article on algae problem in lake

(~Roy~) wrote:

Runoff from the land into any body of water brings extra nutrients,
which all lead to feeding algae. I don;t know if I would go the coper
based route, but they use it around here with good results. heard both
ways it hurts or kills fish and invertabraes and also heard if done
properly it causes them no harm. I use aluminum sulphate (?) common
alum which is marketed as Baraclear-80 which locks up the phosphates,
and it has made a remarkable improvement in my waters looks and
virtually reduced my algae to nothing. A super feat for the zone I
live in.

Actually alum is an ambiguous term. Alum can be any one of a series of
isomorphous double salts that are hydrated sulfates of a univalent
cation (e.g., potassium, sodium, ammonium, cesium, or thallium) and a
trivalent cation (e.g., aluminum, chromium, iron, manganese, cobalt, or
titanium). The name alum commonly refers to potassium aluminum sulfate
dodecahydrate, or potash alum, KAl(SO4)2?12H2O, a colorless-to-white,
crystalline compound. Straight aluminum sulfate would work best in a
pond because it will tie up the potassium and form potash alum.

I am not sure of the dynamics of aluminum sulfate in a pond, but on
land, the aluminum sulfate will eventually poison the soil. The
aluminum builds up to such a high level that it destroys microorganisms
in the soil. This was learned with blueberries. Farmers applied alum
to the soil to increase the acidity. This worked wonders, but
eventually the blueberry plants started looking bad and stopped
producing. The aluminum in the soil was the culprit. In acidic soils,
aluminum ions are toxic to nearly everything that lives in the soil that
is beneficial to berry plants and builds up over time.

Most extension services state:
"Aluminum sulfate will also lower pH, but it is not recommended as a
soil acidifying amendment because of the potential for aluminum toxicity
to plant roots."

for examples see:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07727.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/plants/BG497.html
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/champa...rs/020622.html
http://www.hgic.umd.edu/pubs/online/hg11.pdf
http://www.ahs.org/040329_TAG/M_J25-29.pdf
http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/JF%20Blueberry.pdf
http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/blue.../bb-v20n18.pdf
http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/how-to-plant.html

Unfortunately people that sell alum/aluminum sulfate still recommend it
to acidify soils. They also sell you more plants when your old one dye.

By the way, Tom's of Maine sells buffered aluminum sulfate and calls it
tooth paste. Deodorant companies call it an antiperspirant.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
18,000 gallon (17'x 47'x 2-4') lily pond garden in Zone 6
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA

I can see too much of anything building up and making a potential for
a problem. Evidently from studies on Baraclear (Aluminum Sulfate) its
not a problem. There is a city park here with a large moat type of
pond that surrounds an observatory, and its been usuing baraclear-80
for years now........and those koi in that moat are just fantastic.
All the local golf courses use it in their watertraps / ponds etc, and
a lot of them also have fish etc in them. The local zoo uses it by the
turckloads in their aquatic settings that contain all kinds of
wildlife with fur, feathers scales etc.......The local Hyundai plant
that just opened here has a huge Koi pond out in front of their main
building in the shape of Hyundai's slanted H. The pond is gunite and
decorative tile and approximately 350 feet across and up to 7 oir 8
feet in depth. I visited it when they were stocking it with koi a
few weeks back. They also have treated their water with baraclear.
This pond has been filled for well over 9 months.

I have to think when the properties of alum is tied up when it locks
up the phosphates it merely winds up basically like an inert
ingredient on the bottom of the pond. Now if there was no phosphates
to lock up I could see a high level of it occuring, and then possibly
be a problem........sort of like giving medications when nothing is
actually required....

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 09:06:11 -0500, Stephen Henning
wrote:

(~Roy~) wrote:
===
=== Runoff from the land into any body of water brings extra nutrients,
=== which all lead to feeding algae. I don;t know if I would go the coper
=== based route, but they use it around here with good results. heard both
=== ways it hurts or kills fish and invertabraes and also heard if done
=== properly it causes them no harm. I use aluminum sulphate (?) common
=== alum which is marketed as Baraclear-80 which locks up the phosphates,
=== and it has made a remarkable improvement in my waters looks and
=== virtually reduced my algae to nothing. A super feat for the zone I
=== live in.
===
===Actually alum is an ambiguous term. Alum can be any one of a series of
===isomorphous double salts that are hydrated sulfates of a univalent
===cation (e.g., potassium, sodium, ammonium, cesium, or thallium) and a
===trivalent cation (e.g., aluminum, chromium, iron, manganese, cobalt, or
===titanium). The name alum commonly refers to potassium aluminum sulfate
===dodecahydrate, or potash alum, KAl(SO4)2?12H2O, a colorless-to-white,
===crystalline compound. Straight aluminum sulfate would work best in a
===pond because it will tie up the potassium and form potash alum.
===
===I am not sure of the dynamics of aluminum sulfate in a pond, but on
===land, the aluminum sulfate will eventually poison the soil. The
===aluminum builds up to such a high level that it destroys microorganisms
===in the soil. This was learned with blueberries. Farmers applied alum
===to the soil to increase the acidity. This worked wonders, but
===eventually the blueberry plants started looking bad and stopped
===producing. The aluminum in the soil was the culprit. In acidic soils,
===aluminum ions are toxic to nearly everything that lives in the soil that
===is beneficial to berry plants and builds up over time.
===
===Most extension services state:
==="Aluminum sulfate will also lower pH, but it is not recommended as a
===soil acidifying amendment because of the potential for aluminum toxicity
===to plant roots."
===
===for examples see:
===http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07727.html
===http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/plants/BG497.html
===http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/champa...rs/020622.html
===http://www.hgic.umd.edu/pubs/online/hg11.pdf
===http://www.ahs.org/040329_TAG/M_J25-29.pdf
===http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/JF%20Blueberry.pdf
===http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/blue.../bb-v20n18.pdf
===http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/how-to-plant.html
===
===Unfortunately people that sell alum/aluminum sulfate still recommend it
===to acidify soils. They also sell you more plants when your old one dye.
===
===By the way, Tom's of Maine sells buffered aluminum sulfate and calls it
===tooth paste. Deodorant companies call it an antiperspirant.


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

(~Roy~) wrote:

I have to think when the properties of alum is tied up when it locks
up the phosphates it merely winds up basically like an inert
ingredient on the bottom of the pond. Now if there was no phosphates
to lock up I could see a high level of it occuring, and then possibly
be a problem........sort of like giving medications when nothing is
actually required....

It is not so much the phosphates tying it up, but the pH. The aluminum
becomes a problem at low pH's. In ponds, the pH is usually managed.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman