String algae?

[PondJunkie]

Hi All.

After many failed attempts to use "natural" methods for controlling pea soup algae, I finally submitted and purchased a UV clarifier. Within 2 weeks of plugging it in and constant filtration cleaning (twice daily), I finally had crystal clear water. For once I could see my fish without have to coax them to the surface with food.

The down side is, about 1 week after celebrating water clarity, I started to see string algae. Not a lot at first, mainly some on the stones in my water fall, and a little bit on some stones I call "Bullfrog Landing", a shallow area near my skimmer.

Well the stuff on the waterfall never got to be too much, but the Frog Landing algae is insane. I use a rake once or twice a day to ull as much as I can grab out. Other than being ugly, it seems to be clogging the filter in my skimmer pretty much every day, to the point of impeding water flow.

I have removed most of the organic materials (leaves, etc.) from the bottom of the pond, and I do clean my filters daily. I have several sets of filters so that I can rotate them and ensure they can dry completely before getting back in the pond.

At any rate. other than inconvenience and general ugliness, is there anything else I should be concerned with? Any tips on controlling this stuff?

 

[FredrikAnderson]

What kind of filters are you using? If you are removing the filters and cleaning them daily you may be killing all your benifical bacteria that will help keep your pond nice. Do you have any other plants in this pond? The UV light will kill the micro algae that turns the water green but leaves the dead algae in there to feed the other algae unless filtered out. With a little more info about your pond I am sure everyone on here would be happy to guild you to some solutions.

 

[oldmarine]

Hi PondJunkie,

I went through the same problems. First off, if your having to clean your filter every day, somethings not right with your filter system. I ended up coming to the realization that my pond needed a boi-filter in addition to my skimmer/pre-filter, and UV clearifier. Once that was all in place and running, the tea colored waster went away, and the string algee seemed to more in check. You will also find that once you have right amount of fish and snails, the algee problem will be quite minimal. It's all about finding a boilogical balance in your pond. There are some extremely knowledgable folks here at this forum that can explain it much better than me, but keep browsing, and reading.

Check out my pond pictures (picasaweb) at my signiture. You will have to fan through them to get an idea what I built and installed.

I wish you the best for your pond.

 

[koiguy1969]

u.v.s clump the dead alge together alongside of killing it so a decent filter will remove it. but they only work on green water alge. barley/peat extract is the safest most natural additive to kill off filamentous (string) alge. the combo barley/peat is better than just barley. hydrogen peroxide is a great way to start the treatment. thats how the extract works..it relases humic acids that turn into hydrogen peroxide.and thats what kills the alge.

 

[DrDave]

String algae is your friend. Just control it by hand removing the excess and in a months time it will go away. Everyone gets it for 30-60 days, the fish love it, play in it and eat it.

 

[PondJunkie]

My filtration:
http://www.savio.cc/pond-products/C11/

http://www.savio.cc/pond-products/C15/

My pump:
http://www.savio.cc/pond-products/C19/
The 3600 GPH model.

My UV Clarifier:
http://www.savio.cc/pond-products/C26/
I am only using one of the 50 watts.

I only have to change the filter media in the skimmer daily, as it is becoming occluded with string algae. From what I see in my waterfall, my bacteria levels are probably normal. From everything I had read until now, I was under the impression that it was impossible to kill all of the good bacteria because not all of the water passes through the UV light, and that a lot of it was attached to the bio-filter media in the waterfall and on the liner in the pond.

OldMarine, Semper Fi. Prior service myself, 3rd Ranger Battalion. 30 years of marriage is a goal I also hope to attain one day :biggrin: I do not have tea colored water, although I did briefly after the UV started kicking the pea soup's butt. After the 3rd week or so of UV, I have water that I could almost contemplate drinking. Almost :biggrin:

I had noticed during the algae kill that it was settling to the bottom as well as clogging up my filters. After about 4 weeks I did a thorough cleaning of my skimmer & waterfall that removed a LOT of dead algae muck. I do still see it on the pond bottom & in the rocks in the shallow area I have. I will take a look at the barley/peat options available.

As for it being "good", I had read that also. The only issue I have is the constant filter swaps I am having to do. I have seen the fish (& frogs) hanging out in the stuff, so perhaps I will have to find a happy medium and accept the fact that daily filter swaps will be a part of my pond existence in the Summer.

I have tried a toilet brush to remove it, which works but is difficult to clean off afterwards. I have mainly been using a small rake, but that tend to stir things up a good bit and leaves behind a lot of remnants.

 

[DrDave]

Thank you for your service!
I was US Army (66 to 68) assigned to to an Airborne Infantry Training Brigade at Fort Gordon, Ga. Worked with a lot of Army Rangers. Back then, about 95% of our guys went to Viet Nam.
Do you get any water moccasins in your pond there? I remember going fishing in a local pond and running into about 4 in one day. I didn't go fishing there again.

 

[dhawley]

BTW, I'm having problems with string algae as well and found a FAQ entry over at GardenWeb.com to be very helpful. I can't post the link yet, but you should be able to find it from the title "What do I do about algae or green water or string algae?".

Here's the gist of the FAQ answer...

1. Barley straw
2. Hydrogen peroxide
3. Surface coverage (debatable)
4. Better filtration system
5. Physically remove the algae
6. Ultraviolet doesn't work
7. Snails or tadpoles
8. Commercial algacides

 

[DrDave]

Only Item 5 is effective...

String algae is your friend, just control it by #5...

 

[oldmarine]

I have found that my fish eat, or should I say nibble at all of the algee. I can't explain, but I haven't had any notable string algee for over a month. I'm not sure what I'm doing different with my pond that would minimize the string algee.

I don't over feed my fish, and I see them grazing on the green algee around the pond that is quite short. So there is a thin layer of algee growth that I have no reason to get rid of. I believe it could be a combination of fish and snails, as well as the lilly pads covering most of the surface of the pond.

 

[DrDave]

String algae will take care of itself in time. My large Koi love it.

 

[PondJunkie]

I have found that my fish eat, or should I say nibble at all of the algee. I can't explain, but I haven't had any notable string algee for over a month. I'm not sure what I'm doing different with my pond that would minimize the string algee.

I don't over feed my fish, and I see them grazing on the green algee around the pond that is quite short. So there is a thin layer of algee growth that I have no reason to get rid of. I believe it could be a combination of fish and snails, as well as the lilly pads covering most of the surface of the pond.

I don't have snails yets, that I know of anyway. I am also still working on the plant life, and only have about 40% coverage right now. At it's peak I have about 50% coverage. I am hoping to nearly double my plants by next year.

 

[Gregory]

My pond is producing algae at an alarming rate this year, average of 2 very healthy cart loads a week. I'm okay with removing it and since it is spring fed and hand dug I don't have the option of mechanical filters. I just wish it had some kind of value or would be a new trend in sushi wrappers because I could be rich. LOL

Greg

 

[DrDave]

You didn't mention liner, is it a clay or dirt pond?

 

[Gregory]

No liner, I just dug down between 2 and 3 feet until I hit large river rock. The pond is on a bit of a slope so I made a earthen dam with the dirt I took out. I have a pretty good year round spring that comes out of the ground above it. I dug that out too, lined it with rocks and then split some large flexible black pipe in half and routed it into my pond. So basically it is leaking all the time but refilled by the spring. Up until this year it has been very clean and I have no idea why I have an algae bloom this year. I know this is kind of a strange set-up, but it is very common in my little community for ponds to be done this way except usually they just did at the site of the spring. Even though I live in the hills we have a lot of water just below the surface for some reason.