Barley balls....

So will these Barley Balls etc take care of existing algae or are they
only effective for when algae starts?

I was given a bag of barley straw (so I was told) from a friend who also
gave me a bunch of different lilies and plants etc. She said to immerse
it and hold it down with a brick. Its not slowed down the algae growth
one iota. I don't want to hurt the fish (feeder gold fish and a ton of
'skeeter eaters' our environmental health dept gave away free to pond
owners) nor the plants in my tiny 125 gal pond but that stuff is choking
the death out of my pump, and I'm cleaning daily now but losing the war.
And some of the 'skeeter eaters' were pregnant so I've at least 100 or
more babies under 1" long thriving in there.

Grandpa John (newbie to ponds this year)

Bill O'Meally wrote:

Benign Vanilla wrote:


On topic...I get some string algae, but it doesn't bother me. I just
pull some out from time to time. Besides SA is great for catching
pine needles and other debris.


I pull it out *every day*. It seems to grow a foot overnight. Also, I
have mosquitos for the first time. I wonder if the SA is harboring the
eggs/larvae so that the fish can't get to them. Could also just be the
exceptional amount of rain we've had in the midwest this spring.

Oh well, I guess I should just "Don't worry. Relax. Have a homebrew".
g

Hi Grandpa John,

You might have too many fish in your pond.
Goldfish will do a fine job of eating mosquito larvae. You can catch your
excess fish with a minnow trap.
I'll post the algae tips for you:

Algae fighting tips
~ Nutrients for all forms of algae are sun, new water, fish waste, fertilized
run off, rotting plants, blown in dirt.
~ New ponds and spring ponds need time for plants to get established, algae is
quicker at getting going.
~ add plants, of any kind, in the pond. Especially underwater plants.
~ Shade is good - provided by lily pads, floating plants or artificial shade
for part of the day.
~ LOW fish stocking (20 gallons per goldfish, 100 per koi after starting with
1,000 gallons) and *not* overfeeding the fish. Too many fish and too much
feeding is probably responsible for most pea soup water, followed closely by
too much decaying plant matter, sludge and overall gunk in the water
~ clean up dead plant matter and screen for falling leaves in the fall. Clean
out pond once a year.
~ building ponds with bottom drains and skimmers.
~ do not use algaecides, they only make lots of suddenly dead algae and that
will feed the next algae bloom.
~ do not use products to dye to the water...
~ do not worry about algae that grows on things (substrate algae) this is good
for a pond
~ gently remove string algae
~ build a veggie filter* see below
~ water movement and occasional water changes of 10%
~ add a sludge consumer, concentrated bacteria.
many rec.ponders use http://www.united-tech.com/m-aq4u-toc.html
~ Check your pH, too high, over 8.8, or too low, under 6.4, and most higher
plant forms can't take up the nutrients.
~ UV lights work on suspended algae (green water) - does cost some $$.
~ adding a combination mechanical and biological filter to screen gunk and
convert fishy ammonia waste for fish health.
~ patience, more patience and time ;-)



*Veggie filter ~ running the pond's water through plants
- as easy as floating water hyacinth in top of a stock tank and planting
watercress in your waterfall (my method ;-)
or
read Ingrid's post on plant filters:
"The essence of a plant filter is a water proof container with the water from
the pond
being pumped in one end flowing thru the roots of various plants and flowing
back
into the pond at the other end.
It needs to be long enough that solids settle to the bottom OR have filter
material
that will slow or hold the solids (and get rinsed out periodically).
It needs plants of different kinds to maximize removal of all wastes.
it needs sufficient amount of plants to remove in one day all the wastes
produced by
the fish load in one day. It needs plants with extensive roots and/or plants
that get big so they used up more
nutrients. It needs to be only 8-12" deep so it doesnt go anaerobic."
or go he
http://www.iheartmypond.com/Design/D...rs/default.asp

kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Outstanding, thanks a bunch!

Ka30P wrote:

Hi Grandpa John,

You might have too many fish in your pond.
Goldfish will do a fine job of eating mosquito larvae. You can catch your
excess fish with a minnow trap.

I had 9 feeder goldfish but decided that I should have some of the
skeeter eaters since (1) they were free; and (2) we do have a problem in
NM with West Nile virussigh here so our Env H dept has been doing
public service announcements and urging people to take the fish. I told
them how big the pond was and that I had feeder fish in it but they
seemed to think I needed a dozen skeeter eaters. Dang things are worse
than Gerbils & Rabbits judging by all the little uns, and shoot, I just
got them 2 weeks ago!

FWIW, mine is 125 gals (from Sam's Club), black plastic dogbone shape,
plant steps in all 4 corners & a small waterfall step attachment.

~ Nutrients for all forms of algae are sun, new water, fish waste, fertilized
run off, rotting plants, blown in dirt.

Arrrrrrrgh, I'm in Albuquerque and we have LOTS of sun and blowing sand.

~ New ponds and spring ponds need time for plants to get established, algae is
quicker at getting going.

The plants are extremely healthy, in fact I've had top seperate one
bunch in a 6" pot already as the roots were coming out everywhere.

~ add plants, of any kind, in the pond. Especially underwater plants.

