algae: the good, the bad, the ugly
GOOD: Algae removes wastes from the water. During the day it pumps oxygen into the
water. People who raise fish make "green ponds" so fry have plenty to eat. OTOH,
pea soup is an indicator that the pond is seriously low on biofiltration and water
quality is at risk.
BAD: at night, algae removes oxygen from the water and when water temps are high can
result in fish kills with the biggest fish dying first. Big air stones on a blower
will prevent this.
Dying algae left in the pond will leach wastes back into the pond and be consumed by
bacteria that will use up oxygen. If UV or anything else is going to be used for
killing UV (UV mostly roughs up the surface of algae making it stick to each other,
clumping and it sinks rather than floats)... so a filter that can trap these algae
clumps must be used and CLEANED to get rid of the organics. AT THE SAME TIME
something must be done to correct the underlying problem of excessive nutrients which
will arise when the waste eating algae is removed.
UGLY: you cant see the fish, cant see if they are having other problems.
Keeping leaves and other organics out of the pond is going to cut down on algae
problems. Increasing aeration helps the bacteria break everything down. Cleaning
filters removes organics. Small amounts of very high quality food or even skipping a
day on feeding is going to put less crap (literally) into the pond. Dont overfeed
especially in spring. Using plants in a veggie filter that are up and running early
and can stand some frosts and cold gets biofiltration going earlier.
Ingrid


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List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
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Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.