algae covered lilies, one way to clean

[addy1]

My lilies have been sitting in the 1000k tank waiting to be moved to the big pond, stagnant water, i.e. no flow. They are covered with algae, muck, looked horrible.



I moved them to the big pond. The fish attacked them



The gold fish did what I could not do, cleaned them perfectly!

 

[capewind]

I wish I had that option!!! Ours are in the back area of the upper pond with no real flow ... have small bits of hair algae all over them... Had hubby put the algae basket in the upper pond (basket with pillow stuffing) and it IS getting the algae, but with the added flow near them, there is even more algae on them:-( So have a toilet brushed attached to a cheap/lightweight pole (Dollar Tree mop, took the mop off, kept the pole) ... and am giving them a quick/gentle wipe daily right now ... winning the battle, but it is a PITA!

 

[addy1]

They swarmed the plants, ate every piece of algae around. It was fun to watch. I now have perfectly clean plants.

 

[capewind]

Little Algae Piranhas LOL ...

 

[j.w]

Invite your friends.........Addy's weekend buffet and all free for the taking! Gave those plants a heck of a good cleaning!

 

[Mmathis]

LOL! Love it!

 

[addy1]

They cleaned 10 plants for me. One was covered with toad eggs, those are all gone now too. I have three more in the subbie to be tank, might pull them out for cleaning in the big pond then put them back into the subbie tank. It looks like a free food convention..........every fish swarms the plant, a total attack, stirs up the debris, makes a total cloudy mess, but it all clears in an hour or so.

I still need to clean the pond, never did netted the bottom except for leaves last fall, have not netted the bottom for leaves that fell in over winter. But all water tests are normal, just a little muck here and there. The snails love it...........

 

[HTH]

We used to winter out lilies in the deepest pond with no fish. In the spring it was lousy with what I think was nematodes about an inch long.

As soon as we removed the pots the fish made quick work of them. The fish also control snails. Makes one wonder what else they keep in check.

 

[addy1]

I usually leave the pots in the big pond with the fish, my "good" intention was to clean the bottom of the big pond while the lilies where out........... oh well.

The 1k gallon stock tank was sitting all winter with water in it, so a good parking spot for the lilies, put them there last fall. I have swept the bottom a few times, have a small pile of muck down in the deep end, may or may not remove it, might just wait till fall when the leaves fall. Not hurting anything and the snails love it.