This is the first year ever that I have not had a coating of algae in
any of my half barrels or preforms......I just cleaned out the wifes
triple tier half barrel setup yesterday, and it was
spotless.........same for the other liner type containers here and
there. I was just getting things ready for the cooler months so if it
got really cold (fat chance of it really) there would be no mulm etc
decaying on the bottom to give problems later on.

I have at least one Pleco in each container some have 2 or more, as
well as 1 or 2 large snails........and some flying foxes. And each
and every outside preform has a couple of DOJO loaches, which do
remarkably well at cleaning up bottom junk.......All the roots on my
marginals that have poked through pots were spotless.......In my
opinion if you have a small preform or any pond in which you remove
your fish from in the winter and bring them indoors its worthwhile to
have a good clean up crew in them. You can't expect a ot out of a
clean up crew to do a fine job on an already infested with algae etc
pond, but if the crew is put in there at the start or after cleaning
it, then they can usually keep up with it....Previous years I was
inundated with algae, but this year it eas just about non-existent.

In the large pond I have still been aerating and usuing Baraclear and
it too has maintained a very good clarity and no string or other algae
blooms that interferred with water conditions. I do have a heap of
lilys and tons of floating plants, mainly sensitive vine/fern which
does a super job at pulling excessive nutrients from the water. My
parrots feather (what little I have left) does not do well once it
gets hot out here, but during the winter months when the other stuff
goes dormant the PF takes off and continues on with the nutrient
removal process, so come spring, until the other plants get going
again they are not inundated........Plants and aeration are important
in reducing algae, and of course excess feeding also does it part in
promooting algae growths.........I can't do much in regards to
sunlight / shade but I think I have the right balances in both the
natural ponds and the preforms etc. I'll do the same next year and see
what my reuslts are then and hopefully I have the combination of whats
needed to keep it right.

On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:50:44 -0700, ~ jan jjspond
wrote:

===On 27 Sep 2005 15:05:44 -0700, "captain039-recponds"
wrote:
===
===What do I do with the algae I still have on the liner?
===
===Leave it there. that's the good stuff that keeps suspend algae away.
===
===Should I refill the pond, and leave it as is
===for spring, or refill and use a treatment of some kind, then drain and
===refill one last time?
===
===Refill. Put shade cloth over the pond to keep leaves and sun out over
===winter, you will find the string algae all gone by spring. ~ jan


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