Hi Chris,

I want to make sure that you've really got string algae
forming.
There are about a billion types of algae but mostly
we concern ourselves with
~ single cell, which makes the water look like pea soup
~ string algae, which looks like long, several inches to a foot, long
flowing hair
~ fuzzy algae, which grows on the liner, rocks, sides of plant baskets,
only gets a couple inches long
~ gloppy, gooey algae, which floats around in clumps, falls apart when
you try and net it out.

Of all these four types of algae, we like to encourage the fuzzy algae.
It is not bad for the pond, doesn't muck up the water or tangle plants
and fish. It helps use up nutrients in the pond that would otherwise
feed single cell, string or gooey algae. It provides hiding places for
infant fish, worms and insect larvae and is a source of food for the
pond fish as they eat up it, the infant fish, tasty worms and the
insect larvae. We think it is so good that we recommend not to scrub
the liner when cleaning out the pond.

Now if you've got the long, flowing, hair like, string algae...
remove it with a broom handle, a scrub brush, a stick. Just stick it in
the middle and twist. Some folks use some commercially availabe
products (they will post their favorite), some have poured koi clay or
plain kitty litter on it and it seems to disappear. My recommendation
is to cut back on nutrients - fish waste, decaying matter in the pond,
sunlight, runoff into the pond and too much fresh water in water
changes
-- all these are nutrients for string algae (and any other kind of
algae).

kathy :-)

www.blogfromthebog.com
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