Green rocks

Hi can anyone tell me how to clean and prevent the rocks on and around my
cascade going green.The pond is only 6 months old I have stopped the water
flowing over the cascade during winter but would like to clean it up before
the spring.I have a few fish in the pond which are doing well as I have kept
filter on.

Thanks

Colin.

"colin s" wrote in message
...
Hi can anyone tell me how to clean and prevent the rocks on and around my
cascade going green.The pond is only 6 months old I have stopped the water
flowing over the cascade during winter but would like to clean it up before
the spring.I have a few fish in the pond which are doing well as I have kept
filter on.

Thanks

Colin.

Unless it gets a real heavy growth, or turns into string algae, I wouldn't worry
about it too much. The algae is actually beneficial to the pond. There's not a
lot you can do about it anyway unless you want to clean it all the time. The
algae growth is due to nutrients in the water. The only thing you can do
(besides reducing your bioload) is to add aquazyme (or something similar) to
help increase beneficial bacteria and reduce the nutrient load, or clean it when
it gets overgrown. Addiing more plants might also help, and occasional partial
water changes can also help, but remember that tap water usually contains
nutrients as well, so water changes can sometimes actually make matters worse in
the short-term.

That is one of the first things one notices with a new pond - it looks
pristine and beautiful at first and all the rocks look so good with all the
different colors - everything is so clean and the rocks look so good without
the algae growing on them - then nature takes over and covers everything at
or below water level (or on the waterfall) with algae growth - what we call
the "natural look" - there is nothing you can do about it unless you use
swimming pool chemicals (algaecides) to kill it and then you have a pool,
not a pond with fish and plants - you will get used to it (I did) and enjoy
the living, breathing pond you have created
Gale :~)
Hi can anyone tell me how to clean and prevent the rocks on and around my
cascade going green.The pond is only 6 months old I have stopped the water
flowing over the cascade during winter but would like to clean it up
before
the spring.I have a few fish in the pond which are doing well as I have
kept
filter on.

Thanks

Colin.

On Thu, 03 Feb 2005 15:27:13 GMT, "colin s"
wrote:

Hi can anyone tell me how to clean and prevent the rocks on and around my
cascade going green.The pond is only 6 months old I have stopped the water
flowing over the cascade during winter but would like to clean it up before
the spring.I have a few fish in the pond which are doing well as I have kept
filter on.

I use hydrogen peroxide on a sponge to clean a clear tube I use in my
pond. I've heard others say a handful of salt kills the algae on
their falls, but it grows back again.

Algae that grows on the stones of a waterway like a stream or
waterfall, and the sides and bottom of the pond are quite beneficial
to the pond ecosystem. Some of them feed directly on ammonia without
it being converted and one of those ingredients found in the more
expensive koi foods to enhance color is one of these algae. I
wouldn't kill it unless it becomes a real nasty problem.

I kept my filter on too, pity it isn't very effective at temperatures
below about 50*F and my water temp is about 40 today.

Regards,

Hal