Preventing string algae and pond de-icers

[TheStealth]

Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start cleaning
it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a pond
and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended algae
with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting some
nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent these
outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond will
help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control it?

The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13 goldfish
and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will have
gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place to
set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the winter
but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what kind
of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
recommend?

Thanks for any info.

Mike

[Phyllis and Jim Hurley]

Can't help on the deicer. It is true that straw...barley or
other...helps with the algae. Our KOI are the best, however. They
think it is green cotton candy. No string algae. We even toss some in
from the falls for a treat! Don't know how they came to their
conclusion, but I like it.

Good luck.

Jim

TheStealth wrote:
> Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
> small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start cleaning
> it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a pond
> and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended algae
> with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting some
> nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent these
> outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond will
> help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control it?
>
> The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13 goldfish
> and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
> because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will have
> gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place to
> set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the winter
> but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what kind
> of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
> recommend?
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Mike
>
>

[kathy]

My remedy for string algae is reduce
the nutrient load in the pond. Reduce
the fish numbers, clean out debris, keep
run off from entering the pond, increasing
higher order plants and shade if
possible.

As for winter... I'd worry about energy cost
to you. Do you have a garage or unheated
basement? Bringing the fish in and putting
them into a 150 gallon stock tank with an
air bubbler might work. If the water stays
nice and cold inside you wouldn't be feeding
and your filtering would not have to be really
high tech (but I would listen to the experts on
this!)

kathy :-)


www.blogfromthebog.com

[CanadianCowboy]

I took the plunge this last winter and kept the fish outside. I was
told that moving water doesn't freeze so I kept my two pumps on all
winter. One is for a spitter and the strong one is for the waterfall.
Eventually it got too cold and the water stopped flowing from either
the spitter and waterfall (I live in the Toronto area).

Well my plan was to thaw out the pond with some hot water from my
kitchen sink via a quick connect to my garden house. This worked great
but very time consuming. I realized that the pumps were generating
enough water flow to keep the pond from totally freezing and they helped
form a hole on top of the pond which is critical for expelling toxic
gases. I am happy to say that all my fish lived !

I was going to look into a de-icer but cold winters in Canada means that
the deicer would almost always be on and with the price of electricity
these days it was cheaper to buy new fish than save the old ones.

Well I didn't have to buy either !

TheStealth wrote:
> Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
> small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start cleaning
> it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a pond
> and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended algae
> with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting some
> nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent these
> outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond will
> help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control it?
>
> The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13 goldfish
> and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
> because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will have
> gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place to
> set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the winter
> but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what kind
> of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
> recommend?
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Mike
>
>

[Derek Broughton]

TheStealth wrote:

> Well winter is over here in Montreal

Oh sure - then where did this snow come from that we're getting today!
--
derek in Nova Scotia

[TheStealth]

not sure, but we've had sun for the past week and there is no more snow on
the ground. Maybe you got lucky out east and got to enjoy one of those
nor-easters

Mike

"Derek Broughton" > wrote in message
...
> TheStealth wrote:
>
>> Well winter is over here in Montreal
>
> Oh sure - then where did this snow come from that we're getting today!
> --
> derek in Nova Scotia

[brewerg]

Hi Mike,

I also live in Montreal and keep goldfish over winter in an outdoor
pond. I use an upside down Rubbermaid container that contains 2 x
25Watt electric bulbs. The heat from the bulbs keeps a hole in the ice
and 10 out of 11 goldfish survived the winter. The inverted Rubbermaid
container is kept afloat by "swimming pool noodles" attached to the rim
of the container. This was the first year that I have used this heater.
Improvements for next year will be to use polystyrene to insulate the
sides of the container to make it more efficient.

Regards,

Graham





TheStealth Wrote:
> Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
> small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start
> cleaning
> it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a
> pond
> and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended
> algae
> with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting
> some
> nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent
> these
> outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond
> will
> help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control
> it?
>
> The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13
> goldfish
> and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
> because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will
> have
> gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place
> to
> set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the
> winter
> but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what
> kind
> of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
> recommend?
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Mike


--
brewerg

[Koitoy]

TheStealth Wrote:
> Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
> small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start
> cleaning
> it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a
> pond
> and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended
> algae
> with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting
> some
> nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent
> these
> outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond
> will
> help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control
> it?
>
> The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13
> goldfish
> and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
> because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will
> have
> gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place
> to
> set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the
> winter
> but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what
> kind
> of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
> recommend?
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Mike


Hi Mike, this is my first post. I have a deeper pond but here is the
technique I use in the winter. I use a small 700 gallon/hour pump and
keep the output hose only about an inch from the water surface. Close
to it I keep my pond de-icer. Or at least I used to before my de-icer
stopped working. It kept my entire pond (3000 gallons) from freezing.
When the de-icer quit this year I just ran the pump. I got ice- but a
pretty good size hole thru it. I really liked the idea of keeping the
fish in the garage though. Sounds like the best idea. My biggest
concern about running a pump strong enough to keep your pond from
freezing is that there may be to much current- which might stress your
fish.


--
Koitoy

[CanadianCowboy]

I live in Toronto and I too just left my pumps running. Just disconnect
all the hoses and let them run preferably in one area. The pond froze
over but left a small hole big enough to let gasses escape and the
current was strong enough not to freeze the bottom. All my fish lived
and I have about 50 of them.

Koitoy wrote:
> TheStealth Wrote:
>
>>Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
>>small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start
>>cleaning
>>it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a
>>pond
>>and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended
>>algae
>>with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting
>>some
>>nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent
>>these
>>outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond
>>will
>>help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control
>>it?
>>
>>The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13
>>goldfish
>>and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
>>because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will
>>have
>>gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place
>>to
>>set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the
>>winter
>>but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what
>>kind
>>of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
>>recommend?
>>
>>Thanks for any info.
>>
>>Mike
>
>
>
> Hi Mike, this is my first post. I have a deeper pond but here is the
> technique I use in the winter. I use a small 700 gallon/hour pump and
> keep the output hose only about an inch from the water surface. Close
> to it I keep my pond de-icer. Or at least I used to before my de-icer
> stopped working. It kept my entire pond (3000 gallons) from freezing.
> When the de-icer quit this year I just ran the pump. I got ice- but a
> pretty good size hole thru it. I really liked the idea of keeping the
> fish in the garage though. Sounds like the best idea. My biggest
> concern about running a pump strong enough to keep your pond from
> freezing is that there may be to much current- which might stress your
> fish.
>
>