On Mar 30, 8:11 pm, ~ jan wrote:
On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:19:51 CST, "drsolo" wrote:
polyester batting will most definitely take out algae.

I agree, so will open cell foam. The reason a filter appears not to remove
it, is that on a nice sunny day, the algae can reproduce faster than most
filters can remove it.

My example is when I used garden soil in two pots that my son had added
steer manure to just the week before. Such bright green water you had to
wear shades, but come nightfall the filter would clear it up. Sun up,
bright green again. The pots came out, some big water changes, and no more
algae creation. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State

I will not dispute that batting or even open cell foam removes algae.
But I am interested in the process. As best I can tell most pond
algae is between 15 and 45 microns. So it seems unlikely that per see
either one of these materials is filtering out live algae. Perhaps it
is stopping dead algae which has a tendency to clump. Perhaps
removing the dead algae leaves less nutrients in the water for the
live algae. It also seems beneficial bacterial may have some role in
killing off algae.

So I am not saying these materials don't help/work. I am just curious
why they do, since it seems a diatom filter is actually the only media
small enough to prevent the diameter of the algae from going through
the media.

Just curious
Bill