Cheapest way to clear algae?

[Lisak1]

Sunlight. Does. Not. Cause. Algae. Period and end of story.

Does algae love sunshine - sure it does. You can kill it by cutting off the light completely. But you won't have any other plants - or desirable algae or fish for that matter - that thrive either.

Find the source. Eliminate it.

 

[Laaf]

Grab it out by hand or with a brush if it's string algae. Filter it through quilt battng or another filter medium if it's tiny particles in the water. But if there is algae, there are nutrients for it to feed on. Add more plants to outcompete the algae and starve it

 

[Mindy12]

We have two small ponds about that size that fill up with green water and string algae every summer when they get direct sunlight. In our ponds 8-10 water hyacinth plants seem to clear the algae in a week or two. Maybe it's coincidence, but our water is now crystal clear with no filter. They will take over, but they are easy to remove.

 

[Mindy12]

Sunlight. Does. Not. Cause. Algae. Period and end of story.

Does algae love sunshine - sure it does. You can kill it by cutting off the light completely. But you won't have any other plants - or desirable algae or fish for that matter - that thrive either.

Find the source. Eliminate it.

In my pond, the string algae grows prolific in the spots where the sun shines the most. The sun may not "cause" algae, but it sure makes it a problem.

 

[ldrhawke]

Chlorine will kill the plants and the alge will come back in a few months. Pet shop and buy a couple of dozen feeder goldfish for $.20 apiece. Put them in the pond and don’t feed them. Your algae will slowly go away, and the pond will be perfectly clear goldfish allergy.

 

[Mindy12]

Chlorine will kill the plants and the alge will come back in a few months. Pet shop and buy a couple of dozen feeder goldfish for $.20 apiece. Put them in the pond and don’t feed them. Your algae will slowly go away, and the pond will be perfectly clear goldfish allergy.

I put about 15 feeder goldfish in my 500 gallon pond and it gradually filled up with so much algae I could no longer even see the fish. In Southern California 15 goldfish was not enough to stay ahead of the algae.

 

[ldrhawke]

I put about 15 feeder goldfish in my 500 gallon pond and it gradually filled up with so much algae I could no longer even see the fish. In Southern California 15 goldfish was not enough to stay ahead of the algae.

Do not feed the goldfish So that their food is natural and they will eat the alge. If you feed them you are increasing the nitrogen wastes which fuels the alge growth. The fish will be fine if you do nothing but allow the pond d to go natural. The fish won’t grow fast but they will be just fine.

 

[Mindy12]

I never fed mine. I'm not trying to argue about it though. I'm just saying that in my experience they didn't eat enough to keep ahead of the algae.

 

[ldrhawke]

Let me add a note….just trying to help. Buy a few more fish. i have my 150 gal pond set up with an automatic timer to a sprinkler which come on for five minutes everyday sprinkling over the top of the pond

adding probably adding 5 or 10 gal of fresh water and causing a slight overflow. It is tap water so it has traces of chlorine , Which does bother the fish or reduce algae. But it does help to dilute nitrogen.

 

[Mindy12]

It seems like the daily tap water might discourage algae, but your pond is much more shaded than mine. When the sun moves overhead the only shade parts of my pond get is the hyacinths, and the string algae goes nuts in full sun without them.

 

[Jhn]

@idrhawke Fish will eat algae but they aren’t going to solve the issue of excess nutrients and will eventually add to it as they grow and reproduce. A balance of fish and plants and proper circulation, to help keep keep decaying matter from settling out iand being removed by some type of mechanical filter is Ideal.

@Mindy12 you are on the right path quick growing plant species are the right way to go to outcompete the algae for nutrients and shade the pond from the sun helps. The sun only makes algae A problem if it is out of balance, a small pond with no circulation is going to be out of balance fish or no fish, but it can be overcome with a lot of plants that grow quickly, but are easy to weed back.

 

[Lisak1]

It’s a case of correlation does not equal causation. Do you see more string algae in the sun? Yes. All plant life loves sun. But is the sun causing it? No. The cause is always excess nutrients. Always. String algae grows like crazy on my waterfall in the spring. Why? A lot of sediment and organic material tends to gather and settle in the cracks and crevices between the rocks. The string loves it, but that doesn’t mean my waterfall causes the string algae.

 

[Phaewryn]

I never fed mine. I'm not trying to argue about it though. I'm just saying that in my experience they didn't eat enough to keep ahead of the algae.

Adding fish to a pond with an algae problem is not a solution because adding fish just increases the biowaste (nutrients) in the pond which is what the plants, including the algae, eat to grow. Adding PLANTS, which outcompete the algae to consume the nutrients is the only natural solution.

 

[Phaewryn]

We don’t want the upkeep of a pond. We don’t want fish. We don’t want a pond with green slime.

If you don't want to upkeep of a pond then you have two answers. You can either:
1.) Not have a pond (meaning fill it in and turn it into a landscaped area without water); or
2.) You can turn it into a fountain instead of a pond. A fountain stays clear because you run with chemicals just like you would a pool.

If you want water plants then you need a pond. If you don't want the upkeep of a pond then you can't have water plants.

What I'm hearing is that you want all of the enjoyment of having a pond with none of the work of having a pond and that's simply unrealistic. Having a pond is a lot of work. It requires a lot of labor and there's a lot of chemistry and botany involved so you need a lot of knowledge to do it well. There are no simple quick answers in ponding. It's a labor-intensive hobby.

If you don't have the time to commit to this sort of hobby then admit that but you have to come to some sort of decision. You either want it and are willing to put into work for it or you don't want it and you need to eliminate it. You can't have what you're asking for: it's not possible.

 

[West Van Ken]

Chlorine bleach I suppose.

If you use household bleach it will temporarily kill the algae, but eventually new spores will get into the pond and start growing. It's the basis of life! ALSO, IF YOU DRAIN THE BLEACH INTO A DITCH OR CREEK, IT WILL STERILIZE THAT WATER TOO. NOT RECOMMENDED. Draining it into a sewer might be OK.