Floating scum all summer

[CharlotteSC]

The phosphate reading was 0.
I understand the ph swing is the bigger issue.
However, if my ph was lower wouldnt my floating algae be reduced. My plants dont seem to do as well as they did 2 years ago. The hyacinth died last year.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

if my ph was lower wouldnt my floating algae be reduced.

Not necessarily. Floating algae has been know to occur in waters with pH values ranging from 7.35 to 9.6.

 

[sissy]

How much are you feeding the fish because something is feeding the algae and that would be fish waste .Have you tried barley clear I know it works .I use it in my stock tanks .Not always true that floating algae appears above a certain PH because mine is always in the high 8's .But I am not over stocked and I only feed 3 or 4 times a week .But my koi are over 2 feet long .Maybe her filter just needs a upgrade and more aeration in the pond .Do you net the bottom of the pond of waste .

 

[budgenator]

Get a in-pond surface skimmer, algae floats to surface, algae gets sucked into surface skimmer, you scoop it out, discard and your filter catches some of the rest. At first you might have to rinse out the foam filter elements daily, but eventually you'll get ahead of it.

 

[CharlotteSC]

I haven't fed my fish. Since 2015. Scum all year last summer too. I actually have more filtration than I did in past years. Just fewer lilies. Since late winter I used my pond vac to remove debris off the bottom twice. It should be clean enough. I do have a floating straw bundle. My in pond skimmer is hooked up but I can't come up with a filter over the hose end that works. I don't want to send it to the waterfall

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I do have a floating straw bundle.

What type of straw? Straw (hay, alfalfa, oat, etc.) are typically used to fertilize fishery ponds. It supplies nutrients to encourage a stronger food chain (algae).

 

[sissy]

probably barley ,though I have heard of farm ponds using other stuff in farm ponds

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If it is Barley Straw, this except may prove of interest.

"Although a decrease in phytoplanktonic growth (the microscopic algae that color the water green) was sometimes observed, we often noticed an increase in mat-forming algae (the algae that form floating mats on the surface of the water)".
Aquatic Plant Management, Barley Straw for Algae Control, Purdue University

Apparently the Barley Straw is feeding the floating algae.

 

[CharlotteSC]

NO WAY ! Still not my complete problem because I had this issue last year with no barley. But I'm going out there to get that thing - right now !

Last year I spent weeks scooping the algae off but it just didnt seem to matter.

 

[CharlotteSC]

You see, I am not a complete pond novice. I've had this pond for years with minimal problems. I realized early on that it could never be a koi pond. I dont have the depth, size and water flow. It was designed to be a water garden with plants and a few fish. Things worked good until last year when I decided to make changes in my filter system. I have now added the filter falls back. I had some microb-lift that I threw in there a few months ago to help remove organic matter and the bottom has been vacuumed twice..

 

[CharlotteSC]

If it is Barley Straw, this except may prove of interest.

"Although a decrease in phytoplanktonic growth (the microscopic algae that color the water green) was sometimes observed, we often noticed an increase in mat-forming algae (the algae that form floating mats on the surface of the water)".
Aquatic Plant Management, Barley Straw for Algae Control, Purdue University

Apparently the Barley Straw is feeding the floating algae.

Hmm. This one says different look at top of page 3.
http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/Barley Straw.pdf

 

[Meyer Jordan]

"Barley straw is reported to be effective against filamentous or mat-forming algae that include a number of different species"
Keyword here is "reported" which makes this an anecdotal statement. The Purdue study was done first hand.

Common sense dictates that: 1. Barley Straw even though it may be effective against certain (not all) specie of algae is bottom-line an organic, and 2. When organic substances decay they release substances that become nutrients for plants and algae.

 

[MitchM]

Hmm. This one says different look at top of page 3.
http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/Barley Straw.pdf

If you research that bit of info at the top of page 3, Microcystis is a cyanobacteria. (a bacteria, not an algae), Syrunids are closer to diatoms.
This is not the floating algae you are noticing.

As Meyer Jordan pointed out, reporting to be effective is not the same as is effective.
Algae can be reduced by simple chemical warfare (allelopathy) between various algae species. That is a difficult process to isolate and identify. People don't understand this when they notice that sometimes nuisance algae disappears for no apparent reason.

There are plenty of challenges as a pond ages.

We don't see a nitrate number yet....
I'm not surprised that the phosphate number is 0, the algae is taking it up as it becomes available. That's a good thing. It will slow the growth so it doesn't get too out of control, but you need to remove the nuisance algae as it appears.

.

 

[budgenator]

Keyword here is "reported" which makes this an anecdotal statement.

Not necessarily, "reported" could mean published in a peer reviewed scientific journal or it could mean a friend of a friend story, not enough to go on here to know which. Personally, I think too many people swear by it (barley straw) for there to be nothing to it, but it also fails often enough to suspect there are too many variables to assume it's a panacea as well. If you try it and it works great, if it doesn't you're not out much money either.

 

[MitchM]

Not necessarily, "reported" could mean published in a peer reviewed scientific journal or it could mean a friend of a friend story, not enough to go on here to know which. Personally, I think too many people swear by it (barley straw) for there to be nothing to it, but it also fails often enough to suspect there are too many variables to assume it's a panacea as well. If you try it and it works great, if it doesn't you're not out much money either.

As far as I know, there has never been a peer reviewed paper produced that demonstrates the effectiveness of barley straw or even a possible chemical pathway proposed that prevents algae growth.
For all we know, barley straw could actually encourage a separate bacteria growth that indirectly retards algae growth.
Too bad, I would like to see more research. That's what taxes are for, are they not?