Algea

[Mandydaly]

Please help me. I've spent so much money on products to stop algea. I manually try to get rid of it, but it grows so fast and coats everything.

What should I do?

Punps, filters and uv bulb all spot on. Also water tested and spot on.

I can sometime get handfuls up, but often it turns to dust.

The plant in the pic has been in the pond 2 days and is already coated!

Tia

Mandy x

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

So many questions to ask you (about your pond), but basically the answer/solution is going to be the same. You need less nutrients in the water and more plants!

 

[GBBUDD]

You POND looks like a POND to me the algae does not look like it's out of control. The only way to stop algae is as mentioned remove any and all nutrients for the water. Plants help but so does regular maintenance if you have a filter pad or Skippy type filter

 

[brokensword]

Please help me. I've spent so much money on products to stop algea. I manually try to get rid of it, but it grows so fast and coats everything.

What should I do?

Punps, filters and uv bulb all spot on. Also water tested and spot on.

I can sometime get handfuls up, but often it turns to dust.

The plant in the pic has been in the pond 2 days and is already coated!

Tia

Mandy x

a lot of us have had string algae (the kind in your pics) and we've eliminated or at least limited it to early in the season now by using bog filtration and lots of plants. It's the plants that take out the nitrates upon which the algae is feeding. The string algae gets the early start but when the other plants in the pond start thriving, they outcompete the string algae. If you're feeding the fish often, that surely will contribute to the problem. Plus if you have any debris/leaves/etc rotting on the pond bottom, that too feeds the algae.

Just some ideas.

 

[JamieB]

Welcome. The first step is to stop feeding the algae, by not feeding the fish much, they can happily skip a few days eating, and will eat the algae. Then, use a net, scoop out any solids on the bottom if you can. If you have one, a pond vac of the bottom for the small gunk would help too, but unless you’ve got several inches of accumulated gunk, your problem is in the water column already, and can only be solved by time. More plants, heavy feeders, not just water lillies, will help. To reduce the unsightly mess, try the toilet brush method. A new, never used cheap one, you just twirl it around the water getting the string algae clumped up on it, then throw the algae you’ve pulled out on your garden, the plants will love it. The long term cure is more plants, less feeding of fish, and as you’ll see from our many recommendations, a bog will speed the process up, and prevent further issues.

 

[j.w]

Welcome @Mandydaly Some here who want to get rid of excess use Hydrogen Peroxide. Not sure of the amounts tho. @sissy uses it I know................where are you sissy?

 

[addy1]

I used to add 1 liter per 1000 gallons of water. Pour it in, scoop out the dead algae.
Now I have a bog filter, no string algae.

 

[poconojoe]

Great advice.

Blanket algae in the early Spring is normal for most of us. My pond has it right now.

As soon as all my plants start to wake up, I know it will go away.

Remember, algae is a plant and it thrives on the excess nutrients in your pond. Until the bigger plants mature and take over, mother nature will provide algae to consume those nutrients.

Those nutrients mainly come from fish waste. If the fish don't eat all the food you give them, that excess food will contribute to it also. That's why their saying to cut down on feeding.

So, make sure you have lots of plants. And then more plants!
Then give it time.