Growing "Felt"

[Timothy]

This is a first for us. We seem to have a crop of a different kind (to us) sort of algae. Not even sure it's algae. Very dark green, no smell to speak of, and when you haul out a hand full it feels just like felt. It's only about a half inch thick and is only on the surface of the bog. It will stick to trees, fences, and most any vertical surface if you throw it. There's no sign of it whatever in the pond. Our nitrates and ammonia are "0", and the ph is 7.5.
The bog plants grow through it, as did the two stray lily's. (One lily flowered, and the other grew huge leaves.)
If you part the stuff and look under it, the water column between it and the pea gravel is moving, although there seems to be more sediment on the pea gravel this year.
I seem to remember this as a kid and thought it was "icky" then, but now that I've grown up I just think of it as "alien" and wonder if it's something to tolerate, or should it be removed?


Nothing seems to be hindered or is suffering as a result of this to date.

Opinions?

 

[addy1]

I sometimes get green algae stuff in the bog, it comes and goes, as the plants grow shade the gravel the algae starts to go away Right now I have none.

I always have a layer of fine dirt on top of the gravel. I keep saying I might vac it off, never do..............doesn't bother me. The tads live in it,

 

[Meyer Jordan]

That appears to be a specie of common pond weed.(Potamogeton sp.)

 

[Timothy]

That appears to be a specie of common pond weed.(Potamogeton sp.)

It seems to be much denser than the image unless the darker area's of the photo is the Potamogeton. It literally feels like wet felt when you hold it, and after it's dried it feels like paper or thin cardboard and very light in weight.

 

[Timothy]

I sometimes get green algae stuff in the bog, it comes and goes, as the plants grow shade the gravel the algae starts to go away Right now I have none.

I always have a layer of fine dirt on top of the gravel. I keep saying I might vac it off, never do..............doesn't bother me. The tads live in it,

This stuff seems to be thriving even in shady area's.
I thought the same thing about sucking up the silt on the gravel surface, but stirring it up a little disturbed a herd of tads, so I guess that's out.

 

[addy1]

I am into ease of care, my pond takes almost no care.......well the lilies need care, I need to groom them, but then again they do fine without grooming. Except dissolving leaves and flower buds

 

[Timothy]

I went out and revisited the bog taking a closer look at this plant. Although it floats, there are very very fine roots that attach it to the gravel. I'll try to get a photo in the morning of the root system.

 

[Lisak1]

We grow the same thing - comes and goes throughout the summer. Sometimes I scoop it out, sometimes I let it be. Ponds are so cool, aren't they?

 

[teeemkay]

Looks like string algae to me. The same thing shows up in my pond. When it's in flattened thick clumps, it can have a felt-like texture to it when you pull it out of the water.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I went out and revisited the bog taking a closer look at this plant. Although it floats, there are very very fine roots that attach it to the gravel. I'll try to get a photo in the morning of the root system.

Also take a photo of some of it in your hand. If it has roots, it is not algae.

 

[cas]

It will stick to trees, fences, and most any vertical surface if you throw it.

So what / who have you thrown it at?

 

[Timothy]

CAS, here's a couple for you

This stuff looks gross, but seems to be relatively benign. As I mentioned there's just an "earthy" pond smell to it, nothing the least obnoxious. It is very fibrous and as Teeemkay mentioned I thought it may be hair algae but I've not seen that as dense as this is unless there are variety's of hair algae. This also doesn't seem to have the long willowy fibers I associate with it.
Here's a couple more images:

Because of it's density, when it's in the water it provides an excellent filtering agent, but almost to a fault. I'm not especially concerned with it being there, but with it's filtering capabilities I am a little apprehensive that it may become so dense that it may slow the water flow and because of our bog design cause it to overflow thus losing pond water.
I mentioned earlier that there is no evidence of this in any other area's. The waterfall, "sky bog", and the main body of the pond don't have a trace of this. It isn't the least bit slimy and won't be hard to to remove if it becomes necessary.

 

[cas]

You're too funny. What made you want to throw it at the tree, anyway?

 

[Lisak1]

I toss algae all the time! Doesn't everyone?

 

[Timothy]

Thank you Lisak1 !! I thought it was a ponder's requirement.
Actually, I was just tossing some into the woods and a glob hit the tree and it stuck, so I tried it again.........Apparently it doesn't take much to amuse me, so I tried it again............
This "Easily Amused" syndrome can be a curse or blessing depending...........