Blanket weed problem.

[Roland]

Hi,
Hoping someone can advise on my blanket weed problem. My Wildlife pond is only 2mtrs by 1.6mtrs and I'm getting overrun with blanket weed.
The pond has the following,
Lots of plants and oxygenating plants and the following Wildlife.
White and gold mountain cloud minnows.
Frogs.
Common newts.
Rams horn snails.
Bladder snails.
Water skaters.
The first two years have been great and the snails multiplied and kept the weed under control but last year I got a new visitor which I was very pleased about, dragonfly nymphs.
However since they arrived, I have lost all the snails, water skaters and almost all the gold minnows. The frogs also do not lay spawn. I have read that they are ferocious predators but the loss of the snails has meant the blanket weed is now out of control.
Any help appreciated, I may be missing something else that may be having an effect but I do check the water quality but also try to not interfere and disturb the Wildlife.
Thanks for any help.
Roland

 

[Lisak1]

It seems to me if your goal is a wildlife pond, then you kind of have to stay hands off and see what happens. Short of adding aeration there's really not much you can do but wait and see what happens. Nature is telling you there's an excess of nutrients in the pond. Do you remove the debris that accumulates? That might help. More marginal plants - you don't mention those, but I'm assuming you have some - would also help. You are looking to reduce or remove the excess nutrients in the pond with plant life.

When you say "blanket weed" are you referring to the long stringy algae that you can pull out by the handful? Can you roll it like spaghetti on a stick? That's generally called hair or string algae. Blanket algae or weed is the kind that clings tightly to the rocks or surfaces in the pond. Just clarifying that we're talking about a real problem - some folks think a. pond should have no algae growth at all.

(Plants are not oxygenating by the way as underwater plants function the same as other plants; they put off oxygen in the daytime, but they reverse the process and take up oxygen at night - it's a bit of a misnomer in the pond world. Do they release oxygen underwater? Yes. But they also take up oxygen from the water at night. Not discounting their value in the ecosystem - just correcting the terminology. Underwater plants is the more accurate term. )

 

[Roland]

Hi Lisak1,
Thanks for your reply,
I have marginal plants and a couple of water lillies but have space for a few more!
Yes you are right I have string algae, don't mind some but it's overwhelming at the moment, need a full time stick twirler!
My pond is level with the garden, is this a mistake? Do I need to build banks around it to help stop run off from the soil into the water?
Can changing some of the water help with diluting nutrients?

It seems to me if your goal is a wildlife pond, then you kind of have to stay hands off and see what happens. Short of adding aeration there's really not much you can do but wait and see what happens. Nature is telling you there's an excess of nutrients in the pond. Do you remove the debris that accumulates? That might help. More marginal plants - you don't mention those, but I'm assuming you have some - would also help. You are looking to reduce or remove the excess nutrients in the pond with plant life.

When you say "blanket weed" are you referring to the long stringy algae that you can pull out by the handful? Can you roll it like spaghetti on a stick? That's generally called hair or string algae. Blanket algae or weed is the kind that clings tightly to the rocks or surfaces in the pond. Just clarifying that we're talking about a real problem - some folks think a. pond should have no algae growth at all.

(Plants are not oxygenating by the way as underwater plants function the same as other plants; they put off oxygen in the daytime, but they reverse the process and take up oxygen at night - it's a bit of a misnomer in the pond world. Do they release oxygen underwater? Yes. But they also take up oxygen from the water at night. Not discounting their value in the ecosystem - just correcting the terminology. Underwater plants is the more accurate term. )

 

[Lisak1]

Keeping runoff out will indeed help as will more plants. Water change - no. Actually can make it worse. The thing you might need the most though is patience. Which I know can be hard!

 

[Roland]

Hi LisaK1,
Waiting is difficult, but i think i can worK on raising the edges carefully so not to disturb things, I will wait till June for this as the newts leave around this time. Meanwhile I will sort out some more plants and put them in at the same time.
I won't change any water, that's a big job anyway.
Thank you for your help I now have a plan going forward, thumb twiddling time aquired to get patience. I may need to get a few extra plant canes to help get all the weed out!
Roland

 

[Lisak1]

You’ll be amazed at how nature sorts things out. She’s a mother after all!

 

[j.w]

@Roland