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#1
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Keeping a fountain clean
I have a lion's head fountain on my patio with about a 12 gallon fill basin
on the bottom. The water flows out of the lion's mouth into an upper basin with three outlets in which I stacked some river rocks to improve the flows. There are no fish or plants. Algae has started to accumulate on the rocks and in the bottom basin, and I'd like to put somethingin the water to keep down the green. My dad suggested bleach, but birds use this fountain as a bird bath and I don't want to do anything to hurt them. Any suggestions? If bleach would work, how much should I put in, or in what ratio of bleach to water? Thanks in advance for any info. If you need to see the fountain to get an idea of the size, here's a link: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...6DA&lpage=none Rhonda Richmond, VA USDA Zone 7 ********** Basic human psychology is one of my subroutines. |
#2
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Keeping a fountain clean
Natty Dread wrote:
I have a lion's head fountain on my patio with about a 12 gallon fill basin on the bottom. The water flows out of the lion's mouth into an upper basin with three outlets in which I stacked some river rocks to improve the flows. There are no fish or plants. Algae has started to accumulate on the rocks and in the bottom basin, and I'd like to put somethingin the water to keep down the green. My dad suggested bleach, but birds use this fountain as a bird bath and I don't want to do anything to hurt them. Any suggestions? If bleach would work, how much should I put in, or in what ratio of bleach to water? Thanks in advance for any info. If you need to see the fountain to get an idea of the size, here's a link: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...6DA&lpage=none Rhonda Richmond, VA USDA Zone 7 ********** Basic human psychology is one of my subroutines. You might try a google search for "prevent fountain algae" (without the quotes of course). Loads of answers pop up and one of them may be what you want. -- John McGaw [Knoxville, TN, USA] http://johnmcgaw.com |
#3
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Keeping a fountain clean
chlorine tablets, or, use this method. wont hurt the birds. Ingrid
http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile49b.stm Disinfection using chemical methods: Unscented household bleach (5% chlorine) can sometimes be a good disinfectant - e.g. when the water is not heavily polluted, or when beaver fever or cryptosporidiosis are not a concern. Disinfection using bleach works best with warm water. Add 1 drop (0.05 mL) of bleach to 1 Litre of water, shake and allow to stand for at least 30 minutes before drinking. Double the amount of bleach for cloudy water, or for cooler water. * A slight chlorine odour should still be noticeable at the end of the 30 minute waiting period if you have added enough bleach. The disinfection action of bleach depends as much on the waiting time after mixing as to the amount used. The longer the water is left to stand after adding bleach, the more effective the disinfection process will be. "Natty Dread" wrote: I have a lion's head fountain on my patio with about a 12 gallon fill basin on the bottom. The water flows out of the lion's mouth into an upper basin with three outlets in which I stacked some river rocks to improve the flows. There are no fish or plants. Algae has started to accumulate on the rocks and in the bottom basin, and I'd like to put somethingin the water to keep down the green. My dad suggested bleach, but birds use this fountain as a bird bath and I don't want to do anything to hurt them. Any suggestions? If bleach would work, how much should I put in, or in what ratio of bleach to water? Thanks in advance for any info. If you need to see the fountain to get an idea of the size, here's a link: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...6DA&lpage=none Rhonda Richmond, VA USDA Zone 7 ********** Basic human psychology is one of my subroutines. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/ sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website. I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan |
#4
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Keeping a fountain clean
On Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:13:58 GMT, "Natty Dread"
wrote: I have a lion's head fountain on my patio with about a 12 gallon fill basin on the bottom. The water flows out of the lion's mouth into an upper basin with three outlets in which I stacked some river rocks to improve the flows. There are no fish or plants. Algae has started to accumulate on the rocks and in the bottom basin, and I'd like to put somethingin the water to keep down the green. My dad suggested bleach, but birds use this fountain as a bird bath and I don't want to do anything to hurt them. Any suggestions? If bleach would work, how much should I put in, or in what ratio of bleach to water? Thanks in advance for any info. If you need to see the fountain to get an idea of the size, here's a link: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...6DA&lpage=none Rhonda Richmond, VA USDA Zone 7 ********** Basic human psychology is one of my subroutines. Adding a small amount of bleach will keep algae from growing, but this will no doubt be harmful to the birds. There are anti-algae tablets or liquid made for aquariums that might work well in your case. Keeping your fountain clean will help cut down on algae growth. Algae growing in a pond or aquarium is actually a sign of healthy waters. Another (natural) solution would be to add a small fish. A 50-cent "feeder" goldfish, if left unfed, will eat the algae and any mosquito larva. Adding more shade to the area will reduce algae too. |
#5
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Keeping a fountain clean
Natty Dread wrote: I have a lion's head fountain on my patio with about a 12 gallon fill basin on the bottom. The water flows out of the lion's mouth into an upper basin with three outlets in which I stacked some river rocks to improve the flows. There are no fish or plants. Algae has started to accumulate on the rocks and in the bottom basin, and I'd like to put somethingin the water to keep down the green. My dad suggested bleach, but birds use this fountain as a bird bath and I don't want to do anything to hurt them. Any suggestions? If bleach would work, how much should I put in, or in what ratio of bleach to water? Thanks in advance for any info. If you need to see the fountain to get an idea of the size, here's a link: Try a small bale of barley straw in the fill basin. I use it to keep algae down in my pond. http://www.bestfish.com/barlybal.html |
#6
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Keeping a fountain clean
I have another thought. Yesterday I suggested adding a small fish,
but the fountain looks like cats can easily get into it. Pond snails are particularly fond of algae, so if you add a few to each dish they should help remove the algae. |
#7
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Keeping a fountain clean
"Phisherman" wrote in message ... I have another thought. Yesterday I suggested adding a small fish, but the fountain looks like cats can easily get into it. Pond snails are particularly fond of algae, so if you add a few to each dish they should help remove the algae. The fish will die when the sun heats the water. If the water is used up by the birds or evaporates the poor fish will die an awful death. Our bird bath holds 2 gallons of water and on a hot day the birds will bathe away almost all of it. I keep ours clean by dumping and refilling it twice a week. |
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