String Algae

[Sally]

Hello everyone.

It seems that the string algae took hold over the shut down winter period. It's everywhere now, every surface and great clumps growing in the water. My Elodea is infested and struggling to grow through the mess. My pump inlet grill needs cleaning out every few days and the appearance of the whole pond is spoilt.

I've been sucking it out by syphoning with a piece of hose every few days which works well but then I have to top up a 100lts again and we have a hosepipe ban because of the drought! And anyway it all grows back really quickly. I've ordered up some barley straw and a pump so I can suck out the weed into something which will catch the weed and allow the water to drain back into the pond. But this won't cure the problem.

I didn't want to start pouring chemicals into the pond if I don't have to. Can anyone advise what else I can do please?

Thanks

Sally

 

[Waterbug]

Barley should help make things worst.

Next you can try 3% hydrogen peroxide from the drug store which is very popular, but generally a waste of time. To really make a dent in macro algae you need a strong oxidizer like Baquacil. The grains also sink onto the algae which I think helps localize the oxidation. Oxidizers can kill fish so you want to research first and understand the dose levels and dangers. Personally I don't think oxidizers are a great option. You still need to get the now small dead bits out of the pond and the algae is just going to grow back.

Some people like to add a plecostomus to eat macro algae.

My own personal belief is to design the pond to make mechanical removal of macro algae easy. Plants, baskets, hoses, pots and what not makes removal difficult so I don't put that in the pond. When the string algae gets long I'll put a long stick into it and twirl, and twirl. Normally all the string algae comes out in one huge ball. But it depends on the species. For other species a brush works OK.

In many cases when I've remove a large amount of string algae it doesn't seem to come back as strong, or another species grows more.

 

[Sally]

Thanks Waterbug

Seems I will have to treat it in the same way as I treat the weeds in the garden and just keep pulling them up! I could live with that if it didn't keep clogging up the pump. I saw your post about all the threads on string algae, that made me laugh!

I'm bidding on a Blagdon Monsta Pond Vac on Ebay which will suck the weed out and pump the pond water back so that might keep on top of things. Has anyone used one?

 

[Waterbug]

Hope you win the vac and can post your opinion. I used to make pond vacuums and string algae is a tough deal for them. I think Blagdon has the right idea having the pump on the head of the vac. I always had to have a leaf trap before the pump because string algae clogged the pump, just as you saw. Depends on the species of string algae. My assumption is the Blagdon won't work very well, but I hope it does for you. It's worth a try, unlike most vacs that are completely worthless.

I don't like the water recycling deal the Blagdon has. I don't like pumping dirty water back into the pond, but not the end of the world either. The water settles pretty fast, couple of days max.

 

[addy1]

Some use a toilet brush, stick it in and spin, sucks the stuff into the bristles.

 

[Sally]

The Waterbug Design site was a very interesting read, thanks for that. I'll let you know how I get on with the electric drill pump as that will come first and if I win the Blagdon Monsta Pump I'll do the same.

Not used a toilet brush yet. I have used a filter brush fixed to the end of a broom handle but it wasn't really strong enough.

We were talking last night about putting the fish in a tub of some kind with an air stone, throwing out all the plants and baskets, scrubbing the liner and restarting. If I do all this and treat with hydrogen peroxide will it kill the filter bacteria?

Sally

 

[j.w]

Yes you will kill the good bacteria if you empty your pond as it has already built up the good stuff and you will just be starting all over again asking for algae and ammonia spikes and not a good outcome. Others here use the hydrogen peroxide and I don't believe it will kill the filter bacteria or they would not use it but wait for them to reply just to be safe.

 

[Sally]

Thanks JW. I wasn't planning on emptying the water from the pond just removing the baskets and plants where the worst of the algae is while leaving the filter running, then scrubbing, treating with peroxide and vacuuming the debris. Then I was going to put the fish back in.

I must learn to explain myself better!

I understand the nitrogen cycle so I know that the bio filter won't survive long without ammonia from the fish waste. My plan will only work if firstly, the peroxide will kill the remaining algae and secondly, if the filter bacteria will survive the treatment. Then I can keep up lower doses of peroxide as per the advice in Waterbug's link to keep the problem under control without harming the fish.

