Being as you don't have any fish or plants in there yet, I *guess* you could
get a soft push broom (a NEW one, no soaps!) and gently "sweep" the sides
(you don't want to remove the algae, only the "burnt" parts). Be prepared
for the gunk, and make sure you keep your prefilters clean. I'm just letting
mine slough off naturally as it's replaced with the new growth. My water
temp is back to the high 60's, so I'm a bit ahead of you. I, too, have a
bunch of string algae in the waterfall area. The general consensus is to
leave it there for filtering properties until my biobugs get over their
shock, but I can't WAIT to get rid of it. It's thick enough to muffle the
sounds of the waterfall, but when I remove some of the worse areas, it does
release a bunch of gunk.

Under no circumstances drain your pond: if you do, you'll be right back to
Day One. Something that drastic should be saved for something, errr,
*drastic*! The absolute most you should drain down your pond, even for heavy
cleaning, is half way. So, bottom line: if you like crawling around in
frigid water, go ahead and try brushing it off. If you'd prefer sitting on
the bank and soaking in the sun, I think it will go away by itself G (If
it doesn't show an improvement over the next 2 weeks or so, [provided no
more frosts!] then maybe it IS something else, but I think I'd wait to see.)

Thanks for the invite: if I ever venture that far "north", I'll let you
know. Are you going to AFKAPS in Orlando, end of March?

Lee


"Sue Walsh" wrote in message
om...
Lee,
Thanks for the local reply, I am beginning to agree with this theory,
you are the second person to say the same thing. If it is "dead"
algae and since I don't have any plants in yet (just a few bunches of
anacharis) do you think I should try brushing it off and vacuuming it
out. Can I do this without draining it, I hope? If you think that is
possible I'd give it a shot. Then I am going to plant the pond and
try to wait it out. I have gotten my hands on a few plants and about
20 bunches of anacharis, also a friend is going to give me some of her
plants. So It's a start. Have an order in to Aqua Mart which will
ship mid march and maybe more local stuff will be around before then
also. My stream seems to be growing some green string algae also,so
hopefully this will help. That's another reason why I hesitate to try
to kill the rust stuff, if it is not dead already. Water temps have
varied from 45 to 55 and I had seen green algae growing before this
rust stuff, so maybe it is "dead" algae. Again, Thanks for your
input, it's nice to get info from a simular weather area. E-mail me
if you can get a chance to take a ride and come see the project. The
Kids did a great job. I'd love to get to see yours too.

Sue W

"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
Sue, you're farther north than I am, and I my algae turned colors, too:
from
the cold. The water dropped to 48 degrees or so, and the algae turned
from
green to a rather ugly brown (your rust color, or something else???).
It's
flaking off now, being replaced by the green stuff again. I have to
clean my
pre-filter every other day because of it. Are you *sure* it's
"something"
and not a response to the cold?