"Crashj" wrote in message
...
On or about 3 Jan 2005 16:57:03 -0600, Otto Pylot
wrote something like:

Howdy all,
We had an outdoor pond installed last July.

there is a lot of string algae growing.

Barley straw apparently doses the pond with hydrogen peroxide (well,
it's a theory) that inhibits the growth of string algae. I also derive
hours or minutes of amusement twirling it onto a rough dowel and
pulling it up.

"Everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten or grad
school. In between is a vast wasteland of ignorance."
Here in UK barley straw is used a lot for this. I use it myself. I has to
be barley straw though. I place a good lump of it into a nylon net which
onions are sold in, and weight it down with half a brick or something. The
results are not as instant as chemicals but I believe in the long run far
better and of course cheaper too. I have a 2000 gallon pond in full sunlight
in summer (when we get any) and mine does get a lot of this stuff, but by
adding my net of fresh barley straw in late spring, it is so clean and clear
I can see right down to the bottom which is some 5 foot at the deepest part
in the centre. I had to use a ladder to climb out when I was digging it :0)