Can't help on the deicer. It is true that straw...barley or
other...helps with the algae. Our KOI are the best, however. They
think it is green cotton candy. No string algae. We even toss some in
from the falls for a treat! Don't know how they came to their
conclusion, but I like it.

Good luck.

Jim

TheStealth wrote:
Well winter is over here in Montreal and the ice is almost gone from my
small ~800gal pond. I have a few questions to ask before I start cleaning
it out and reintroducing my goldfish.This will be my 3rd season with a pond
and for the past two years I have managed to control the suspended algae
with a few different versions of DIY filters but I always been getting some
nasty string algae outbreaks. I want to know what can I do to prevent these
outbreaks. I have heard that leaving some barley straw in the pond will
help control it. Is this true? Are there other techniques to control it?

The second this I want to ask about is pond de-icers. I have 13 goldfish
and have to keep them in two separate aquariums over the winder months
because my pond freezes solid. Next fall I am afraid the fish will have
gotten too big to keep indoors in two aquariums and I don't have place to
set up a third. I was thinking of leaving them in the pond over the winter
but to introduce a pond heater/de-icer. Is this feasible? If so what kind
of de-icers should I be looking at? Any model or brand that you would
recommend?

Thanks for any info.

Mike