Fall is here......algae is here...again

[mikeinpgh]

With these cold nights, almost all of my hyacinths are dead. More and more plants are turning brown. Now the algae is going wild. I guess with the plants dying there is no more competition for the nutrients and the algae is winning.
What do you all do this time of year? I just did a cleaning and a small water change.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[koiguy1969]

i transfer the fish, the water, and the filter media to the basement pond....clean and refill the outdoor pond and forget about it til spring!!! .... this thursday the 29th ...the move happens.(hopefully)

 

[addy1]

My first winter with a fully functioning pond.......will tell you in the spring. If the algae is too bad you could add some peroxide to the water to help kill it. Can't recall do you have koi?

I have used 1 liter per 1000 gallons of pond water.

 

[mikeinpgh]

i transfer the fish, the water, and the filter media to the basement pond....clean and refill the outdoor pond and forget about it til spring!!! .... this thursday the 29th ...the move happens.(hopefully)

My pond did fine over last winter(my first winter). I left the pump run with no problems.

 

[sissy]

I have koi and use peroxide just not as much at one time but salt also kills algae .If you add salt to your pond just up it a percent or 2 .Just put peroxide in a spray bottle and turn off filters and spary it and let it sit for 15 minutes and turn filter back on and it will turn white and then you may have to filter it out

 

[stroppy]

i leave mine it soon starts to die back as the water gets colder ... if its really bad try pulling it out, dont forget your fish start to feed on it as you feed them less

 

[sissy]

true stroppy and since PA is colder than where I live it is no harm in leaving some of it but just make sure it does not clog your pumps up or your filters .You may have to just remove some by hand and leave some .All the rains cause alot of that algae growth and since we have all been getting a lot of rain now that doesn't help .I know we were in drought down here and need the rain so it is welcome any way

 

[pugle1]

I've been lucky this year.... only had one major string bloom happen (this was last week), and I managed to get it knocked back to a reasonable level. I always have loads of it in the spring after the ice melts, but I'm not running a filter or pump through the winter. Just some air stones and a couple of low powered heaters so the ice doesn't go all the way down to the bottom. I do the same as addy to control mine.... a little peroxide now and then to control it.

 

[JohnHuff]

Cut down on feeding, water change.

 

[snoozer]

Pugle1, what type of heaters do you use? I used airstones last winter for the first time and didn't fair very well or at least the fist didn't.

 

[addy1]

Pugle1, what type of heaters do you use? I used airstones last winter for the first time and didn't fair very well or at least the fist didn't.

The fist didn't? lol

A friend lost all his fish here in maryland, this year he is going to use the pond breathers . Last year he used aeration, best guess is it super cooled the water and killed all the fish.
Mitch up in canada used them with good results.
http://www.amazon.com/8PB-Breather-Heated-Aerator-Watts/dp/B000HHM9U0

 

[snoozer]

oops,

 

[pugle1]

Pugle1, what type of heaters do you use? I used airstones last winter for the first time and didn't fair very well or at least the fist didn't.

The part of my set up where the fish are was about 600 gallons last year, but we expanded it to about 1000 to 1200 gallons this summer. Last year I just used 2 aquarium heaters meant for 25 to 50 gallon tanks. I had them at the bottom at the deepest part ( about 2.5 to 3 feet ) and had the bar - type air stones set up around the perimeter of the deep area. My thinking was the air stones would help the slightly warmer water rise a little faster. Our winter was pretty harsh last year, but that set-up kept the middle of the pond ice-free except for a very thin layer of ice. The edges of the pond froze fast though. I'm guessing that the fish probably had about 3/4 of what they normally would when the pond isn't frozen.

The air pump I used was just a dual outlet indoor aquarium type set on top of some stones and a bucket placed inverted over the top of it to keep the weather out. Once the bucket was covered in snow, there was no worries about super-cooling the water as the snow is a good insulator. The heaters added just enough heat to prevent the ice going down to the bottom in the deepest part. The fish have been over-wintering like this since I've had them. This coming winter will be their 4th. I just hope that the 2 heaters will be enough with the larger volume of water I now have.

Hope that helps.

Paaul