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#1
16-04-2003, 12:44 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
Experts:
Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea1.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea2.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea3.JPG |
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#2
16-04-2003, 12:44 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
"John" wrote in message ... Experts: Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. Looks like dead algae that has floated to the surface and now has mold growing on it. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.471 / Virus Database: 269 - Release Date: 4/10/03 |
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#3
16-04-2003, 12:56 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
Sorry, "what to do?"... take it out, reduce the available nutrients in the pond. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.471 / Virus Database: 269 - Release Date: 4/10/03 |
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#5
16-04-2003, 02:56 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
When you have excess algae you have excess nutrients in the pond - fish poo - dead plant matter, leaves, old lily pads, spent flowers, dying off marginal plants from last season - off course fertilizer - blown in dirt - lots of sun Cut down on fish stocking and fish feeding Clean pond of dead plant matter Protect pond from fertilizer run off Run a skimmer to get blown in 'stuff' Shade pond if sun is the problem with floating plants, lily pads and artifical shade. k30a |
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#6
16-04-2003, 03:33 PM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
I had stuff similar to this last year, but a little worse: malevolent black
islands that floated to the surface during the day and sunk to the bottom at night. Yours does not appear to be the same type, but the result will be the same: your fish will die due to lack of oxygen. No where in your pond did I see a water return to provide movement and oxygen replacement in your water. I have pots in my back yard with plants in them, but no filtration or movement, waiting for me to get around to building a proper pond for them. They get the same kind of algae that you have: it comes from lack of O2 and movement - in other words, it appears to be stagnating. My suggestion at this time would be to get one of those skimmer nets on poles that you buy in any pond supply area (Wal-Mart and K-Mart have them) and skim as much of the stuff out as you can. It make take days to get it all. In the meantime, install a pump that has a fountain attachment on it that will provide water movement and aeration. They're relatively cheap and can be purchased at a Home Depot or Lowe's type store (they have the skimmer nets, too). Make sure the pump is plugged into a GFCI outlet; because your pond area is just off your back porch, you probably have one on your porch. While you're there, buy a couple of water plant baskets, probably the square ones, to "clamshell" around your pump: with that much algae, you'll probably clog the pump post-haste, and the baskets may help to keep your pump from clogging. You'll have to clean the baskets and the prefilters on the pump - probably daily - until the algae situation improves, then it will be much less. If I'm off-base regarding your lack of filtration, please let me know and either I - or someone else around here - will try to give other suggestions. Meanwhile, the warmer it gets, the worse it will get. Lee "John" wrote in message ... Experts: Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea1.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea2.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea3.JPG |
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#7
16-04-2003, 04:32 PM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
those "hula hoops" are actually laundry baskets I bought at 99cents
only store, they prevent Kio eat the Water Hyacinth root. John jammer wrote in message . .. I cannot answer your question, but wanted to say i like the way you made your pond and i also like some of your plants. Where did you get those little "hula hoops?" On 15 Apr 2003 16:26:32 -0700, (John) wrote: Experts: Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea1.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea2.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea3.JPG |
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#8
16-04-2003, 05:32 PM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
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#9
16-04-2003, 08:08 PM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
John
In the future could you please resize the photos. For pictures where you want to provide a visual example, 640x480 is usually good enough. The photos you uploaded are 1.3mb each, which on a modem takes about 2-3 minutes to view. At 640x480 it may take 15-20 seconds. Plus most peoples entire screen is only 1024x768, or 1280x1024. So pictures larger then that are bigger then their viewing surface. Sameer "John" wrote in message ... Experts: Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea1.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea2.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea3.JPG |
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#10
17-04-2003, 04:20 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
Good call. An option for moving water is air (via aquarium air pumps,
etc.). No clogging issues. "Lee Brouillet" wrote: I had stuff similar to this last year, but a little worse: malevolent black islands that floated to the surface during the day and sunk to the bottom at night. Yours does not appear to be the same type, but the result will be the same: your fish will die due to lack of oxygen. No where in your pond did I see a water return to provide movement and oxygen replacement in your water. I have pots in my back yard with plants in them, but no filtration or movement, waiting for me to get around to building a proper pond for them. They get the same kind of algae that you have: it comes from lack of O2 and movement - in other words, it appears to be stagnating. My suggestion at this time would be to get one of those skimmer nets on poles that you buy in any pond supply area (Wal-Mart and K-Mart have them) and skim as much of the stuff out as you can. It make take days to get it all. In the meantime, install a pump that has a fountain attachment on it that will provide water movement and aeration. They're relatively cheap and can be purchased at a Home Depot or Lowe's type store (they have the skimmer nets, too). Make sure the pump is plugged into a GFCI outlet; because your pond area is just off your back porch, you probably have one on your porch. While you're there, buy a couple of water plant baskets, probably the square ones, to "clamshell" around your pump: with that much algae, you'll probably clog the pump post-haste, and the baskets may help to keep your pump from clogging. You'll have to clean the baskets and the prefilters on the pump - probably daily - until the algae situation improves, then it will be much less. If I'm off-base regarding your lack of filtration, please let me know and either I - or someone else around here - will try to give other suggestions. Meanwhile, the warmer it gets, the worse it will get. Lee "John" wrote in message m... Experts: Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea1.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea2.JPG http://www.jcsoftwareinc.com/pond/algea3.JPG |
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#11
17-04-2003, 08:20 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
(John) wrote in message m...
