Ridge wrote If it feeds on fish waste is it good then to have SOME to
decompose
the waste? I have ggod flow from two natural springs so the water is
always cold.

Well, that all depends ;-)
Some of us don't mind *some* string algae showing up in the spring as it keeps
suspended algae at bay, the kind that makes your water look like pea soup. The
larger, more desireable plants take a longer time to get going in the spring
and algae, in all its forms just jumps right in there.

All plants are good at converting fishy ammonia through the nitrogen cycle and
keeping a pond healthy for fish.
Some ponds are completely filtered by plants.
Others use a biological filter to do the job, especially ponds with big koi who
can be very hard on plants.
While some string algae can be of benefit in the spring and harmless overall,
some ponds get way to much of it and the stuff wraps around lily stems and
makes a nuisance of itself.
Many times a pond with excessive algae problems has too much of algae's
favorite foods:
sun, new water, fish waste, fertilized run off, rotting plants, blown in dirt.
I'll post the algae tips in a second post to help you pinpoint where your
problem may lay if the stuff gets to be overwhelming.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A