in the winter. It provided instant traction if we got stuck in packed snow or ice.

 

[addy1]

The all versatile kitty litter, I have bought enough this year to have 100 cats, but just have a yorkie..............