waterfall string algae

[crazyforponds]

Hi all. Does any one have suggestions on how to fix waterfall string algae. I've never had this problem before. Sometimes it gets so thick it slow down the water flow on one of the large flat rocks. I've been going and manually taking off the algae but it comes back. Also I've noticed a lot of mud on my bio fall filters. The water was very clear before the spring started but became very muddy. However we had a lot of rain. Its starting to clear now. The filter in the skimmer and full of mud and requires cleaning every 2-3 days. Is this normal? The fish look great. Thanks

 

[sissy]

If you take it all away your pond may not be as clear as water runs over it the string algae picks up the nutrients in the water .I have turned off pumps and used peroxide and waited 15 to 20 minutes on a sunny day and turned the pumps back on and it turns white and floats away but filters get clogged fast from the dead stuff .You can use a toilet bowl brush to clean it off the waterfall area also .Heat and rain or never a good mix .It is 95 degrees here today and I had to shade my pond more .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Phosphorus level is probably elevated. Suggest testing and using a Phosphorus binder to lower.

 

[Smaug]

The only place I have string algae is at my falls. It's acting as a secondary filter system and is beneficial. As pond keepers we should understand that some algae is inevitable and a good thing. Everytime you remove that stuff you are exporting nutrients and should simply be considered part of maintenance.

 

[mrtrumpet]

I used to have big problems with string algae. Hate the stuff. With my new pond, not so much, and I'm glad. But I have had incidents, especially earlier this year. As with my last pond I found a branded product called "Green Clean" worked like a charm. It's pretty expensive, though. So this year I started using that product's main ingredient, sodium percarbonate. It also worked great!
To use: turn off your pump. depending on pond size measure about 1/2 cup then dust all the areas with algae. Let is sit for 20 min. Turn things back on within 24 hours your algae will be gone! Careful for birds, though. It's harmful to them No problem with fish or plants, however.

 

[Lisak1]

Let me add another vote for sodium percarbonate - it's safe, relatively cheap, and easy to use. It breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and soda ash. We buy it from a soap making supply company.

I would add one step to those directions though - remove as much algae as you can by hand before you sprinkle SP on your falls. The less dead matter that enters your pond the better in the long run.

I will also add that in year five we haven't needed to use it at all. I think our water has finally found its sweet spot.

 

[Smaug]

If you simply manually remove the heavy stuff and work on keeping cleaner water the problem goes away all on its own without chems.

 

[mgmine]

A third vote for sodium percarbonate. Do a search here to read up on it.

 

[crazyforponds]

If you take it all away your pond may not be as clear as water runs over it the string algae picks up the nutrients in the water .I have turned off pumps and used peroxide and waited 15 to 20 minutes on a sunny day and turned the pumps back on and it turns white and floats away but filters get clogged fast from the dead stuff .You can use a toilet bowl brush to clean it off the waterfall area also .Heat and rain or never a good mix .It is 95 degrees here today and I had to shade my pond more .

Thank you

 

[crazyforponds]

Thank you to everyone for the good information.

 

[Onyxlinkia]

Is there advantage of using sodium percarbonate over hydrogen peroxide? Just curious.

Let me add another vote for sodium percarbonate - it's safe, relatively cheap, and easy to use. It breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and soda ash. We buy it from a soap making supply company.

I would add one step to those directions though - remove as much algae as you can by hand before you sprinkle SP on your falls. The less dead matter that enters your pond the better in the long run.

I will also add that in year five we haven't needed to use it at all. I think our water has finally found its sweet spot.

 

[Lisak1]

I think it works better. You can see where it's actually been applied. We used hydrogen peroxide for a while too but got much more reliable results with SP.

 

[sissy]

how come when I looked at SP there are lots of warnings on it on ebay

 

[Meyer Jordan]

how come when I looked at SP there are lots of warnings on it on ebay

This MSDS does raise some concern,
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/MSDS/MS...drich.com/catalog/product/sial/410241?lang=en

 

[sissy]

I really don't like to buy stuff for my pond that has any warnings on it .I usually only koi clay because a lot of those things scare me .I add crushed oyster shells and once in awhile activated charcoal to my filters .Most of the pond and filters are cleaned by plants .I don't even use peroxide to clean the waterfall rocks they seem to have balanced themselves out now .I guess my neglect of the pond has paid off .