String Algae

[addy1]

All I can say is all I have is a large bio filter, no algae, no green water, no uv light

 

[callingcolleen1]

WB, past 20 years not five for me and my friend has also been water gardening for at least 15 years, were not getting any younger ha ha ha. You can have plants in the koi pond, maybe you did not see my koi pond, the koi are very large five pounds at least I'd say, you just have to have large clumps and have the pots near the water surface so the koi can't get into them. I don't keep lillys with the koi cause their deeper water plants. Every pond will have some bits of algae, but not the kind that come from hell, and takes over the plants before they can grow. I have seen algae from hell when I helped others with there ponds that had a UV light. This kind of algae is very tough, does not pull away gently, and it very hard to get off, hence the tolite brush for some.

If you do not believe that sterilzed water kills house plants, simply do the test, give only sterilized water to a house plant and watch it die, if not please Google it and read for yourself. I'm not good with with computer tablet and still learning it. When you use a UV light in the pond, it will sterilize the water that passes through it, is this not correct WB? The water plants will not grow fast enough to compete with the string algae and hence they get smothered in algae from hell.

I to used to sell UV lights but with a warning, that they will end up with excess string algae. The money people spend on UV lights would be better spent on good pond sedges, pond plants and setting up a marsh.
Summer is short here in Canada, I would tell my customers to get the pond up and running in April, even if there is still snow on the ground, put in water and get hearty plants growing, get the pond going before the sun "is high in the sky" that way you can go threw water trouble before June 21, when the "sun is really high in the sky" The suns angle in early April is easier to work with. Better yet, if your pond is deep and you like a challenge, try keeping it going all winter, I have been wintering mine now for 20 years and have no problem. If you winter your pond like mine, you should not get pea green water the next year. I will be here in the fall and winter typing away and sending you pictures and can help you through it with my advice.

I told my husband that I was on this garden pond site, giving advise, and he said, OMG they let you loose!
WB HERE are some pictures of my very large koi in the top pond with lots of plants, I am very happy to show you that plants can be kept with koi. I have aquatic mint, bull rushes, and wool grass bull rush in the top pond with very large koi!

 

[callingcolleen1]

WB, are you still my friend? Still like to read your articles, think your smart, and like to think your abjective, could you please look that thing up about house plants dying from sterilized water and post it cause I can't seem to figure it out on this tablet yet, buddy, pal, friend ....

 

[SE18]

barley works great! Good in your cereal at least.

 

[Shoestring Ponder]

Colleen, OMG! your pond pics are absolutely beautiful! Such large, healthy looking Koi! You must absolutely love the peacefulness and restfulness you have achieved! I could only hope for such a restful place! Lovely :goldfish:

 

[Waterbug]

WB, you said somewhere that bio-filters don't get rid of green water, but according to Norm Meck's article it does.

Hopefully I've said bio filters are hit and miss at clearing green water. You may have read that I "don't". I think they certainly can. Trouble is that it isn't well understood of what it takes to promote the algae killing bacteria. For example streams have a good record of cleaning green water, bogs have a pretty good record, Trickle Tower type an OK record, fixed submerged filters not a good record.

 

[jenn.]

We found floating barley bails that you can plant plants in, they last 6 months and seem to slow the growth of the sting "ZZ Top" algae but not kill it off :.) You can also introduce a phosphate pad (not sure if this is exactly what it's called) but it is blue and removes the phosphate that the string algae thrives on, that also helped slow the rate. Basically pulling it out, scrubbing it off and keeping lots of plants and algae eaters is the trick. We have algae eaters and a slew of koi and they can't keep up with the growth at all! We have had both a bio falls filter and a mechanical and I didn't see any difference when it comes to string algae, it is like the rain, it will come and go and possibly be a pain in the process :razz:

 

[JenH]

WB, fortunately for me, I can read directions on a bottle, am very good with math and prefer to follow instructions as opposed to just winging it. My hubby on the other, not so much like that, as evidenced by two of his projects this week, a kitchen faucet and tinted window film....LOL. Which is why I keep the AlgaeFix hidden FYI, I still have not resorted to using this yet. And Colleen, my plants are not being smothered out by the string algae, I have a bog full of plants, and in the pond I have water iris, water forget-me-knots, water hyacinth, mini-cattails, and water lilies. All of which are growing well and flowering right along with all the darn algae ('cept the hyacinth, no flowers there)!

 

[Waterbug]

We found floating barley bails that you can plant plants in, they last 6 months and seem to slow the growth of the sting "ZZ Top" algae but not kill it off :.)

How do you know it "slows" growth? Growth that isn't as much as you expected would likely be more attributed to your expectations than anything barley is doing.

You can also introduce a phosphate pad (not sure if this is exactly what it's called) but it is blue and removes the phosphate that the string algae thrives on, that also helped slow the rate.

Was reading a thread last night were an experienced pond keeper had a big string algae problem and measured 0 nitrates and 0 phosphate. The zero doesn't mean absolute zero, but the amount of nutrients these plants need is very small. You're right that limiting nutrients can limit growth, but can we really notice 5-20% slower growth? Still probably a problem I should think.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Jen, I like the sound of your barley balls that float and hold a plant, it sounds real cool, And I think that the plants would grow good in this natural medium, I'm going to keep my eye open for them in town, would like to put my yellow monkey flower in the barley balls. Barley is good, farmers use barley around here. Bogs and algae eating fish are also a must for eating algae, I used to have a real big algae eating fish, but it was tropical and I ran out of room in the house to winter it so I gave it away.

 

[JohnHuff]

I've used barley for many years and I can anecdotally say that it did zilch for me! YMMV though. I also used the phosphate pad thingy and didn't see any difference. I still think that other plants is part of the answer though I'm sure the equation is very complex and involves all the other organisms in the pond, feeding and weather!

 

[Waterbug]

Farmers in Louisiana use gris-gris bags to eliminate string algae. Unlike barley there are no studies disproving gris-gris bags don't work, so they probably do work.

 

[callingcolleen1]

John your right, it's usually never any one thing, but a complex list of many things that come together and help balance the pond. Good water circulation and filteration, big pond plant perennials, marsh areas complete with snails and other living organisms and lots of good bacteria and just enough fish to fill your pond without overcrowding.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Gris-gris is voodoo and I don't know about voodoo for the pond, don't believe in voodoo cause I can't see it. I'd be willing to bet my caterpiller dung works way better cause it darkens the water naturally and prevents the hottest spectrum of sun from shining into the water thereby preventing excess algae growth.

I got a good book many years ago by Helen Nash with Steve Stroupe and they have lots of words of wisdom that I find true; "establishing a balance among all the life forms in your pond produces a clear and beautiful garden".

 

[JohnHuff]

While we're on gris-gris bags, can we talk about dowsing as a reliable way to find chlorine free water for water changes?