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Hi, I have a problem and
am not sure what to do. My pond is 7' wide by 14' long and
average depth is 3 &1/2 feet , containing about 2500 gallons.
It is spring fed with water coming in over a waterfall and
going out the overflow. I built it , with a rubber liner,
a year ago and put in 6 Koi and 2 water lilies. Early this
summer it was full of string algae, that kept rising to the
top in mats.I had the bottom covered with fist sized stones
and they were all covered. This was so bad I drained the pond,
took out all the stones and cleaned them and the rubber liner
and started over again. I filled the pond and yesterday, 2
weeks later added 10 water lilies, parrots feather, water
cress, water lettuce and 10 Koi and 6 gold fish about 4"
long. Now, today I notice the algae is starting to cover the
stones and the sides!
I tested the water and the
PH is 7.3, the Ammonia was 0, Nitrite was 0, salt level was
0.02% and water temp. is 55 degrees all the time. The pond
is in full sun about two thirds of the day.
I don't want the algae to
get ahead like it did before. Any help you can give me will
surely will be appreciated. Thanks so much, Hal
Wow! Most of our club members would
kill for water like that! The hair algae problem comes with
the natural sources and setting of your pond.
In the far more common closed-system ponds
that abound in our hobby, chemical additives from algaecides
(which tend not to work) to variants of barley straw and its
extracts (which do work) are effective because the systems
are closed and the chemical influences stay put.
Your system defeats this with a constant
supply of fresh spring water, and any attempt to treat with
algaecides of any type will be defeated by the constant dilutional
effect of the fresh water flow.
The hair algae is a natural component of
a fresh water system, and is kept to a minimum in most natural
systems by aquatic life and rapid water movement. Your water
is too cold for a Plecostemus (armored catfish) so your best
bet is frequent sweeping with a rake or brush arrangement
and composting the results for fertilizer.
You've done everything else you can with
the introduction of aquatic and marginal plants. That'll help.
Bob Passovoy
President
MPKS
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