which vacuum is the best?

[CountryEscape]

JW, I would say what I pull out is in a matt. If I hook the edge of it, and pull, it pulls a huge area at the same time. Maybe everyone's does that. I just keep reeling it in, bringing the net underneath it, pull some more, net under it and keep doing that until I get that section in the net. Then it's usually a struggle to pull the net out. I'm hoping if I keep on top of algae this year, I won't have so much dead stuff on the bottom this fall or next spring. Really not much, just maybe 1" or so and not many leaves, so mostly what I would call dead or decaying algae. Maybe the string algae is falling to the bottom as it dies.

 

[j.w]

Yep I think whatever you are using CE is making it easier for you to pull out cuz mine doesn't stick like glue together, it falls apart if I try to net it out and I have to chase after it wherever it floats. My stuff just lays down there in pieces. So that stuff you use must be working.

 

[CountryEscape]

OK, I thought that was one of the big benefits, but I didn't really see it on the label. The pet store guy must have told me it did this, so now I guess I can be assured that is what is causing the matting effect. I can literally go in 4 places on my pond (it's about 20x10) and snag a corner, and then start pulling. Sometimes the piece total is 6-8' long! It's really kinda cool. It doesn't amount to much when I lay it out on the ground around my little trees. I assume algae is good to put around trees and bushes, right? If for no fertilizer use, hopefully it will keep weeds down around the trunks.

 

[j.w]

Algae works good as a mulch and will then decompose around the plants.

Got this off the net: http://www.ehow.com/how_7980704_use-algae-fertilizer.html

 

[Waterbug]

How string algae comes out depends on the species and to some degree where it is in it's life cycle. You can have different species at different times, and a couple of species at the same time. It is pretty cool when it comes out in one chunk. I feel like Steve McQueen in The Blob.

Although string algae would be a good compost I found it took a very long time to break down. I stopped composting it because it made turning the pile difficult (I had a lot). And as a mulch I found water had a hard time getting through it once it dried. Kind of ugly too, like a cow patty. And it lasted like a couple of years. So I stopped using it for mulch too. But I'd give it another try some day. Maybe a compost pile just for string algae that I never turned.

 

[CountryEscape]

Good point, Waterbug. I think when it dries all the way, I'll pull it apart like the article says, but wait until the windy spring is over with or it will all blow away! I don't have that much. When I find it on the sides and grab it with my hand and wrap it up, I have maybe what would fit in my 2 hands like a ball. And, the stuff that is coming off the bottom is usually not string algae, although some of it is green. Some leaves and dirt, too.

 

[taherrmann4]

I have the pond vac oasis 3 and it does a good job at getting the muck out of the bottom of the pond, I use it twice a year spring and fall after the leaves have fallen. I don't need it to be able to pick anything up bigger than a 1/2" in diameter in the pond since I only use if for leaves which it has more than enough sucking power to suck them up and the muck. It does have two chambers so that it keeps working when one chamber is full the other kicks in and the first one drains. It is expensive though...