Your pond looks great. I was the president of our pond club here in Utah and Algae is the #1 problem with pond owners here, and probably everywhere. If your water's clear (and it is for this time of year) then live with the algae.

Here is a link that might be useful: Matt's koi pond

I don't have answers on the algae but do want to say that I love your pond. The fish-watching deck will be a great place to relax.

Anne

I really like your pond, I get string algae in my litle tubs of water plants and just have to clean it off, sorry I'm not much more help than that. I haven't heard of using hydrogen peroxide.
Lolly

The new pond is lovely. Perhaps you could try barley straw. I have success with that in my UK pond.

That is really pretty. I love the little tower thing with the water spilling over. How did you make that?

Really lovely pond and gardens!

I'm just living with my string algae for now - we've had a cool spring so the lilies are slow to get going, but the algae is thriving. But my water is clear so I just twirl and scoop when I can. I never had much luck with peroxide, and I've had barley pads in my pond since May 1st - they,re covered with green slimey algae too.

Good luck! S

Thanks, everyone.

Fool4flowers; that tower is a piece of large PVC pipe left over from a sewer project somewhere. I don't even remember where I got it, it's been hanging around here so long. I covered it with hypertufa, added a metal rim around the top (off of a round tray from Goodwill), and drilled a hole in the side at the very bottom to fit the hose from the pump. It's filled with scrubbies and makes an excellent second filter. The fish like to chase each other around it, too. One of my requirements when designing this pond was to have two separate pumps and filters. If one pump fails, the water will still keep circulating. The pump for this one is located in the deepest part of the pond, where it can pick up some of the fish poo and suspended particles.

I've never had much luck with barley, even when using the bales in larger quantities than recommended. When it finally decays enough to do it's job, it only works for a couple of weeks, then needs replaced. That's why I'm thinking of the peroxide. After searching the forums, and learning that peroxide is the chemical released by the barley, I figured I'd rather spend $1 every 2 weeks rather than $10! But I really don't want to destroy ALL of the algae, I just want to keep it under control until the plants grow more.

Jill

Jill, please keep us informed as to your results with peroxide. I have the same problem with string algae in my stream and little pond.

Dale

Your pond is gorgeous and I would not worry about the string algae.

IF you kill it, you are likely to get pea soup algae!

IMHO clear water with some string algae beats pea soup any day.

I used hydrogen peroxide successfully this spring, but I have only used it one time, as I was a little nervous about it.

I had a two foot high jungle of string algae in my pond, and no amount of hand pulling was keeping a handle on the problem. The barley pellets and barley extract simply were not working for me, but I had heard that barley gives off hydrogen peroxide as it decomposes, and that's what kills the string algae. So, I decided to give it a try. I was told to use 5 bottles of 3% hydrogen peroxide in my 1500 gallon pond, but I only added three. Too squeamish about using the full amount recommended. To my surprise the string algae was gone in three days and has not returned anywhere except the stream, from which I pull handfulls each day.

Tadpoles showed up around the same time, but I really don't think they could devour that jungle so quickly. The fish could not swim through it, it was so dense.

The pond seems to have completed its spring cycle and balance now, but I would not hesitate to use the peroxide again next year if I get the same problem.

I forgot to add that because my fish follow me around the edge of the pond hoping for food, I didn't want to put the peroxide directly into the pond for fear that I'd be dumping it right into their wide-open mouths. Instead, I slowly poured it into the stream, so that it would mix well before it reached the pond.

P.S. Fish and plants are all fine.

Is 3% hydrogen peroxide just the regular stuff you find in drug stores ? I need to treat and hopefully kill string algae and want to make sure I am using the right thing.

There is a new proguct out there that works great on that kind of string algae problem. It is called greenclean algaeside. You shut down the water sprinkle it on wait a few and then turn the water flow back on.
GreenClean can be used for algae control in any water feature such as ponds, water gardens, ornamental waterfalls, fountains and birdbaths. It is a non-hazardous algae killer that is safe for fish, birds and pets once added to the water.

Hydrogen Peroxide 3% is what you find in the drug store and much cheaper than the pond products sold, to control string algae.
Just pour the HP directly over the string algae. In a day or so drag the dead brown algae out of the pond.

The rule of thumb dosage of HP is, one pint per 100 gallons of water once a week. I use a couple of bottles, poured over the string algae, when needed and it works out just fine.
If you have a 500 gallon pond you don't need to use five bottles of HP. Just treat the area where the string algae is growing. Repeat the next week if required.

HP will add oxygen to your pond water and will not harm fish or other plants, as long as you do not go crazy with it.

Hey frogman, just to clarify: Did you really mean 1 pint per 100 gallons? That's 10X what I've read and used in the past to stop new growth of String Algae: 1 pint per 1000 gallons. Is the 10X dosage to actually kill SA rather than just to prevent new growth. And is the 10X dosage safe for fish.

Aquawise, someone posted on one of the forums a while ago that Oxy Clean (laundry product) is the same ingredient as greenclean algaecide, only much less expensive. I haven't used it, so I'm not recommending it to anyone. But anyone interested in the greenclean algaecide, might want to research the Oxy Clean first.

nmpondguy,You want to pour the Hp as close to the string algae as possible with your pump off for a few minutes so the Hp can do it's job. After a few days remove the dead algae. Some algae when the water is cold, early in the year, is good since your fish eat it. Later in the year once your plants start growing your problem should remedy itself since they will out compete the algae.
I have also heard some recommend a dosage of 1pt per 1000 gallons but what really matters is pouring it as close as you can to the area you are treating. It really can not hurt any of your fish @ the higher rate.

HP kills Bacteria right? So if you have that much in you water What happens to the bacteria in you filters??????? This would concern me! I will reasearch the Oxy clean idea. The green clean does not kill bacteria just string algae.

Ok, I have been researching This Idea.
Sodium Percarbonate
Sodium Carbonate
Potassium Hydroxide
These are the Ingredients. in Oxy clean
Sodium carbonate
Peroxyhydrate
These are the ingredients in Green clean

Has anyone used Green Clean? Is it harmful to aquatic plants? I was just looking at it on their website and it mentions that it's safe for fish and other animals, but doesn't mention plants.

It is and I have used it many times, Works good for your type of problem. I have found it does not do as good a job in deep water. For that I use algaefix. In the spring time only.

frogman,
It's good to know the higher dosage kills the SA and is fish safe. I'll try it in about a month or so.

aquawise, I'm no chemistry wiz, but it looks like the ingredients are about the same, just mixed around a bit
Thanks,
nmpondguy

I am not one myself, but if its not made for pond use I would be vary careful messin around with things I am not sure of. IMHO

Since I originally posted this, I'll weigh in here. . .

I went to Walmart and bought the big ol' bottles of peroxide in the pharmacy area, and added two to my 1200 (more or less) pond every week or so. After a few weeks, I still had string algae, but not so much that I couldn't keep it under control. By mid-August, the plants had balanced the pond enough that I no longer needed the peroxide and there was very little string algae. This year, I'm going to start adding peroxide as soon as the pond is cleaned up and filters are running. Hopefully, this will keep the algae from getting too agressive in the first place, and theoretically, the plants won't take as long to fill in and do their job since the pond is not new like last year.

The goal is to get the pond balanced. No chemical should have to be added on a regular basis all season. The peroxide is for temporary use. If you have enough plants, the pond should balance itself eventually.

By the way, my pond looks NOTHING like the pictures now :)
Darn Winter!!

Jill