Underwater, please expand. Lilies are underwater but of course the
flower and pad are on the surface. Are these considered underwater
plants? Gently please, I am a newbie to ponds.

~ do not worry about algae that grows on things (substrate algae) this is good
for a pond

I'm assuming this is the type that you can just barely pick up in your
hand as its so fine and spread out. In my pond it floats and the pomp
that makes the mushroom display pushes it towards the sides but no way
can you pick it up.

~ gently remove string algae

I've been taking it out every 3-5 days. Seems to stay around the lilies
mostly.

I'm thinking I need to locate a feed store and buy a bale of this Barley
Hay, unless its available in smaller qtys at a CHEAP price.

Thanks again, Grandpa John

Grandpa John wrote

Underwater, please expand.

Do you have a good nursery that carries pond plants? Many of them sell plants
that grow completely underwater. Some of them are getting hard to find now as
they can become noxious weeds in many states. Anacharis and hornwort are common
underwater plants.

Substrate algae is more like a green fuzz that grows on the side of the pond,
the sides of plant pots. It should not fall apart when you touch it.
Stuff that falls apart is probably dead algae that should be removed from your
pond via a mechanical filter - what this could be is anything that catches
stuff before it goes into your pump or before the water goes over the
waterfall.



kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Ka30P wrote:

Grandpa John wrote
Underwater, please expand.

Do you have a good nursery that carries pond plants? Many of them sell plants
that grow completely underwater. Some of them are getting hard to find now as
they can become noxious weeds in many states. Anacharis and hornwort are common
underwater plants.

We have 1 but they don't seem to have a good handle on pond plants,
great for other stuff though. Thets where I saw the 'expensive' barley
balls right after I started my pond. The only other place I've seen any
pond plants at all is WalMartsigh.

Substrate algae is more like a green fuzz that grows on the side of the pond,
the sides of plant pots. It should not fall apart when you touch it.

That describes mine but its so fine, almost like a foam, that when you
pick it up it runs out of you hand. It doesn't adhere to itself.

Stuff that falls apart is probably dead algae that should be removed from your
pond via a mechanical filter - what this could be is anything that catches
stuff before it goes into your pump or before the water goes over the
waterfall.

I had really good luck yesterday with a foam sleeve over the pump PU
tube. Had to clean it 8 different times as it plugged up, plus I got a
lot of stuff off the bottom. I've the unit sitting upon a brick so it
doesn't get plugged constantly. I may well pick up another pump of
sorts for filtering out the bigger stuff, like into a 5gal plastic
bucket, strain thru an old Tshirt then pour back into the pond.

One more Q on barley hay if I may, should the ball/bag be floating or
fully submerged. The friend who graciously gave me the plants etc said
submerged, the barley balls I saw said floating and that when they
submerged by themselves to replace them.

Thanks VERY much for helping a newbie'
Grandpa John

PS-you're making my beautiful little 3 yr old grandaughter very happy as
she is completely fascinated with the pond. She points out the fish,
the flowers and loves sitting by & wathcing it. She's a nature girl
(loves critters) we watch bugs & birds together and have a turtle in my
compost bin thats her buddy (Timmy the Turtle) and she feeds it carrots
and cantalope among other veggies.

Grandpa John wrote

One more Q on barley hay if I may, should the ball/bag be floating or
fully submerged. The friend who graciously gave me the plants etc said
submerged, the barley balls I saw said floating and that when they
submerged by themselves to replace them.

I have never used barley so I'm not the best one to answer that question but
other people have. I haven't added it to my algae hints yet. Don't know enough
to feel comfortable in adding it but I will do some more research and add it
some day. Maybe find a good link to drop in there.

PS-you're making my beautiful little 3 yr old grandaughter very happy as
she is completely fascinated with the pond. She points out the fish,
the flowers and loves sitting by & wathcing it. She's a nature girl
(loves critters) we watch bugs & birds together and have a turtle in my
compost bin thats her buddy (Timmy the Turtle) and she feeds it carrots
and cantalope among other veggies

:-))))) What a sweetie!!
This stuff can be so rewarding with children. We built our pond when my
youngest (almost 15 now!) was in elementary school and he, along with one of
the labs, as a puppy, used to paitiently try to catch bullfrogs. He was the
only one who could do it. The bullfrogs would be very good about hanging still
as he carried them up to the porch, they seemed half as big as he was. I'd take
their picture and then back they'd go in the pond.

I'm off to Seattle for a quick over and back trip. Hope someone can help with
the barley question.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

owners) nor the plants in my tiny 125 gal pond but that stuff is choking
the death out of my pump, and I'm cleaning daily now but losing the war.
And some of the 'skeeter eaters' were pregnant so I've at least 100 or

Tell me you didn't put the straw in your pond loose?

GrannyGrump wrote:
owners) nor the plants in my tiny 125 gal pond but that stuff is choking
the death out of my pump, and I'm cleaning daily now but losing the war.
And some of the 'skeeter eaters' were pregnant so I've at least 100 or


Tell me you didn't put the straw in your pond loose?

Nah, its inside a small bag that oranges came in with ¼" spacing between
the strings. It stays submerged by itself now but has done nothing to
inhibit algae growth.

Grandpa John