Algae and Your Pond

[MitchM]

I am one of the few that see algae as a good thing.
It maintains good water quality, protects and feeds the fish, and lets you know what your water quality is like.
People need to calm down about the appearance of algae.

I was a member of the Barr Report, but they changed servers and lost half of the articles...

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[crsublette]

I appreciate the support!

... there are so many good observations... good explanations... good solutions... good threads and literature and posts.... that are simply lost over time... I think would be nice to have a single place to find them all.

 

[crsublette]

I added 10 air stones and one in each filter and 3 spitters that move the water and have yet to have green water .I get some algae on the waterfall rocks and also keep my plants over the winter in the basement and get them back in the pond as fast as I can .This year I had to take them out 4 times do to frost but it did not cause any major problems .Does this help well not sure but it has worked for me .plus only 16 fish and no over feeding

@sissy , I think this helps tremendously...

Personally, once I significantly increased water circulation through my various fountains, stream, and waterfall... the growth of the string algae dramatically reduced.

If anyone knows of a document that elaborates further on this... this would be very much appreciated.

 

[crsublette]

when doing the binding, do I have to do water change afterward? I also use the sodium percarbonate to kill the algae, and I have to do water change then, to try to reduce the nutrient the dead algae caused. Then I used the binding. But it didnt last long.. I got algae back in a week.

@Nepen , you mention you "got the algae back in a week". Do you mean "back into" your stream?

I agree with @Meyer Jordan in that there is likely still a nutrient carryover that is not being addressed for the reasons he stated and possibly you need more plants (if possible).

Also, the algae you killed likely was returning those nutrients back into the water. If possible, try to capture the algae you killed so to remove the dead algae nutrients from the pond.


You might need to try to grow more plants that release allelopathic chemicals that help to reduce or hinder algae growth. I will get to sharing this later on when I have the time. Maybe others could chime in on this sooner..

 

[crsublette]

I was a member of the Barr Report, but they changed servers and lost half of the articles...
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@MitchM , Yeah, I think this is why Dr. Barr is more prevalent on his forum now. He is actually much more active than he was in the past. This probably due to he has the free time to do it now, but I think he is trying to recuperate all the excellent information that was lost.

 

[crsublette]

I am one of the few that see algae as a good thing.
It maintains good water quality, protects and feeds the fish, and lets you know what your water quality is like.
People need to calm down about the appearance of algae.
.

@MitchM , I agree.

Algae is a very good, healthy aspect of the pond....


...but... not everyone has the same goals for their pond...


Everyone's pond is unique...

Some people want their pond to have the same high fish volume that is found in aquariums... Some want to keep ducks or want to continue to allow birds to enter the pond or allow the occasional iguana to visit the pond.

Some want to enjoy the vibrant multiple colors of rock rather than the vibrant color of periphyton masking their rock....


I am hoping this thread will address EVERYONE's algae concerns .... not just the "nature" guys and not just those "other" guys...

 

[MitchM]

@MitchM ,....
...but... not everyone has the same goals for their pond...
....

That's the important part.
- So if people want a nice piece of outdoor furniture with fish, they need to realize what's involved in maintaining that.

.

 

[crsublette]

That's the important part.
- So if people want a nice piece of outdoor furniture with fish, they need to realize what's involved in maintaining that.

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BINGO!!!

 

[cas]

koiguy just shared this on facebook .

http://www.pondtrademag.com/from-pea-green-to-pristine/

 

[Meyer Jordan]

koiguy just shared this on facebook .

http://www.pondtrademag.com/from-pea-green-to-pristine/

A well written and, for the most part, accurate article.

 

[crsublette]

That's the important part.
- So if people want a nice piece of outdoor furniture with fish, they need to realize what's involved in maintaining that.

.

@MitchM , to be fair though, I am not just talking about nishikigoi ponds...


I am ALSO talking about people that want to do much more with their ponds rather than minimum of "what simply can be supported", lest risking significant algae blooms, that nature can provide for by her own terms .


This thread is quite fine with ALSO talking about "natural" solutions to algae as well.

 

[MitchM]

@MitchM , to be fair though, I am not just talking about nishikigoi ponds...


I am ALSO talking about people that want to do much more with their ponds rather than minimum of "what simply can be supported", lest risking significant algae blooms, that nature can provide for by her own terms .


This thread is quite fine with ALSO talking about "natural" solutions to algae as well.

Right.
People should try to learn to work with algae, not completely eliminate it...imo.

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[Nepen]

If the the use of the Phosphorus binder only produced temporary results then Phosphorus is being introduced into your pond by what appears to be an on-going event. Phosphorus sources are leaf litter, pollen, twigs, of course dead algae, fish food, fish poop, etc. Leaf litter and twigs being the greatest source in a garden pond.
I would recommend re-testing. Phosphorus binders are used world-wide with proven results.

Yes I have all of those things Omawell aware that each season there are things that introduced phosphorus to my pond being fallen leaves, pollen, frogs spawning... I'm not counting feeding because i dont feed my fish and I'll think my plants should be able to handle waste from 10 fish
I got a little break last year during summer to beginning of fall. The algae would be gone for longer. This is my first year with winter and spring so I'm still learning. I kept the algae until it states clogging my stream then I start to remove them.

 

[Nepen]

@Nepen , you mention you "got the algae back in a week". Do you mean "back into" your stream?

I agree with @Meyer Jordan in that there is likely still a nutrient carryover that is not being addressed for the reasons he stated and possibly you need more plants (if possible).

Also, the algae you killed likely was returning those nutrients back into the water. If possible, try to capture the algae you killed so to remove the dead algae nutrients from the pond.


You might need to try to grow more plants that release allelopathic chemicals that help to reduce or hinder algae growth. I will get to sharing this later on when I have the time. Maybe others could chime in on this sooner..

Thanks. I'm hoping that when my bog fill out it'll get better. Right now it is good but still plenty of spaces. I didn't do a good job with designing my bog so if plants block water flow I might have leaks so I can't have plants in some places of my bog. I'll fix that for my next pond

I'm interested in the kind of plants you mention, please share!!!!

I'm ok with algae until it blocks my stream.

I took algae out by hand as much as I could then used sodium per carbonate on the rocks. Then scooped them out and waited a few days then water change and phosphate binding.

 

[crsublette]

I'm interested in the kind of plants you mention, please share!!!!

Definitely will do.