 

[JohnHuff]

First, I remove what I can with a grabber, which is one of these things:
http://www.garbage-disposals.net/2in1foldingtrashgrabberpickupgrabberreachertool-p-7173.html
and most of the long annoying pieces will be gone.

This spring when I started up the pond again I vacuumed the bottom of the pond with a wet dry vac. That got quite a bit of the bottom detritus out. My vac has a function where you can empty the contents through a hose so that did double duty as a water change and fertilizing my plants. I just dump the clumps of algae under bushes where they act as fertilizer and helps breed worms.

My pond still has some string algae in it, but I'm not too bothered because I see my fish are feeding on it and my mechanical filter and water hyacinths should take care of the rest!

 

[Telkwa]

This thread comes along at a good time!

Although our pond water has good clarity, we're still fighting string algae. What really drives me nuts is the little floating globs of it that remind me of a sewage treatment plant. A few weeks ago I bought the best Ridgid wet vac that Home Depot had. It's not very effective. The vac is strong enough to fill itself, but it's not really removing the goop. I can set the nozzle directly over some bits of gravel that have fallen to the bottom and it can't lift the gravel. So we seem to end up with mostly water and not much of the offending material.

I'd been thinking about a pump instead of a vacuum, and Waterbug's Flo-tec modifications may be just what the doctor ordered. WB, does this contraption work pretty well?

 

[CliffandJoann]

Do you have koi in your pond? The only time we had string algae was the first season
we had a pond. My the next season the koi were big enough to eat it. They love it.
Koi are your best string algae solution...in the mean time, vacuum and pull out
what you can and don't use any chemicals, ever.

 

[JohnHuff]

A few weeks ago I bought the best Ridgid wet vac that Home Depot had. It's not very effective. The vac is strong enough to fill itself, but it's not really removing the goop. I can set the nozzle directly over some bits of gravel that have fallen to the bottom and it can't lift the gravel.

You might just not have a strong enough vacuum. I got a Sears 16 gal one like this:
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-16-gal-wet-dry-vac-6.0-peak/p-00917761000P?prdNo=6
a few years ago and it was like $135, it's even cheaper now. That was really money well spent. The vacuum is powerful enough to suck rocks into it.

And ya, I don't like using chemicals. I only used chemicals once when as a new house owner I hired a guy to clean my pond. He showed me where the filters were and how to clean them, then he took away all the water hyacinths because it was autumn weather. A few days later my pond was completely shrouded in algae that I couldn't see the fish. The internet was in it's infancy then and there weren't any/many forums so I just used some algae clearing stuff and that cleaned out the pond for me, but so far that's the only time I've added stuff to my pond.

 

[sissy]

If you keep removing the algae you see and spray the effected areas with peroxide you will get ahead of it .I shut down my pump while I clean that area and then spray and leave it sit for 15 minutes and then start the pump back up and put quilt batting in the filter to pick up the stuff .If you are looking at your liner and stuff growing on there that is the good stuff .The farther areas I found that if I get a pipe pvc or whatever thats light and file the end of the toilet bowl brush down to fit inside the pipe .I never use any thing but peroxide and even during the winter you may not see it but it is hiding in the corners just waiting to grow .I spray the rocks every area of them and anything i find growing or has a chance of it growing on it .I never fertilize my plants in the pond as all you are doing is fertilizing the algae .I have found barley really does not work and all my fish do is make a mess with it .Zeolite and activated charcoal in bags in my filters with crushed oyster shells .Gotta love them and it has worked for me now over 2 years .

 

[Waterbug]

If you're going to remove plants and fish, drain the pond I wouldn't use hydrogen peroxide. That's used in ponds because it's relatively fish and plant safe. In an empty pond go with chlorine.

However, you should expect the string algae to come right back. Especially if the plants are going back into the pond, they're covered in it. I think plants are how many ponds first get string algae.

I don't believe long term use of hydrogen peroxide is much of a solution. And you have to deal with the dead stuff. In most cases it takes a lot. When a person is dealing with high levels they have to be careful because dumping a dose in a clean pond can be deadly to fish.

 

[JohnHuff]

I have found barley really does not work and all my fish do is make a mess with it .

Ya, barley has never ever worked for me either.