Bottom feeder

[Frankie61]

Hi . I have a pond approximately 11f x 5ft just over 3ft deep at one end. I have 2 koi a few comets and a few small goldfish in it so far. I’m interested in buying a fish that will feed on the algae but it can’t be a sturgeon as I don’t have any gravel on the bottom of my pond , I do have some plants , mainly Lily’s . Can anyone suggest a fish that is similar to a sturgeon to clean up algae etc

 

[Stephen Noble]

Are you referring to string algae? If so, take a new toilet brush and 'twirl' the algae. I am not a big proponent of adding some fish to rid algae. They rarely do the job intended and really do not solve the source of the problem. Plants and more plants will help remove algae.

 

[Lisak1]

All fish will eat algae.

 

[Lisak1]

I should have added exactly what @Stephen Noble - fish don't really solve an algae problem. That's kind of an idea that came from the aquarium hobby when you would add a pleco and watch him/her clean the algae off the glass. Some people add snails for the same reason. While all fish and snails WILL eat algae, fish also CAUSE algae by adding to the bio-load. So one more fish won't make a difference. More plants - they don't eat algae, but they won't leave anything for the algae to EAT!

 

[KimA.]

I was amazed at how adding tons of plants has helped with the algae. My goldfish have been eating what little algae there is and they look fantastic.

 

[Frankie61]

Just had a real close look at my pond and noticed how much algae is on the bottom of my pond. I vacuumed some of it out then agitated the algae and scooped some out, I have a pontec 10,000 filter system plus a small lightweight filter in the pond but obviously something is not right or am I worrying too much and let the algae be as my water is pretty clear? My son suggested more plants , Iv a few water lilies and one large grass type plant . As always any advice is appreciated

 

[Lisak1]

Your algae looks fine! You want a good coat of algae on your liner and anything else that's underwater. That's all part of your biological filtration. Keep your bio load low (keep fish numbers/sizes manageable, don't overfeed, clean out any organic material that will just decay in the pond) and you'll be fine.

I will agree with your son though - more plants will help keep your pond in balance, plus they're pretty!

 

[Mmathis]

@Frankie61 Not only is that algae perfectly normal and desirable, but it’s apparently performing its job well, as your water is crystal clear! More plants will help with your water quality. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about what you see growing on the liner.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Looks very nice! Yep, your son is spot on, more plants are always a plus. Especially some that will provide shade. Lilies are good as well as floating plants. Are you able to have water hyacinth or water lettuce?

 

[Frankie61]

If you look at the photos Iv included you will see nearest me I have a small water fountain fed by a small pump/filter and at the far end my waterfall which is fed by the out of pond filter seen in the photos, my question or query is my little pump/filter nearest us is needing cleaned out every 3 or 4 days as it’s seizing up with algae so badly the fountain stops working, any suggestions or recommendations are welcome