Algae

Hi all,

Sorry to see religous types are trying to take over this newsgroup,
but I hope all true ponders will continue to post.

However, I have a pond about ~600 gallons that is 21 months old, built
in July 2003. In 2003 I didn't have any problems , but in 2004 I was
plagued with what I believe was string algea. I tried some chemical
cures, but they didn't really work. Now early 2005 when the
temperatures are still fairly low (UK temps 5 - 10 degrees C) I seem
to have an algea problem developing. I don't really want to go through
the problems I had last year so I'm considering 2 options, the first
is UV light and the second is barley straw (where can you buy it in
UK?)

Pond guessitmated (I know there's no such word) to be about 600-700
gallons, 12 green tench and 25 golden rudd. At least I hope as I have
a heron visit several times a week, but I believe the pond is designed
to protect the fish, i.e. no shallow banks and over 3 foot deep in the
middle.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Regards

nemo2

Hi Nemo,

You are having single cell algae problems, green
water?

You may have too many fish.
I looked up green tench and golden rudd online and
the tench look like they get large, not sure of the
rudd. Larger fish provide more fish waste for the algae
to feed upon.

But I would
- reduce the number of fish
- clean the pond of any muck, dead plants, if needed
- build a filter that runs the water through plants

I would also consider an UltraViolet filter if you can
afford it. (I don't have one but others really like them)
They won't work on string algae though.

I've heard of barley straw, but also never tried it.

My keys to clear water are low fish stock, low fish
feeding and plant filtering.

Good luck!
kathy

Well I keep my 1.65 mil gal natural pond pretty well free of algae
with baraclear-80 which is nothing more than common alum bonded with
bentonite clay in pellet form. I use powdered alum in my holding tanks
and outside aquariums with good results. It will make the water cloudy
since its a powder, but it settles out within a few hours just fine.
The pelleted form Baraclear does not cloud water and sinks right to
the bottom, but I did not have sufficient amount of pelleted form on
hand so I tried just the plain powdered alum and it works just fine,
except for initial clouding. And contrary to what you hear alum is not
harmfull to fish any more than any thing else is if its used in the
proper proportions. I would think you can buy alum in any pharmacy in
the UK or anywhere else in the world.

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 23:08:24 +0000, nemo2 wrote:

===Hi all,
===
===Sorry to see religous types are trying to take over this newsgroup,
===but I hope all true ponders will continue to post.
===
===However, I have a pond about ~600 gallons that is 21 months old, built
===in July 2003. In 2003 I didn't have any problems , but in 2004 I was
===plagued with what I believe was string algea. I tried some chemical
===cures, but they didn't really work. Now early 2005 when the
===temperatures are still fairly low (UK temps 5 - 10 degrees C) I seem
===to have an algea problem developing. I don't really want to go through
===the problems I had last year so I'm considering 2 options, the first
===is UV light and the second is barley straw (where can you buy it in
===UK?)
===
===Pond guessitmated (I know there's no such word) to be about 600-700
===gallons, 12 green tench and 25 golden rudd. At least I hope as I have
===a heron visit several times a week, but I believe the pond is designed
===to protect the fish, i.e. no shallow banks and over 3 foot deep in the
===middle.
===
===Any suggestions appreciated.
===
===Regards
===
===nemo2


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 23:08:24 +0000, nemo2 wrote:

Hi all,

Sorry to see religous types are trying to take over this newsgroup,
but I hope all true ponders will continue to post.

However, I have a pond about ~600 gallons that is 21 months old, built
in July 2003. In 2003 I didn't have any problems , but in 2004 I was
plagued with what I believe was string algea. I tried some chemical
cures, but they didn't really work. Now early 2005 when the
temperatures are still fairly low (UK temps 5 - 10 degrees C) I seem
to have an algea problem developing. I don't really want to go through
the problems I had last year so I'm considering 2 options, the first
is UV light and the second is barley straw (where can you buy it in
UK?)

Pond guessitmated (I know there's no such word) to be about 600-700
gallons, 12 green tench and 25 golden rudd. At least I hope as I have
a heron visit several times a week, but I believe the pond is designed
to protect the fish, i.e. no shallow banks and over 3 foot deep in the
middle.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Regards

nemo2

Got an approximately 100 gallon pond, currentlly inhabited by 2
fantails and 2 golden tench, over the last couple of days 6 "pairs" of
frogs have been seen. But fortunately as yet I haven't had an
infestation of hypocritical, child murdering Jehovahs Witnesses.
They don't seem to come to my door for some strange reason, couldn't
possibly be anything to do with me flashing my blood/organ donor card
at them when they call could it?

Howard
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/otters/Fish.htm

ICQ: 321716099

"~Roy~" wrote in message
...
Well I keep my 1.65 mil gal natural pond
SNIP


YOUR WHAT!?!??!?!?!?

HOW MANY GALLONS?


--
BV
Webporgmaster of iheartmypond.com
http://www.iheartmypond.com
Help IHeartMyPond.com, by doing all of your eBay shopping via our
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Your what what?????????????????

Thats what I said. 1.65 MILLION GALLONS is what my pond
contains.............sounds like a lot of water but its not a lot for
the average sized natural ponds normally found around here.

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 20:16:40 -0500, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

===
==="~Roy~" wrote in message
t...
=== Well I keep my 1.65 mil gal natural pond
===SNIP
===
===
===YOUR WHAT!?!??!?!?!?
===
===HOW MANY GALLONS?


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

"~Roy~" wrote in message
...
Your what what?????????????????

Thats what I said. 1.65 MILLION GALLONS is what my pond
contains.............sounds like a lot of water but its not a lot for
the average sized natural ponds normally found around here.

snip

In my book, you gots you a lake.

How many acres is it? Depth? How do you filter it?


--
BV
Webporgmaster of iheartmypond.com
http://www.iheartmypond.com
Help IHeartMyPond.com, by doing all of your eBay shopping via our
eBay Affiliate Link: http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1609574-10357516.
It doesn't cost you anything, but an extra click!

I get my straw on E-bay

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 08:57:52 -0500, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

===
==="~Roy~" wrote in message
et...
=== Your what what?????????????????
===
=== Thats what I said. 1.65 MILLION GALLONS is what my pond
=== contains.............sounds like a lot of water but its not a lot for
=== the average sized natural ponds normally found around here.
===
===snip
===
===In my book, you gots you a lake.
===
===How many acres is it? Depth? How do you filter it?

Depth varies up to 21+ feet deep. its not filtered, just
aerated.........covers better than 1 acre but it varies from time to
time as I am always increasing my ponds boundaries and changing
things. Banks range from tapering from 0" to banks that just drop off
down to 5' of more. I just finished raiseing the pond level an
additional 10 inches, which in turn changes its boundaries yet again.
Someday, I'll get it where I want it.


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

(Joe Williams) wrote:

I get my straw on E-bay

I get my barley straw at Ace Hardware (Weaver's in Fleetwood, PA).

--
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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
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