String algae

[Cotton]

Posted a couple a days ago.Thanks for all the help I have been ponding for 15 years and never had this type of problem,have been 100% natural no chem, no filter, nothing but plants, have never had this problem until now. I redid my pond last year, bull rushes taking over pulled everything out. Made my pond a little bigger approx 12 x 15 x 3 nothing but problems, added, pumps, uv filter and a couple of koi Have always raised shurbunkins
koi , made a mess of my pond just had to go. So this spring big string algae bloom, I pulled tucked , used a toiled brush, did much reading on string algae, went to my local pond expert, tried to sell me $200.00 worth off chems, thks but no thks. So them i discovered my 8 gal shop vac, pulled it to the back yard, plugged it in a started to suck up string algae, it pulled it all off . At this point I can red the blue writeing on my liner. Thought that this might help someone out there, saves your back and knees.
Pond is 100% clear and no string algae. Shurbunkins , happy chasing, and laying eggs

 

[sissy]

my biggest helper for algae has been a lava rock filter .I know some don't like lava rock but it works for me .I have tub of them soaking for 5 weeks now and the water in that tub is crystal clear .no filter no air no plants .I did it on purpose for a test and I don't understand it but my pond gets almost no algae at all .

 

[addy1]

Good idea with the shop vac, one way to suck it out!

 

[bsr8129]

i might have to try the shop vac string algea is killing me. only 8 gal wouldnt you have to empty the water out of it all the time?

 

[ComputerGuy]

Sissy, I've got lava rock in my modified Skippy. I've heard everyone talk about how bad the lava rock is. As long as you clean it once a year and air inject it, lava rock seems to me to be pretty good. Good surface to mass ratio, natural filtering and heat transfer properties, and best of all, cheap.

 

[sissy]

I clean it then with a salt and barley mix helps clean it better also .For the winter a pump stays in the pond with the lava rock around it working

 

[sissy]

I think that lava rock gets a bad rap some of the times for it's weight issues but to me keeping in laundry bags makes it easier to handle and easier to clean ,I just grab the bags out and have a barrel ready to put them in to soak there little selves clean .I sometimes hose them off if the gunk is thicker and then they go to the barrel .Never had problems with them .

 

[Telkwa]

We were experiencing a string algae bloom in our pond very early this year. In March, if I remember correctly. I was freakin out a little bit because it had been a very cool spring so far and I was worried what would happen as the year progressed.

Our pond is nearly identical in size to the OP's. A foot or two narrower, exact same depth.

I skimmed what I could off the rocks. Was surprised to find there was more than you could see - gummy, gelatinous masses were beginning to colonize the entire pond, not just the rock surfaces along the edges.

We chunked in a fresh barley ball and crossed our fingers.

June now. The PNW has finally begun to threaten summer-like conditions. We have regular algae growing on rock, plant stands, etc. but no sign of that nasty string algae.

We run an Aquascape Aerator 4 bubbler all the time, and cycle the water thru a 350 gallon tote filled with embossed strapping. Our pumps (one is AC to keep some water moving thru the tote, the other is solar-powered) are undersized according to the typical guidelines, but the water is very clear. Not "mountain stream clear", but close to it.

My "best guess" is the barley is doing the most to control string algae.

 

[sissy]

I have never had string algae so have no clue on that but water is clear .The fish are healthy and the plants are ok or getting to be ok .I have lilies but they may never bloom but the plants are not being destroyed by my koi yet so ok with that too .The water lettuce is getting a little better now that I gave it more shade .My pond is in sun all day and I have made a shade cover for about half of it and the bridge gives shade in the middle .

 

[HTH]

As understand it if you have string algae it is there because nature is controlling you nitrate level for you. Has anyone had string algae with low nitrates ?

If you remove the algae the nitrates will rise. Not so good for the fish.

I have had string algae in my ponds now and then. I took a pot from the main pond and dumped it in a small tub along with a lily tab. The moss like string algae was soon several inches long.

 

[sissy]

Took my water to be tested yesterday no string algae and pond tested great was surprised since it had to be rebuilt actually was shocked .Even the guy at the pet store was shocked also .

 

[koiguy1969]

is lava rock the new miracle alge remedy?...........
you have to realize that no matter the media, including lava rock, bacteria grows on it and breaks down ammonia to nittrites and nitrites to nirates.this is a biological "in pond" or "external" filters job. to complete this cycle. plants feed on these nitrates. alge, be it string or single cell are plants. they feed on the nitrates as well. lava rock in filter or in the pond is just more surface for bacteria to colonize, same as any bio media. shade or lack of sunlight getting down in the pond, and plants using up the nitrates is whats keeping your string alge down, a light fishload nay be helping as well.. not any lava rocks. if lava rocks were a cure for alge, you can be darned sure the pond supply companies would be making a buck on it,somehow!

 

[sissy]

Not that it's a miracle my question is why do I not get this algae (glad I don't) but seems everyone does and I think I have to many fish or to large a fish yet no algae sun most of the day .Nothing explains it

 

[lenny jewell]

probably the soak in barley does it sissy , as i just learned that a byproduct of this is hydrogen peroxide which apparently kills the algae .... please somebody ... anybody correct me if i am wrong ..

 

[HTH]

Not that it's a miracle my question is why do I not get this algae (glad I don't) but seems everyone does and I think I have to many fish or to large a fish yet no algae sun most of the day .Nothing explains it

In the previous post you said your water tested fine. Low nitrates, no algae.