Barley straw pellets

[Jan532]

I have managed over the past month to get rid of algea with chemicles.I saw an article on Barley straw and thought it was a good natual idea. I put a bag of the pellets in like i do oyster shell and over night it has turned the water a sludgy brown and when i cleaned the filter out to see what was being filtered through it is slimey. So ive taken it out. Will it clear through the filter ok. Thank you

 

[Mmathis]

Hello & welcome!

Can you tell us a little about your pond and set-up: how big is it, how old is it, do you have fish (what kind, how big, how many), what kind of filtration do you have, do you test your water (what are the results)???? The more we know about your pond, the better we can help you.

 

[Jan532]

The pond is over 2 year old and holds 295 ltr, we top up water when needed, we dont test as never had a problem till now , got rid of the algea, we think that was caused by the amount of snow melted into the pond altering the PH , so now we have got rid of that , the Barley straw pellets seem to have caused this change in the water , i have oyster shell in and change it every month as per fish mans instructions , we have 5 goldfish all happy and healthy till today when i can t even see them now , i am adding photos, hope this helps. the one where you see the fish is how it was always as clear as a bell even when we had algea
Janet

 

[sissy]

barley just turns in peroxide so why bother with the slimy mess .I used them until waterbug showed the chemistry part and I checked it out on the internet .I spray my water fall rocks with it after i turn off my pump and wait and turn the pump back on and it all turns to oxygen .

 

[JohnHuff]

Barley doesn't work and has never worked for me.

 

[sissy]

never worked for me and all it became was a slimy mess .A good way to waste money ,I just add a little peroxide every couple of months and wash my water fall rocks with it .I know if you add to much you can harm your plants .I have been testing it and with my pond if i add a 1/4 cup to it it is fine .My pond is 10x25 and just over 4 feet deep except for the one end of the pond about 4 feet is only 3 1/2 feet deep .I had to be able to crawl out when I put the liner in and I am only 5 feet 2 inches tall so that is why the 3 1/2 feet ,. :cheerful:

 

[HARO]

Sissy; you should have put in a fish ladder!!! :cheerful:
John

 

[sissy]

yeh and fish would escape and I would probably still be in there .I had shingles blow off my guest house and put ladder up with those safety ties that are supposed to keep your ladder from blowing or being knocked over,they hook it to the gutter ,THEY LIE I was stuck up on the roof for 3 hours ..Had my cell phone with me and went to take it out of my pocket and it slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground .Hubby got up at 1:00 to let the dogs out and he heard me and so did the dogs .geeze believe me that company got a nasty e-mail .Wind was gusting hard and it says it is rated for 60 mph winds and is fool proof ,YEH SURE

 

[HTH]

Hydrogen Peroxide is another oxidizer. I expect you would have to add a lot to a pond to harm plants providing you diluted it prior to adding. But that is not from experiance.

 

[sissy]

I found if I added more than 1.4 cup the lilies would turn yellow .I have not seen it effect the water lettuce or hyacinth yet

 

[gardengirl]

I had a green waterfall all winter long. I bought some waterfall cleaner. The first time I used it nothing happened. Then I realized I needed to turn off my waterfall for a while and then turn it back on. Worked perfectly!! It has been 2 months and I am just now seeing a little green on the rocks. I didnt know I could use peroxide.

 

[sissy]

I turn off my waterfall and put peroxide in a spray bottle and spray the waterfall rocks and wait about 10 minutes or more depends on how clean you want it and then just turn the pump back on .

 

[gardengirl]

Well I could have saved myself $24. Peroxide is sooo much cheaper. Thanks for that info, I will use it for future reference.lol