another algae bloom

14 years ago

Well I went out today to check on the pond and I have green algae again. The water has a ting of green to it yet again. I am wondering how many of these am I going to have to do before it stays clear?

I started getting the very slick green algae on the liner. It turned into what looks like the start of hair algae. Any suggestion on what to do? The pond is about 2000 gallons. I have roughly 3200 gph running through the falls. I am wondering if I need more plants. Or could it be the fertilizer I am using in my lilys? I just put another round in 3 of the plants about 4 days ago. I hope that isnt the issue....

Troy

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Comments (7)

donaldb
14 years ago
My pond is half the size of yours and is in full sun for a great part of the day.The algae on the liner I believe is carpet algae and I never bother with it at all. I had no algae bloom this year and I attribute it to using barley pellets and or barley concentrate. I personally use the barley concentrate. The concentrate is fish friendly as are the pellets although you might find the pellets to be cosmetically unacceptable.
nkm56
14 years ago
The suspended algae might or might not be caused by the fertilizer. Sometimes there is just the right amount of nutrients and light in a pond to make it go green. This is especially true of new ponds and ponds that have just been through a spring cleanout.

I just put a new liner in my pond this spring, resulting in thick pea soup algae. I struggled with it for weeks, fussing and fretting about the fact that my pond is on a tour this weekend and I didn't want my guests and potential new ponders to be turned off by the nasty looking water.

Finally, even though I'm not an advocate of putting additives in the pond, I bought a product called "Eco-Floc" and added it to the water. Within minutes, I coudl see the suspended particles binding together. To avoid having this stuff go to my filter, where it would rot and cause another algae bloom, I wrapped quilt batting around my skimmer mat to catch it. I had to rinse it out every couple of hours that first day, but the pond cleared up completely overnight.

And to keep it clear, I bought a U.V. Clarifier. I know that's a dirty word to some, but I like to see my fish. The water is now gin clear and I'm ready for the tour.
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buyorsell888
14 years ago
Troy, Algae on the liner is a good thing, don't worry about it.

What other plants do you have besides waterlilies? Waterlilies shade the water but they don't use any of the nutrients in the pond.

Are your waterlilies in dirt in pots with no holes so the fertilizer can't leach out? If they are in a more porous media in mesh pots then the fertilizer certainly could be your problem.

Almost all new ponds and ponds that have been cleaned out go through an algae bloom. Ponds that don't have enough plants may do it every year. Ponds that have too many water changes can do it too. Ponds that are too clean will do it too. Some algae is good and normal in ponds.
troy_l
Original Author
14 years ago
My 3 lilies are in 2 differnt type pots. One is the mesh basket type. I put in pond underlayment in to keep the dirt from filtering out through the tiny holes. The other 2 are in planters and I put waterfall foam in the holes to seal them up. So I dont think it would be the 2 pots but definatly could be the 3rd. As for other plants I have about 65 Jurrasic water lettuce(2 adults and the rest range from small to small adult). I have several water hyicinths. They seem to do quite well thus far. I have a pot of sweetflag, Papyrus, horses tail, obedient plant and a dwarf palm. Still planning for more plants. I have to buy a little at a time. I think UV is next on my list though. Not sure if I need a clarifier or sterilizer for 2000 gallons. Also what wattage I need is up for grabs as well.

Troy
buyorsell888
14 years ago
Can't help you with the UV, have never even considered buying one.

Fertilizer can probably leach out of the mesh pot. Plastic oil pans are good pots for waterlilies and are black too so you can't see them.

The other plants you have, with exception of the water lettuce and water hyacinth aren't the greatest at removing nutrients. You need some underwater plants or semi underwater plants like parrot's feather, cabomba, anacharis, hornwort, they do a great job.
rosenbarn
14 years ago
I figure I'll get a lashing for this, but I've had my UV out on a fritz for well over a month. Miss it, but can't afford to replace it right now. I've had the green algae-soup in my pond as well. I've added hydrogen peroxide to the water and it cleared up within a day. I had to use it last year and it seems to work. I add a small bottle to my small/med. pond. Don't pour it on the walls, just directly around the edge. Kills the hair algae, turns it white and makes it float to the top so you can scoop it up. Clears up the floating algae, and it's supposed to add oxygen to the water as well. It also seems to have stunted the algae growth, because I usually get it within a few weeks time. I've got koi and a native fish in there, crawdads, several waterplants and it all seems fine.
buyorsell888
14 years ago
You must remove all of the dead algae or it will feed another algae bloom. Use quilt batting to get the dead suspended algae out of the water or vacuum it up from the bottom.