Couple questions--water striders and algae (what else? smh)

[gimpy]

My little pond has been up now for about a year. It might be about a hundred gallons or so +/-? It is only about 9 or 10 inches deep normally, maybe less. The only fish in it are little Rosy Red minnows (originally around a dozen or so- it's hard to tell since they stay hidden so much). I only see about 4 or 5 at one time ever once in a while. They have recently spawned, 3 or 4 times, different sized fry. Anyway, this summer, the pond seems to be over run with water striders. What little I've read about them, they seem to not hurt the pond/fish. The problem is, there are so many that they seem to be overtaking the pond surface with their numbers. They are scattered around the pond, but really gather on top of the floating hornwort that is in the water. Any suggestions? Should I leave them alone or try to get rid of them? If so, how, other than scooping them out with a net, along with fry, maybe? As near as I can tell, they are more of an eye sore, than causing any problems.

Also, the last 3 or 4 weeks, a couple of mats of a bright green algae seem to be forming, also, around the hornwort. That doesn't bother me much, either, as I can just scoop it out. Earlier this spring, I tried planting/throwing into the pond, some two or three other plants (thx, addy1), but, I think I've killed them (sorry, addy1).

Concerned mostly about the striders.

thx

 

[Stephen Noble]

Hi Gimpy,
Water spiders (striders) love calm water with ample food. I am guessing your pond has lots of mosquito larvae or your rosy reds are breeding like crazy. Both are plausible. Rosy reds are prolific. You can increase the water turbulence or reduce their food source if you want to get rid of them or reduce their numbers. If you have kids you can use them as an educational opportunity to teach about the surface tension of water, their hair & air trapping legs and life cycle. I was in awe with them as a child when hiking the High Sierra's and finding thousands of them in a vernal pool.

 

[addy1]

I would not worry about the striders, to me they mean you have a good set up for critters.

 

[gimpy]

The rosy reds have really been prolific. I'm not sure how many different spawns they've had since the fry are all sizes. I would guess anywhere from 4 to 5. Several of the first batch are starting to get fairly big and starting to get a little color in them (close to 3/4 of an inch I would guess, and then I see some about a quarter to maybe 3/8 of an inch swimming along with them). I'm amazed at how many different sizes there are.

Addy, the worst thing about the strider is they are all over the top of the surface creating, to me, an eye sore, but I'm living with it.

 

[addy1]

Addy, the worst thing about the strider is they are all over the top of the surface creating, to me, an eye sore, but I'm living with it.

I have a lot of them and enjoy watching them, but that is just me.