Brown water wall feature

[Jazziet512]

I need your advice, please...

I have constructed a water wall feature - it’s about 5m long and looks great except for the wall is covered in a brown algae type growth.

I’ve had the water circulating 24/7 and have added a UV filter in the bottom reservoir, but the brown algae has covered the wall and made it unsightly.

I don’t have any fish or plants in the feature, but desperately want to get rid of the brown algae.

I’m a bit confused as the water itself is clear, but that algae just covers the wall and can only be removed with vigorous scrubbing for hours on end!

What can I do to stop this growth?

There seems to be less growth if I stop the water cascading over the wall but that defeats the object of having it.

I’m after advice on how to stop this growth with additives or whatever it takes! Thanks

 

[mrsclem]

Chlorine may be the only option. You are going to have algae growth if you have water.

 

[Lisak1]

Very cool feature!

Since you have no fish or plants, you can use pretty much anything that works on algae. Algaecides are sold in any pet or pond store. Or you can use chlorine bleach. I'd be hesitant to use chemicals though - even though you don't have fish in the pond, birds and insects may be using your feature as a water source.

You could try hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis - just the plain old drug store variety in the brown bottle. You'd have to experiment to see how much you need to add to keep the feature clean, but it can't hurt anything so there's no harm of overdosing. And it's cheap. Or wait until the feature starts to grow algae, shut it down, and spray with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit for a bit and then hose it off. We also use sodium percarbonate for cleaning up algae on our waterfall when it grows gunky like that - it's a powdered form of H2O2 that's activated by water. (It's the same thing that's in OxyClean products). Same process - turn off the water, cover the wall with the powder, let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes and then hose it off.

 

[j.w]

@Jazziet512
Yep w/o plants and fish you can use chemicals like people who have swim pools.

 

[poconojoe]

Wow! That's a really nice water feature!
Yep, agree...since you don't have fish or plants, you can basically treat it like a swimming pool. Chlorine, bleach...whatever. I like the ideas that Lisa posted about peroxide, etc.
I can throw a monkey wrench into this whole thing and say it would be nice to have some plants growing in the top trough!

 

[Lisak1]

it would be nice to have some plants growing in the top trough!

I was going to say the same thing! AND that would at least slow down the algae growth... something to think about!

 

[poconojoe]

I was going to say the same thing! AND that would at least slow down the algae growth... something to think about!

Yeah, I can picture a few different plants growing up there and Creeping Jenny hanging down all over.
I have to say it again...that's a beautiful water feature! I like that material the wall is made of. I wonder what it's called?

 

[addy1]

Put some plants in! That would look wonderful and compete against the algae. Sucking nutrients out of the water.

Welcome to our forum.

 

[rjrivero]

Very cool feature!

Since you have no fish or plants, you can use pretty much anything that works on algae. Algaecides are sold in any pet or pond store. Or you can use chlorine bleach. I'd be hesitant to use chemicals though - even though you don't have fish in the pond, birds and insects may be using your feature as a water source.

You could try hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis - just the plain old drug store variety in the brown bottle. You'd have to experiment to see how much you need to add to keep the feature clean, but it can't hurt anything so there's no harm of overdosing. And it's cheap. Or wait until the feature starts to grow algae, shut it down, and spray with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit for a bit and then hose it off. We also use sodium percarbonate for cleaning up algae on our waterfall when it grows gunky like that - it's a powdered form of H2O2 that's activated by water. (It's the same thing that's in OxyClean products). Same process - turn off the water, cover the wall with the powder, let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes and then hose it off.

We use hydrogen peroxide in our well water. We get it from our local Culligan’s and the concentration is 7% (vs 3% in the pharmacy concentration) and it comes in 2.5 gallon jugs.

 

[Lisak1]

We buy 35% hydrogen peroxide, a couple of gallons at a time. I use it all over the garden to ward off fungus and to enhance plant growth. They say it helps oxygenate the soil which makes the nutrients more available to the plants.

We had a fusarium wilt fungus show up from a cucumber plant we bought at a nursery (usually start my own plants, but thank you MR. CHIPMUNK for snacking on that tender seedling!) ANYWAY... everyone told me I would have to abandon the bed for SEVEN YEARS and solarize the soil or I would never get rid of it. I decided to go rogue and drenched the soil with straight up 35% peroxide that August which was two years ago. I let it sit for a week and then planted lettuce and cabbage seeds in that bed - they sprouted, grew, and never showed any signs of trouble. The next spring I grew cucumber and peppers again in that same bed - no problem. It's my go-to for any kind of fungus or mildew in my garden now! Two best things about it - it's not toxic and it's cheap!

 

[rjrivero]

We buy 35% hydrogen peroxide, a couple of gallons at a time. I use it all over the garden to ward off fungus and to enhance plant growth. They say it helps oxygenate the soil which makes the nutrients more available to the plants.

We had a fusarium wilt fungus show up from a cucumber plant we bought at a nursery (usually start my own plants, but thank you MR. CHIPMUNK for snacking on that tender seedling!) ANYWAY... everyone told me I would have to abandon the bed for SEVEN YEARS and solarize the soil or I would never get rid of it. I decided to go rogue and drenched the soil with straight up 35% peroxide that August which was two years ago. I let it sit for a week and then planted lettuce and cabbage seeds in that bed - they sprouted, grew, and never showed any signs of trouble. The next spring I grew cucumber and peppers again in that same bed - no problem. It's my go-to for any kind of fungus or mildew in my garden now! Two best things about it - it's not toxic and it's cheap!

Where did you get 35% H2O2?

 

[Lisak1]

Amazon.

 

[Lisak1]

I was searching for the link to the product that I bought two years ago on Amazon and found this:

"Earlier this year, the online retail giant Amazon implemented a new policy forbidding vendors who sell their products through its website from marketing hydrogen peroxide in concentrations higher than 12 percent. "

This apparently in response to people using/promoting 35% hydrogen peroxide to cure cancer and other ailments. Its amazing that we can buy products the we KNOW are harmful to our health, but just try to experiment with curing yourself and you'll find you need to be "protected" from the supposed dangers. Ugh.

 

[addy1]

Ebay has it

35 Hydrogen Peroxide for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for 35 Hydrogen Peroxide at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[Lisak1]

Thanks @addy1 ! I found a few other sources as well, at about twice the price that I paid on Amazon. I don't mind buying the 12% dilution, as I tend to dilute most of the H2O2 I use in the garden anyway. But it means three times as many bottles to accomplish the same goal, which is certainly not ideal.