On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 14:45:56 +0000, Yabbadoo wrote:

Graham - thanks! I have a large air pump and 2 stones, but believed that
adding oxygen to the water would only promote algae growth (The "enzyme"
solution is described as "enzymes using all the oxygen, thus depriving
blanketweed of it, and therefore markedly cutting its growth"). So, except
for the "hospital" barrel, the air-pump has not been used.
Well for my algae the air pump took about a week to almost completely
clear the pond, now I can see fish, and even the bottom in some places
My huge multi-stage filtration system was enjoyed by the fish but ignored
by the algae. See:
http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/library/green_water.html
as this is the only story that fits what I have experienced in my pond..

If you are taking large amounts of blanket weed out, it's obviously
finding ideal conditions to grow in again - maybe there is an amount of
nitrate or protein in there?

One side effect of having an air pump running in the surface is that for
the first few days I got masses of foam - like icebergs they were. It's
the same type of green tinged foam I used to find in my trickle filter so
I wonder if the huge increase in aeration and water movement might get rid
of some plant nutrient, or be breeding some super aerobic bacteria that
cures all ills

I'm now looking for a reasonable skimmer system....

I've heard the Henlow place advertised on the radio but never been there
- I'm baby sitting fish of a friend so I haven't ever bought any koi. Saw
some nice ones at world of water the other day though (Watford) but I
think this is a bad time of year to buy small fish - any opinions?

Cheers,

Graham

Like you, I've a computerised de-ioniser on the pond, and another in the
house. As far as I can see, neither work - the electric kettle still
"chalks" up. I have a fixed magnet - I'll see if it makes a difference -
thanks for that tip.

The I-Tronic blanket weed solution is expensive, and clearly works by
adding copper in minute quantities (but, which copper salt is it?) I
take your point about the toxicity - ANY copper will immediately kill
all molluscs (snails) and it's clearly a very fine balance to kill
blanket weed and avoid killing fish. I'm investigating that (plus, the
actual copper salt generated - seems to me that adding a gram or two
from a chemist is far cheaper than £120 plus anode replacement. This
could be acheived without danger by removing the fish, dosing with
copper, killing the blanket weed, then draining and replacing the pond
water - in theory, anyway.

I'll try the air-stone thing first, as you suggest. I'm not really keen
on adding chemicals unless they're beneficial!

Yes, you're not far from me, less than an hour's drive (which means you
are in Japanese Koi Co, Henlow, Beds, catchment area. DON'T go there
for fish !

Thanks again, Len.

"Graham" wrote in message
news
I live just west of Cambridge, CAMBS so you must be fairly close!
The coil thingies are the same as the regular plumbing fixes for
preventing calcium ions from sticking to hot water systems.

They are designed to be identical in operational effect to fixed
magnets, but I suspect they tend to de-gauss objects and therefore have
no effect. Permanent magnets on the other hand DO stop calcium sticking
as I've used a Liffe one in my house for 5 years since getting rid of
the old chalk filled hot water tank, and the new one still has a shine
on the inside.

I just stuck a big magnet off of an old speaker into my 4" gravity
return and haven't had a blanket weed problem since, although that
might be coincidence..

Copper is toxic to fish and plants, I'd avoid that. Also the dead weed
will then feed the new growth and you'll get twice as much.

The only useful thing I've heard is to use a bigger filter than you
need (perhaps add a trickle filter - a barrel water butt full of porous
ceramic with a few 2" perforated tubes to allow the air around) and to
mix air into the water just before it enters the filter.

Interestingly I solved a year long problem with algae in my pond by
getting a big air pump and dumping a couple of big airstones in the
water - it worked like magic, so it might help the eco-system deal with
blanket weed too..

Graham


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