String Algae and nutrient balance

[Bill Stock]

What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to do a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.

[2pods]

"Bill Stock" > wrote in message
...
> What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've never
> really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to do
> a
> pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
> clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
> was
> more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
> was
> the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.
>
>

It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is nearly
10c !

Peter

[Bill Stock]

"2pods" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bill Stock" > wrote in message
> ...
> > What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've
never
> > really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to
do
> > a
> > pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
> > clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
> > was
> > more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
> > was
> > the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.
> >
> >
>
> It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is
nearly
> 10c !

Damn, that Scotland is a cold place. How the hell do you keep the castle
warm? Don't the GF freeze in the moat? :)

SA is still growing here too and the pond temp is about the same as yours.

[2pods]

>
> Damn, that Scotland is a cold place. How the hell do you keep the castle
> warm? Don't the GF freeze in the moat? :)
>
> SA is still growing here too and the pond temp is about the same as yours.
>
>

We can't keep gf in the moat anymore, as it's full of Loch Ness mini
monsters for the winter but there are plenty haggis to throw on the fire to
keep warm ;-)

Peter

[Bill Stock]

"Hal" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" >
> wrote:
>
> >What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've
never
> >really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to
do a
> >pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
> >clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
> >more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
> >the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.
> >
> I wish I could tell you I know exactly what causes it, but I can't.
> I can tell you the year I had it very badly was the year I tried to
> keep the general hardness and carbonate hardness up over 100ppm. At
> the time I guessed the addition of baking soda and plaster of paris
> must be creating the conditions right for the type of string algae I
> was encountering and stopped adding them. I went back to a sock full
> of garden lime to maintain KH, GH and pH, and reworked my plant pond.
> I took the gravel (river pebbles) out and put in a line with holes to
> send jets of water across the bottom and the string algae mostly went
> away. I say mostly because I have a short clump on the side where
> Goldie (gold colored comet.) rests occasionally, so I assume the
> current of moving water isn't as strong at that spot, but it could be
> the fish is hiding?? I can't say the moving water is the answer, nor
> the high KH, GH, and pH the culprit, but those are the obvious things
> I changed.
>
> Not so obvious could be a number of things about the plant pond that
> just went away. For one, there was a good bit of detritus among the
> stones holding the underwater plants in place. most of the
> underwater plants died, covered in string algae. I salvaged a bit of
> anacharis, but two other types of underwater plants disappeared
> completely.
>
> I don't know how to get rid of it, but I wish you well.

Thanks,

I've just started getting into PMDD for the aquarium plants. Since I now
have enough micronutrients to last the millennium, I may experiment with the
pond next year. The pond plants did not do that well this year, although the
Potassium helped. I suspect there must be some other nutrient missing,
either Iron or Magnesium. I may end up with the healthiest Algae in NA, but
it's all about learning.

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

>On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" > wrote:

>What's the scoop on Sting Algae

Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
when removing. ;o)

>, does it prefer cooler weather?

Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond) with
shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and keeps
the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant lilies
are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

[Derek Broughton]

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

>>On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" > wrote:
>
>>What's the scoop on Sting Algae
>
> Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
> when removing. ;o)

LOL.

>>, does it prefer cooler weather?
>
> Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
> with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
> keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
> lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan

Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.
--
derek

[Bill Stock]

"Derek Broughton" > wrote in message
...
> ~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:
>
> >>On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" >
wrote:
> >
> >>What's the scoop on Sting Algae
> >
> > Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
> > when removing. ;o)

I obviously missed something here. Do Algae removal and baptism go hand in
hand?


> LOL.
>
> >>, does it prefer cooler weather?
> >
> > Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
> > with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
> > keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
> > lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan
>
> Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
> now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
> much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
> does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.
> --
> derek

[GD]

Derek Broughton > wrote:

>~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:
>
>>>On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" > wrote:
>>
>>>What's the scoop on Sting Algae
>>
>> Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
>> when removing. ;o)
>
>LOL.
>
>>>, does it prefer cooler weather?
>>
>> Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
>> with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
>> keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
>> lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan
>
>Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
>now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
>much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
>does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.


Smart man.

[Crashj]

On or about Tue, 19 Oct 2004 14:36:56 -0700, ~ jan JJsPond.us
> was seen typing:

>>On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" > wrote:
>
>>What's the scoop on Sting Algae
>
>Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
>when removing. ;o)
>

With Sting, You've Got to Help Yourself.

--
Crashj

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

>On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 10:18:40 -0300, Derek Broughton > wrote:

>Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
>now available because the lilies are dormant?

Yeah, sure. ;o) That's a non-committed answer, instead of, I don't really
know, and/or probably a little of both. ~ jan
~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

>>>What's the scoop on Sting Algae
>>
>>Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
>>when removing. ;o)
>>
>With Sting, You've Got to Help Yourself.

While singing, More, more, more..... ~ jan
~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~