wrote:

barely straw is said to work. however,in cold weather the biobugs which do the
converting shut down. string and sweater algae does not. you got fish?
I see some string algae in my filter when I start it up in spring. then the
plants get big and the string algae is starved. do you have a pump in that
lily pond? Ingrid

The only fish are the ones that are brought in naturally by the birds.
The same is true of frogs, etc. It has no pump. It is fed naturally by
springs. When I refill it, my plan is to put in underwater plants to
use up the nutrients and oxygenate the water and water lilies to provide
shade and flowers. I understand that algae eater fish are a mixed
blessing, they increase the nutrients in the water which causes algae.
I will try to get by without algae eaters and see if I need them.

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