Weird Algae

[Fishie Mom]

fish love it . But if you want to kill it peroxide does the job . You just need to know the gallons of your pond . Then buy up some quilt batting to make a filter to pick up all the dead stuff that turns white , that is a fast fix but like people say the more you feed your fish the more plants you need to fight the waste fish produce . It is like when fish ponds are used to feed plants in a hydroponic system . Even adding plants to a filter will help but you will need to trim the roots on them often

My backyard goldfish love eating the short algae on the sides of their pond, especially if I let the water drop an inch or two and then top it off... they will then happily come to that now wet edge and start chowing down. This pond no longer has fish due to a racoon issue and not being built to have a net over it. Thanks for the advice on the peroxide... at least now I have an idea of how that works but that will be a very last, if ever, line of defense. I don't think I would ever actually go that route, but you never know.

 

[Fishie Mom]

Where I live, our brighter Spring sunshine and sporadically warm temps have started almost identical algal growth in my pond! I am going to try very hard to just leave it alone and let the pond do its thing. As things warm up even more, the good bacteria in the filter will start consuming more nutrients and the algae will begin to fade away.

Same here, as soon as we had an early heat wave it started. I did try to leave it alone last year, but this variety just takes over the whole pond. It was like the kelp beds in the ocean. I was skimming it with a net almost everyday, which I really didn't mind since it's a small pond. I wish I could keep the racoons away so I could have fish then maybe they would eat it all, but I've tried several coon deterrents and they still kept coming back until I had no fish left.

 

[brokensword]

Same here, as soon as we had an early heat wave it started. I did try to leave it alone last year, but this variety just takes over the whole pond. It was like the kelp beds in the ocean. I was skimming it with a net almost everyday, which I really didn't mind since it's a small pond. I wish I could keep the racoons away so I could have fish then maybe they would eat it all, but I've tried several coon deterrents and they still kept coming back until I had no fish left.

this is the thing; if you're wanting this for 'viewing the rocks, you're going to always have some bit of green on them as long as light gets to those surfaces. Once you provide shade, it'll subside but then, you'll not see the rocks anyhow. If you want a wildlife pond, the algae is going to be there, even if less because of your plants, but again, viewing will be limited to open areas where sun will also get in. So, vicious circle. You'll need to choose one because I believe if you try and kill the algae on surfaces with hydrogen peroxide, you'll have to drain and expose those surfaces first, then spray, wait a bit, then harvest all the dead algae that WILL COME BACK!. I don't believe you can put a lower dose to kill the surface algae and NOT harm whatever other plant you have in your pond.

If you want to 'see' rocks in your pond, you're going to need to make it more like a pool and use those type of chems. So, it's a choice.

 

[Fishie Mom]

Thanks for the feedback. I've definitely decided against the peroxide and will try to lower the algae with some more plants...but not too many lol. If that don't work, I will just enjoy my wildlife pond and hubby will have to get used to it as is. I just finished building a 3rd pond, out back & netted, for my beloved minnows, which I am hoping to get in the next few days

 

[sissy]

peroxide won't really arm your plants as long as you use it in small amounts and spray it on the algae . I use peroxide in my rain barrels to kill mosquito's and kill algae in them . I sometimes pour 2 cap fulls of peroxide in my stock tank filters . It helps the filters work better