Algae, Scum, and Crud on my Pondless Waterfall

[Meyer Jordan]

Swimming pool algaecides should never be used in a pond. They are much to harsh and toxic.

 

[tmpondy]

We have a pondless waterfall that always gets covered black with algae. To remove it my wife scrubs it clean, which is a task. After getting it cleaned should we add bleach or peroxide on some sort of schedule to keep the algae from forming? If so, can we simply pour it in the base of the pond where the riverrock is above the reservoir? Thanks!

Tim

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @tmpondy !

You can use peroxide to keep your waterfall clean. I would avoid chlorine as it's harsh and wouldn't be friendly to any critters who might visit your waterfall.

You can use plain old H2O2 in the brown bottle from the drug store, but I use sodium percarbonate to keep my waterfall free of algae - you can buy it in powder form from a soap making supplier. Turn off the waterfall, sprinkle the powder wherever you have algae, let it sit 20-30 minutes and start up the waterfall. It sometimes takes up to 24 hours, but the algae will be gone. No more scrubbing! The powder breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and soda ash when it comes in contact with water, so it's perfectly safe for wildlife, plants, and humans! If you want to use liquid peroxide, do the same thing - turn off the water, pour it wherever you have algae and let it sit. Adding H2O2 on a regular basis may help keep it clean longer as well, but you will find you get algae - kind of the nature of the water and rocks.

Post a picture of your pondless - we love photos!

 

[tmpondy]

Thanks for the info. Now we have to figure out what kind of schedule works best to keep it away. Here is our pondless waterfall.

 

[Lisak1]

Very pretty! We have a pondless in addition to our big pond, and I get just as much enjoyment out of it as I do the pond.

One thing that might help keep it cleaner is to add some plants in the stream. Once my plants start up in the spring I generally don't have much trouble with algae on the rocks.

 

[KatInID]

Our water feature is a year old now. I didn't give any thought about cleaning it or the algae that has accumulated on the single column. There is no pond, just water bubbling up from a rock column. We dumped a bottle of hydrogen peroxide down the column after we turned it off and when it was getting dark. We let it set for an hour and then turned it back on. Will this work? View attachment 125350