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Hi, I have a small 1,000 gal pond for over 15 yrs.I've always had great success. This is the first yr. I used a pond deicer. Well now I have lots of algae. Each spring I empty and clean out the pond to start fresh. Can I add algae fix to the water thats been in the pond all winter long? Or should I wait till I'm ready to clean it when nicer weather gets here, if it ever will. It may be too cold to get in there to change the filter for awhile. I put my hand in there today to grab some algae and I didnt last long
!



Hi Javier!

Algae is a consequence of nutrient (ammonia, nitrate and phosphate), sunlight and temperature. Your water is warming up, your fish (bigger now!) are waking up and the sun is shining longer. Right now, the string algae is your friend. It is sucking up some of the ammonia that your fish are generating and providing a little spring "salad" for them to nibble on as they wake up. Leave it be. As things warm up, your biofilter should reduce the available nutrients in the water and the algae growth will slow down. Hair algae and "pea soup" algae are independent problems but have the same causes. The microscopic algae can be controlled with UV, the hair algae cannot.

Smart control of algae depends on reduction of nutrients and control of solar exposure. Algaecides pollute; most string algae "fixes" don't fix.

Bob

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