is Algae good or bad for koi health?

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is Algae good or bad for koi health?
i heard this really weird rumor about water lettuce it goes like this "if water lettuce leave die and decay below on your pond it causes fugal for koi's?" anyone got idea if this is true?
 

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Some algae is good for your koi. It removes ammonia. You just don't want it to clog up your pond and/or make it ugly. Sometimes I get string algae and I pull it all up (removing a lot of organics in the process) and use it as fertilizer for my plants.
 
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Algae is not bad in all situations but could cause oxygen depletion

During the day algae makes oxygen and during the nighttime your plants take oxygen. If your algae is in full bloom, then the plants could deplete all the pond’s oxygen during the night. This could cause stress and possible death to your koi or goldfish

The bigger the fish the worst it can be on them.

Another reason for Algae causing problems is when the Algae bloom dies suddenly which can be from chemicals or naturally which in turn depletes the oxygen. To make it worse when the Algae decays it will even effect the oxygen more.

Many factors are still at play like fish load, additional aeration added to the pond, how many plants, water movement from waterfalls, streams etc, Algae may never be a problem in your pond.

As far as health issues, if the fish get to stressed then this could lead to health issues





 
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Look at algae this way Blackmaler it consistes of millions of in "laymans terms", of tiny plants that act as one to produce oxygen during the daylight hours, but at night though this self same millions of tiny plants start to rob the pond of oxygen because they go into reverse and produce Co2 insrtead of O2.
So yes algea can be good for koi but we prefare not to have it in our ponds turning our water green for that reason, which if not watched can cause catastrophic Oxygen Deoeteion of your pond killing all of your koi, so we keep our pond we aireated,by a spindrifeter bottom drain bubbler plus oxygenate all our filters , we also try to keep nutrients at a minimum as they can cause the algae to bloom, so feed only as much as they will eat in 5 minutes
So too much algae in our veiw is bad for your koi in our veiw and you should set about removing it soonest, try using quilt batting
The other obvious reason is that if your pond is green then you cant see your koi at all so why not get rid of it ?
In saying that though we do have algae in our pond that grows on the sides and bottom of our pond.
We koi keepers have a trick or too up our sleaves if we do get a green pond, there is a company called TAP who produce anti algae pads , it has a unique 4 way action on your pond i enviromental, Mechanical Chemical and biological and will clear your pond of algae in about 4 days if you place one or two depending on the gallonage in your filters it has now been improved with a new formulation.
I had a read of one at the fish shop the other day , they had them on display by the till, or as you guys like to say a cash machine counter and the new improved forumulatioon bit caught my eye so I picked it up and read it , I'd had cause to use one when we first started in the pond and they reallly do work so either google them to see if you can get them online or ask at your local fish outlet they may well do them in the US.

Dave
 
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Water lettuce has calcium oxalate in its tissues. When it rots off in large volumes that is extremely nasty for fish

As ebay is such an awful website and condones and enables all sorts of frauds and misselling, you may come across all sorts of false claims about how 'good' water lettuce is for fish

It isn't
 
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@Dave 54 this TAP thing what does it look like? (powder or something similar to Japanese mat?)
my place only got 2 local pet shop and they don't even sale anything except fish and some plastic plant,aquariums, etc.
the town I'm from is where u can find most fish supplier on the country and they don't sale stuffs like that :(

@adavisus ahhh...i see thanks by the way can u give me some recommendation on what aquatic plant should i get?
 
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this is how my pond looks like now :(
IMG_20140608_063232_zps36a9a63a.jpg


i got no idea that my black ruby barb is one of those algae eater's
IMG_20140608_063559_zps50b559c5.jpg


by the way do you guys have any pleco(janitor fish)? i read some article online pleco is also consider algae eater so just wondering if i should grab 1 for my pond
 
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@Dave 54 this TAP thing what does it look like? (powder or something similar to Japanese mat?)
my place only got 2 local pet shop and they don't even sale anything except fish and some plastic plant,aquariums, etc.
the town I'm from is where u can find most fish supplier on the country and they don't sale stuffs like that :(

@adavisus ahhh...i see thanks by the way can u give me some recommendation on what aquatic plant should i get?
All Tap is is a small pad of what looks to be impregnated filter wool about 10"x 10" it comes in a white plastic bag with green and blue writing on the front and blue writing on the back :-

http://www.cmcaquatics.co.uk/tap-technical-aquatic-products/tap-anti-algae-pad

I hope this is a low tech key to solving your problem Blackmaler
As to a pleco many will die just as soon as the temperature dips outside if your not quick enought to bring them in also they would only make a small dent in what you want one for
Question why are all your koi at the bottom of the pond in a small huddle ?
Dave
 
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ahhh...i see thanks by the way can u give me some recommendation on what aquatic plant should i get?

Fish tough hardy waterlilies, are particularly suitable to create shade and cover from predators.

Water hyacinth has the advantage, not only is it some 4x more effective at phytofiltration than any other plant, it's a tasty nutritious nibbly for fish as well. Easy to control.... pitch it where a riding mower can mulch it.

Unlike water lettuce, from which raphides may have icky consequences for fish internal organs

And don't say you can't find a decent choice of aquatic plants. Yes, I know ebay sucks and its riddled with scamsters fobbing off junk plants. There's usually some pond nut listing on CRAIGSLIST, where the e-mail format and a few photo galleries makes it easy to customise a wishlist

just chug the phrase 'hyacinth' or 'waterlily' into a craigslist search. Voila. Sorted.
 
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All Tap is is a small pad of what looks to be impregnated filter wool about 10"x 10" it comes in a white plastic bag with green and blue writing on the front and blue writing on the back :-

Question why are all your koi at the bottom of the pond in a small huddle ?
Dave
gonna try look for TAP near my place tomorrow.
i wonder if filtration wool(its around half an inch thick) i saw on cloth shop would do the trick?just for alternative measure.

camera shy i guess :D, everytime i go near the pond without the small container(container for their food) they usually at the corner but if im holding that container they usually follow me:)
 
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Fish tough hardy waterlilies, are particularly suitable to create shade and cover from predators.

Water hyacinth has the advantage, not only is it some 4x more effective at phytofiltration than any other plant, it's a tasty nutritious nibbly for fish as well. Easy to control.... pitch it where a riding mower can mulch it.

Unlike water lettuce, from which raphides may have icky consequences for fish internal organs

And don't say you can't find a decent choice of aquatic plants. Yes, I know ebay sucks and its riddled with scamsters fobbing off junk plants. There's usually some pond nut listing on CRAIGSLIST, where the e-mail format and a few photo galleries makes it easy to customise a wishlist

just chug the phrase 'hyacinth' or 'waterlily' into a craigslist search. Voila. Sorted.

i live on far south-west part of Asia so i can't use ebay.

i guess water hyacinth would be best choice for me :) and i think i know a best place where i can find them. :D
by the way water hyacinth from the wild make's no difference from those WH who grew on ponds right?:cautious:
 
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You would need to isolate the plants, disinfect them, so as to not introduce destructive fish pests

You might want to start out with neat small compact new plants, easier to decontaminate of pests rather than lanky large scruffy old gnarly plants, when transplanted they keel over when separated from their group

You are lucky, not contaminated by ebay! What a ghastly unreliable place for buyers and sellers, appalling fees, fraud, fakes, feedback racket, there is some hope for civilisation yet

Regards, andy
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/
 

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