Fall Cleaning Koi Pond - Algae Q... ?

[Peepers Mom]

I've got a 1-year-old 6,000 gallon pond that has been fairly stable and we're thinking about doing a fairly large water change next weekend when the weather is warmer (9/24), mostly so we can attempt to catch our multitude of baby goldfish (and their breeding parents) that are trying to take over... I want to have just the koi, and rehome the baby goldies.
Anyway, since we'll be draining it down quite a bit, I was thinking about possibly doing some algae removal at the same time: I'm sort of afraid to use an algaecide because of things I've ready about it and I'm afraid of the potential effects on the baby koi (we have a large waterfall that can be kept funning - water temp is about 58-62 degrees right now), but I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get rid of some of it ahead of the water change if we can do it safely. We did a major cleanout early in the summer, and a partial water change a few weeks ago. It's been fairly under control all summer, but the algae is growing back and about 1/2" long on everything. Mostly it's just unsightly and I hate it. Yes, we have rocks. ;}
Q. Will it die back anyway during the winter? I know the fish will eat on some of it, but i don't want it to get out of hand either.
Will it be safe to kill it off now (safe on fish, too -- I have AlgaeFix, and have only used it on the goldfish before with good success), or should I wait and see what it's like after winter and do a spring cleanout if I need to?
Arghh..... I've been avoiding using an algaecide with these little guys, but I'm wondering if I should go ahead and do it now since we're thinking about doing the water change in a few days anyway - or, if that will just make things worse for regrowth. And what is the safest level of algaecide to use that would still be effective; ie, not 100% dose...?
Thanks for any advice!

 

[baeya]

Hello and welcome to the forum! You sound like me when I first joined not too long ago. Please read my Pond blog, there is a link to it below. I'm not an expert on the algaecide at all but I'm sure most of the kind people on this forum will give you some great advice. They will want to know what kind of filtration you have. You'll see, if you read my blog, that we have about the same size pond and problems. Chat with you soon!

 

[Peepers Mom]

Wow...... that's an impressive change, Baeya!! I'm impressed with all the work you've been doing and the amount of change you were able to get in your water!!!! It's really great to be able to see and interact with your fish... I'm excited to see what your bog area will look like when you're done -- my pond is only a year old, and already I'm trying to figure out ways to make it bigger...... ;]
I've posted a couple of times already, so I'm not 'new' per se, just not too vocal - I love all the info and great help on this forum! Having a blog is a good idea - wish I had time for that.... LOL!
My water isn't green like yours, my algae is just growing on everything. Either way, grrrr! I don't like the thought of using algaecide, but I have some and can use it if I'm brave enough, and if I should.
BTW -- I've got 18 baby koi, and one wild 'pond baby' that we netted (our first koi) at a neighbors huge pond this summer -- "Piper" (the 'wild' one) is an Aka Bekko and probably about 2 years old. She's really sweet and will let us pet her, and even comes to suck on our fingers when she wants to eat... Doesn't get much better than that. All of our babies are beautiful little hand-picked variety koi; and of course, all have names.... LOL!
Whether or not I use the algae killer, we'll still probably change a chunk of water this weekend, just to try to catch those pesky little baby goldfish if nothing else... ;} Thanks for the welcome!!

 

[baeya]

I know there are some threads about spraying peroxide on the string algae, but I'm not sure if it is safe with fish.....I was just reading it somewhere...LOL
I just ordered a whole bunch of bog plants. I hope it's not too late in the season to plant them.
My goal next year is to try and tame ours. They haven't really seen us much because of the pea soup water, so we'll see how it goes. We do love our pond, though! Nice chatting with you and good luck.

 

[Peepers Mom]

Thanks. I've done the peroxide spray, too - so maybe at the least I can spray the exposed areas when we drain a bit of water. Still leaves the rest of it though, but that should help. I hope/think it's OK if you don't use too much.... ??
As far as hand taming them -- I just made a large floating feeding ring (with PVC pipes, that hooks up to the bridge so it doesn't float away), and whenever I wanted to feed them I put my hands in first and let them inspect me/us. They soon got used to seeing our hands in the water at feeding time and then just started nibbling on them. One thing let to another, and soon they would let us gently 'pet' them - we've still got a ways to go before we start feeding them out of baby bottles, LOL!, but it's been fun taming them. My daughter even has them nibble on her toes when she's sitting on the bridge! Whenever we've had occasion to wade in the water, they even follow us around. They are sooooooo cute!!!!
Good luck with your plants and water and system -- nice chatting with you, too!