Problem with Blanket Weed

[cate sellars]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Cate> I live in Melbourne Australia and am very much wanting to pick your brains about the terrible problem I have of blanket weed in my pond. The pond is only 9 months old and developed the problem of blanket weed about six months ago after putting water cabbage into the pond which must of contained spores.

Since then I have tried an array of treatments which have not worked. Now it is spring I am feeding up the waterlillies and the blanket weed has gone mad.

I fell into the pond this morning trying to get rid of it so I am getting to the desperation point. The pond is lined with black fibreglass the surrouonds made from sandstone. I am wondering if sandstone has got into the water and the chemistry has made it very resistant to all the treatments I have tried.

I am getting to the point of thinking I will I have to clean the pond out entirely and start again.

It is so frustrating.

Does anyone have any ideas that could help me.

Thank you for attention.

Cate

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome Cate. I use fish and plant safe algaecide. When used as directed it is very effective in ridding ponds of all algae. I cannot over emphasize using this chemical product correctly. Good luck.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello! Do you have fish in your pond? If so, you might be feeding them too much and/or too often. Adding more plants [marginals, submerged, floaters] can help, as well as adding shade if your pond has too much sun exposure.

Just to clarify, what you are calling "blanket" algae.....is it stringy and hair-like? What I call "blanket" algae is the good algae that covers the liner. And the stringy stuff, I call "string" algae, so wanted to be sure we're on the same page as they are different things.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum Cate!

 

[Lisak1]

Like @Mmathis , I'm guessing you mean string algae especially if you are able to remove it by hand.

I'm going to suggest that you may be making the problem worse in your quest to get rid of it. Dying algae is a great food source for, you guessed it, more algae - as is fish waste or other decaying organic matter. The algae is telling you your pond contains too much of what the algae thrives on. HOWEVER, the algae is also helping to rid your pond of those elements which would be harmful to your pond if left unchecked. Yes, it's unsightly, but it's there for a reason. And while it can be introduced in your pond from plants you add, string algae can also seemingly come from nowhere.

So tell us more about your pond - how big, how many fish (if any), how often do you feed them, what kind of filtration, do you have other plants, how is it situated (full sun? Some shade?) etc. Do you test your water and if so what are the readings? All of these facts will be helpful.

 

[Dave 54]

Hi Cate and welcome to the forum, we use Cloverleaf blanket answer on our own pond

Dave

 

[CometKeith]

Hi and welcome. I agree with what Lisak1 is suggesting. Typically algae feeds on excess nutrients. If your pond has not cycled yet then the algae will grow like crazy until the cycle has taken place and now you have benefiicial bacteria to use up both ammonia and nitrites. The algae is actually helping your pond to get rid of waste byproducts and unprocessed nutrients and by eliminating the algae without solving the underlaying problem will just make it worse. When my pond cycles all the string algae goes away in less than 24 hours. Good luck with your pond!