Experts: Please take a look at the link below, and give me some advice. It is really ugly now! Thanks in advance. The images posted were too big to view, you really need to optimise them to around 100k, or many browsers wont access them there are quite a few types of algae, blanketweed is a well known form which is distintively a filament type, it forms endless lengths There are other single celled algaes, which can form a 'scum' at the surface too... either way, its the result of fertile water and the algaes ability to grow fast... Its the perfectly normal reaction of a simple plant in healthy water conditions. string algae...spirogira... its often called blanketweed... when it builds up it is a serious problem to a pond. Eventually conditions can cause it all to die at the same time, and you have a severe pollution problem then, too much going off at the same time. You can step up plants that take up the surplus fertility and starve it out, you can hand clear it when it is thick enough to be convenient.... As far as I can tell, no one has any success supressing blanketweed with uv filters... the stuff simply isnt obliging enough to amble up a pipe for nuking.... free floating algaes maybe, alas to break down to pollutants which you pump back in a pond hohum In a pond without fish, you are likely to have much less volatile conditions for algae. There arent the fish pumping fertile 'output' ...... plants get to grow much better, you wont need pumps or filters which will turn algae into pollution... a natural balance of beetles and dragonfly predators will destroy mosquitoes far more efficiently than fish on a permenant pond, so you will find a 'fishless' pond a far more pleasant and diverse water garden... expect clear waters, amphibians and dragonfly galore, and crystal clear water when there is a well balanced range of aquatic plants taking a grip on water quality. Another factor with algae is the ponds configuration, algae thrives in shallow ponds, they can cope with water warming and cooling rapidly, where many plants would struggle, making a pond shallow is really condemning yourself to a permenant green soup bowl.... ponds with an average depth of 30" deep will be stable temperature wise and aquatic plants will thrive better... Most algae 'chemical remedies' are based on copper sulphate... and can be quite pricey. If you locate copper sulphate, a 0.3ppm dose will kill a lot of it, without distressing fish too much (2ppm is lethal to insects and fish) By selectively targetting small areas of blanketweed, you could use copper sulphate to suppress it, one area at a time. Thats useful where blanketweed is seriously smothering delicate plants... You can find copper sulphate at farm supplies, $7 for a pint quantity will last years.... Some so called 'algae' treatments are misleading, to be avoided...if its based on simazine... (ethylamino)-s-triazine, its a vicious and persistent herbicide poison, with unknown and unresearched impact upon young fish and many species of plant... Simazine is absorbed by all, it moves to affect the process of growth causing cells to starve and die, in a process which may take 10 weeks to show in many species, though on algae its effect is within 3-14 days... So if the marvel of algae dying in a few days excites you, don't be too surprised if the label on the pack does not tell you odd things continue to happen weeks later Now while the success of simazine will impress you, you may be tempted to use it often.... a normal human reaction. Alas, the poison is persistent and way more complex when doses are repeated, expect unknown things to happen, like lilies dwarf, parrots feather and water hyacinth suddenly sicken, developing fish die. Panic then, as you imagine some disease is causing distress to your fish and you start doing wacky salt treatments and other voodoo dances in desperation, as well as buying more over priced and poorly specified chemicals with a pretty picture of happy fish on the pack from greedy lying thieving executives in chemical conglomerates Sounds bad? it is. Some smart ass executive has thought of a way to make 10,000 doses out of a bucket of poison so they can brag they flogged $50,000 of poison to a bunch of mugs at the next board meeting... The moral of the story is, if the components of the chemical are not clearly specified for you to research accurately, its probably a scam to sell some disreputable chemical companies poison at a monster of a mark up, callously intended to rip you off I shouldnt freak about considering using chemicals, until the algae seriously chokes stuff, or presents an imminent threat to fish by reducing surface area to such an extent the fish can't get oxygen. As with any plant, there is a time of day, around dawn, where plants have seriously depleted oxygen in a pool... Blanketweed does have some upside, It can and does clarify water quality, while you wait for other plants to build up in numbers, restricted to small areas, it does provide shade for fish, and they do like pumping spawn into it, so it can be quite useful for fish breeding purposes A long term fix for blanketweed is plants.... I'd suggest you crank up the aquatic plants, in batches. Say three varieties at a time. That would be a convenient quantity to phase in as parcels by mail order. When the pond, whatever size, or configuration is planted about 60% area with aquatic plants, they will take control of water quality .....Heres a short list of the better 'algae busters' fast foliage plants- they grow fast but need restraining soon....... lizards tail azolla water hyacinth parrots feather copes with fish grazing typha's (reeds, the small varieties, not the nasty latifolia) copes with fish grazing salvinia slow foliage types, easier to control in the long run....... aquatic iris ... slow but steady growers, easy to control copes with fish grazing sedges copes with fish grazing cyperus copes with fish grazing scirpus copes with fish grazing pickerel copes with fish grazing sweet flag copes with fish grazing any small to medium water lilies copes with fish grazing The reason I'd categorise plants into two categories for algae busting is that the 'slow' varieties are best in the long run, having more attractive features and being well behaved and easy to control, while you wait for varieties like that to take control, a combination of the 'fast foliage' types can be used to get control.... these are extremely invasive plants but do have the redeeming feature that they are fairly easy to control at a later date One of the problems for new ponders is that 'green water' is a sudden event and there is often the desperate attempt to go for the 'quick fix' to hide embarrassment at all that work to make a pond, going to waste to end up with a green soup bowl.... which often results in ineffective solutions like emptying, silly pumps and junk, chemicals... The plain fact is green water is healthy water.... and your fish are accelerating the process. Cranking up the plants steadily will with time crush the algae, big time, long term, for less than the price of pumps and junk... Here I have ponds which have no fish, no mechanical nonsense, just aquatic plants ....they are crystal clear most of the year until something stirs it up. regards, andy http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html (andys aquatic plant list for interesting swaps) http://groups.msn.com/pondplantaquaticplantexchange -------------------oo-------------------- |
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#12
18-04-2003, 10:46 AM
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Is there algea? what kind? what to do?
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