I have a very bad algae problem as well as those tiny little floaters not sure what you call them and they overtake my pond in the summer. My pond is 3 years old so all my plants in there are established and thought that would lessen algae. But I’m worried if I start over(to clean up bottom gunk and algae and everything) then that would reset the pond cycle with my plants? I dont have a filtration system but I don’t have any fish. It’s exclusive for plants. And lastly can anyone tell me what those tiny floaters are and how to prevent/rid of them for good(not the nymphoides)
Ok to drain pond and fill with new water?
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j.w
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Duckweed! Fish eat it but if it is so abundant they can't keep up. My goldfish eat it faster than I can throw it in! I keep it in a tub outside of my pond. I had it in a small frog pond where it would try and take over. I just kept plucking (netting) it out and finally got rid of it. That was a very small pond tho. A big pond would be hard to do.
Moni_Pond
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It’s normal to have a lot of algae in spring and I wouldn’t be too concerned. Do you have muck on the bottom that needs to be cleaned out? If so, I would do a good vacuuming session or two, make sure your kh/ ph is good, add baking soda if needed to raise kh, and let the plants so their thing. My pond has lots of muck to be vacuumed (I’ve started but it takes me many sessions) as I have lots of trees. My pond is in sun right now, which algae loves, but once the leaves fill in it’s mostly shade - I only mention it because not sure what your shad situation is. I don’t know what plants you have, but once it warms up I add floating hyacinth and water lettuce + cannas which do great at helping use up excess nutrients. My native perennials aren’t grown in enough at this early in the season to help very much (aside from iris and water mint).
I wouldn’t drain the pond completely, but you could do a 20% water change if you really want to. Algae isn’t necessarily beautiful, but it isn’t the worst thing, especially in spring. A his group has taught and reminded me that it is a pond, not a swimming pool. It may not always be perfectly clear.
I’m very jealous of you not having fish. I adore my fish, but do regret putting them in the pond. I’m a big animal lover and find myself doting on them and worrying too much. Plus they have reproduced like crazy and I don’t want to have to deal with rehoming, so hoping that I can keep it in check.
Duckweeds, got it. But actually I forgot about it but I do have 5 goldfish in there that my friends just decided to dump in my pond one day. They still seem to be alive in there but I really don't care for them. I have a lot of muck on the bottom which seems to clog my pump once in a while and my water is cloudy. Spring time isn't the worst with algae. It's summer that it gets out of control and I have to keep scooping them with my net. Same with the duckweeds. Don't know where they came from but they are invading my pond along with the algae. They smother my nymphoides. It's in full sun all day so I understand algae wants to grow but is there a way to keep them minimal? I also have several bog bean, 2 acorus gramineus, and 2 lotuses that never bloom in there(thinking of getting rid of them). I'll try draining just a little bit of the pond to clean up then!
Moni_Pond
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I would definitely clean the muck out if the bottom of the pond. If it’s leaves, acorns, walnuts I put in gloves and pull it out. If it’s muck and broken down matter I vacuum it with a wet/dry vacuum or a pond vacuum. Where I live there are pond stores that rent out pond vacuums for the day at a reasonable rate.
j.w
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Just scoop out the excess Duckweed, but you will have to keep doing it and it will never go away completely unless you get it down to just a few and the fish eat it up then. That long stringy algae you can remove w/a clean toilet brush w/a long handle attached somehow. Duct tape wrapped around a long pole attached to the brush handle maybe?