String Algae, HELP

One word: Plecostomas


"Paul in Redland" wrote in message
...

Two words: barley straw

It works

Paul

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 03:07:24 GMT, "John A. Kostelac"
wrote:

One word: Plecostomas


There isn't one word, they won't survive in much of the US.

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

Hi folks, new to the group. Glad to find you!

Being fairly new to ponds, ok... REALLY new to ponds we recently bought our
home in TN that has a pond that is about 80-90 ft in diameter and I will
guess at 15-20 ft deep at the middle. no pumps or filters of any kind, fed
by run off from the rest of our property.

We have spent the last few days down there cleaning around the dam and
scooping out the string algae as we can reach it.

This afternoon we spoke with some local folks with ponds like ours and they
tell us that the best thing we can do is put in a couple of Israeli Carp.
Evidently they eat the stuff and within a couple of months we can expect to
have a nice clean pond.

Now mind you, our pond is a wild thing. It harbors three turtles, several
thousand frogs, had a couple of snakes try to make their homes (we evicted
them-so to speak) there and all sorts of wildlife come and go down there.

I don't know if this solution is acceptable to most of you as I am a first
time poster here.... but it was a thought :¬D

Kate

"gerry" wrote in message
...
| [original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
| On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 03:07:24 GMT, "John A. Kostelac"
| wrote:
|
| One word: Plecostomas
|
|
| There isn't one word, they won't survive in much of the US.
|
| gerry
|
| --
|
| Personal home page - http://gogood.com
|
| gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

Has anyone tried some of the native sucker fish. I found a place that
sells redhorse suckers. I hope to stock some when the pond ages enough
to allow it. In the wild Ive seen them in schools of 4 or 5. They look
like they could eatup some algae


On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:40:52 GMT, "SVTKate"
wrote:

Hi folks, new to the group. Glad to find you!

Being fairly new to ponds, ok... REALLY new to ponds we recently bought our
home in TN that has a pond that is about 80-90 ft in diameter and I will
guess at 15-20 ft deep at the middle. no pumps or filters of any kind, fed
by run off from the rest of our property.

We have spent the last few days down there cleaning around the dam and
scooping out the string algae as we can reach it.

This afternoon we spoke with some local folks with ponds like ours and they
tell us that the best thing we can do is put in a couple of Israeli Carp.
Evidently they eat the stuff and within a couple of months we can expect to
have a nice clean pond.

Now mind you, our pond is a wild thing. It harbors three turtles, several
thousand frogs, had a couple of snakes try to make their homes (we evicted
them-so to speak) there and all sorts of wildlife come and go down there.

I don't know if this solution is acceptable to most of you as I am a first
time poster here.... but it was a thought :¬D

Kate

"gerry" wrote in message
.. .
| [original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
| On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 03:07:24 GMT, "John A. Kostelac"
| wrote:
|
| One word: Plecostomas
|
|
| There isn't one word, they won't survive in much of the US.
|
| gerry
|
| --
|
| Personal home page - http://gogood.com
|
| gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

Doc John,
Hi, first off, what is your water quality looking like? I dont so much
care about NH4, it is probably low, well maybe not after all that damn
straw. What is your dissolved oxygen levels looking like? Tell us about
your filtration and circulation situation.

I consult on a lot of construction projects and never have a string
problem. Maybe due to using liberal air and hungry fish.

In our own 13000 gallon system, the only string algae we ever see in on
the waterfall, higher than the fish can reach. I personally love the
string crap, makes a wonderful scrubber for nitrates!

rick

Doctor John wrote:
My experience with barley straw is that it is totally ineffective. I know
people rave about it, and my lack of effect may be in part due to living in
a cool climate (Colorado). I placed barely straw in net bags and even threw
some in the pond loose very early this spring. I filled net bags with
barely straw and crammed them in my filter. Altogether I probably put about
20 pounds of straw in my 6000 gallon pond. I currently have the worst
string algae problem ever - string algae is growing right on the net bags of
barley floating in the pond. I have a very low nutrient loading (6 small
Koi and little organic detritus input) - except for the straw! I am an
environmental chemist, and the explanation of the mechanism of straw
decomposition and its effect on algal growth never has sat well with me.
Humic acid production may occur, but this would not inhibit algal growth,
and the idea that trace levels of peroxide are produced is plausible, but
the levels may be so low as to have little effect on algal growth. I know,
tons of pond owners claim this works, and maybe under some circumstances it
could help, but all in all I think its a waste of time, at least in cooler
climates.

John



"Ken Russell" wrote in message
u...

Barley straw seems to be the most effective treatment.

I've just ordered some, so I'll let you know how it goes.


Ken Russell
Remove hat to reply by e-mail


"Mike" wrote in message
. ..
| This is the second year that I have a pond and I have managed to control
| blooms of suspended red algae by adding a proper mech/bio filter. My
water
| is clear and has been since the snow has disappeared.
|
| My problem now is that I'm getting a plethora of string algae in the

sunny

| spots of the pond. Is there and easy way to get rid of it (besides
pulling
| it out by hand) and more importantly an easy way to control and prevent
| outbreaks of string algae?
|
| Mike
|
|


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