Blanket weed?

[Tim C]

Hi
Our pond has been up and running for around 6 months.
The pond was originally filled with ground water which is around 3 metre below ground.
Soon after this we were approached by a friend of a friend who had a severe leak in his pond and asked if he could house his Koi in our pond.
We agreed to this (which was probably a mistake).
There were about 20 Koi which I believe was to many for the size of our pond.
We had a very hot summer which was causing all sorts of problems for us and the Koi. We had two filters running with UV lamps. The water was very green with floating alge.
Three months later! the fish were removed by draining the pond. Luckily only 2 Koi failed to make it due to a local Heron.
The pond was power cleaned and refilled with tap water about 20,000 litres.
Since then we have been stocking with plants. Then we started seeing fry. So, even after power cleaning the pond and adding chlorinated water the fry are doing well.
The water quality is good and pretty clear. However, we have a green alge which I think is blanket weed. This grows on the sides of the pond and looks like a fine lace. I pull this out by hand and is of a stringy consistency.
I was suprised to find the alge having no full size fish depositing waste and no over feeding ie. low nitrogen levels.
From the description of the alge can anyone tell if it is blanket weed or not.
I am currently waiting for the delivery of an air pump with four outlets which should help with the water quality.
Thanks.

 

[dieselplower]

I don't know what it's called but I prefer a layer of algae on my liner. It converts ammonia and is a snack for the fish.

 

[morewater]

Dose weekly with a product called D-Solv9, works great and is cost-effective. Gets rid of string algae. String algae is good algae, but too much of it is unsightly.

Power washing of the liner will remove a lot of your good bacteria. Avoid if possible, besides a squeaky-clean liner makes the whole thing look artificial.

 

[Dave 54]

Tim you could also look at algae in this way think of it as a huge plant made up of trillions algae now look at these as being trillions of indivudual little factories all producing oxygen during daylight hours all for the good of your pond and its residents
But you must remember to be aware that at night it does what all plants do it flips producton from Oxygen to producing CO2.
It's for this reason you should always have a supply of air going into your pond at all times we even run air into our pond via the bottom drain bubbler throughout the winter all be it at a reduced rate .
When was the last time you changed the bulbs on your UV-C's by the way ?

Dave

 

[Tim C]

Hi
thanks for all the info.
Its a new pond and all the equipment is new. I check the uv lamp weekly and all is ok on that front.
I have just installed an air pump which really improves the look of the pond (the air bubbles not the actual pump)!!!
More later.
TimC

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Tim. When your pond cycles ie builds up beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate then the algae will go down because it is competing for the same nutrients as the beneficial bacteria. By power washing it your removed most of your beneficial bacteria. it may sound strange but usually how clean your water looks had little to do with whether it's a healthy environment for your fish. The biggest breeder farms of very high priced koi let their mud ponds get covered with algae. Algae actually has a lot of benefits as mentioned above including food, synthesizing harmful by products, covering for the fish and on and on.