I bought Helen Nash's book, after I read here it was a good one. She mentions
several times adding salt to kill algae bloom. I inherited an eight-year old
beautiful pond with the purchase of this home, and here in desert country I'm
having a lot of trouble maintaining it with what little I know. I can't
believe I am reading right ... she recommends two pounds of noniodized salt per
one hundred gallons of water. I simply cannot visualize adding twenty pounds
of salt to an approximately 1,500 gallon pond. What effect would this have on
the plants and fish?

I do have a way too many fish, probably at least 40 in that size pond. I
haven't been able to find a store that wants them ... afraid of disease ..., or
know any one who wants them. My pond is dirty ... I don't believe it has ever
been emptied and cleaned, and I plan to do that very soon. It is lined with
large stones, top bottom and sides. Would taking those out of the bottom and
using gravel be a good idea?

Okay, I will stop, this is getting too long. And I have soooo many questions!
: )

Any help appreciated, and by the way, so is this newsgroup. I read every post
every day and enjoy it greatly.

Nancy in Boise area

I don't know if that level of salt will do anything for algae or not. I
have run levels as high as 0.3% which is nearly 3 pounds per 100 gallons and
barely slowed down the plants. I have heard that the so called oxygenators
plants that are totally submerged will be killed by these salt levels. It
will not affect the fish at all.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Nanceemo" wrote in message
...
I bought Helen Nash's book, after I read here it was a good one. She
mentions
several times adding salt to kill algae bloom. I inherited an eight-year
old
beautiful pond with the purchase of this home, and here in desert country
I'm
having a lot of trouble maintaining it with what little I know. I can't
believe I am reading right ... she recommends two pounds of noniodized
salt per
one hundred gallons of water. I simply cannot visualize adding twenty
pounds
of salt to an approximately 1,500 gallon pond. What effect would this
have on
the plants and fish?

I would try fixing the algae problem another way first. K30a has real good
advice on how to take care of algae. But the first thing I would check is:
How much coverage does you pond have? I like to keep mine at about 75%
coverage. And add a veggie filter if possible. I just have a holding tank
right before my waterfall that is full of water hyacinth. And mine stays
crystal clear all season long.

EJ wrote K30a has real good
advice on how to take care of algae

Here is the long version
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a collection of tips offered by readers of rec.ponds
To achieve clear water, instead of pea soup green water, in your pond you
should:

~ Realize that algae is tough! It exists in extreme conditions, like ice, just
fine. It has many, many different
forms. It even has a home page! http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/algae/
And, finally, without algae we wouldn't
be here so we should treat it with a little respect ;-)

~ Learn as much as you can about the natural balance of a pond and realizing
that new ponds must go through
a growth period which usually means green water before balance occurs.

~ Mother Nature designs pond to have few fish, many plants and subtraction and
addition of new water from time to time.
She lets the fish find food on their own, lets the fish fertilize the plants,
encourages predators and lets the plants run rampant.
She never cleans her ponds out unless she sends a flood. If things really get
out of control she throws up her hands and lets the chips fall where they may -
lets the pond fill in, turn emerald green, flood it out, earthquakes,
hurricanes, record snowfall, elections too close to call - whatever...

~We pondkeepers stuff in lots of pretty fish, spoil them rotten with tasty fish
chow, over fertilize our plants and do everything possible to discourage
predators.

~Plan on 20 gallons of water per goldfish and 100 gallons of water per koi and
as many plants as you can stuff in.

~ Do not use chemicals, killing algae just makes lots of suddenly dead algae,
rotting algae robs the pond of oxygen and makes more stuff for the new algae to
feed on (unless you have a bottom drain to get it out).

~ Do not worry about green fuzzy algae on the side of the pond, that is good
algae and helps balance your pond.

~ Ignore a little string algae.

~ Install bottom drains and skimmers for ease of removing sludge and debris.

~ Net the pond during the fall to keep leaves out of the pond.

~ Trim dead growth from the plants and removing floating tropicals if you live
in colder climates.

~ Lower your fish stocking, not over feeding fish - algae loves fish waste
(lots of yummy phosphorous)

~ Add lots plants of any type, marginal plants such as reeds, cattails, iris,
pickerel weed, arrowhead, floaters such as water hyacinth, water lettuce and
lots of underwater plants such as anacharis uses the nutrients up that the
algae would like.

~ Shade - lilies, the floaters (water hyacinth and water lettuce) and
artificial shade - shade cloth, umbrella, arch or trellis planted with vines,
No sun for the algae.

~ Clean up debris from the bottom of the pond and
stock snails to chew up the debris - less decaying stuff for algae food.

~ Cut back or stop fertilizing plants - same principle.

~ Plant in fine gravel and top with larger rocks if you have koi.

~ Mechanical filtration of the fish waste - usually a settling chamber in your
filter, or the first row of brushs, filter media.

~ Biological filtration - more than you think you need as your fish are going
to grow and you will probably add more fish to your pond via purchase or your
fish breeding in the pond. (This does not help with the algae problem but
contributes to the overall health of your fish and any critters.

~ Construct a veggie filter - an area, 10% to 20%, of the size of your pond
surface area. A couple of inches deeper than the plant baskets (the rigid black
mesh baskets made specifically for water plants) you are going to use to plant
in. Plant the baskets with marginal plants with fine gravel. Pump the pond
water through at a turnover rate per hour 1/2 to 1/4 of the pond volume. Veggie
filter uses up many of the nutrients and provides a good place for bacteria to
grow. Build it with a bottom drain (or two) for ease of cleaning - very
important or you'll end up with backups and leaking over the edge. Go here to
read a great description about how to build one
http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/garden.html
or
A veggie filter can be as simple as floating water hyacinth at the top of your
stock tank filter. Mine get to be almost three feet tall with leaves as big as
my hand.

~ Purchase sludge eating product - concentrated bacteria culture.

~ Some folks love their UV sterilizer. Does cost some $. And you have to change
the bulb every year.

~ Add a bale of barley straw to your pond for string algae. Read this webpage
http://hometown.aol.com/rosiedawg/my...ollection.html

~Phosphate Remover - It comes in a large clear container (maybe about gallon
sized) but it's also available in a smaller quart sized carton. It's usually
near the aquatic plant fertilizers and different chemicals available such as
ammonia remover and such.
You measure out the amount suitable for your pond size, place it in a mesh
bag, and first soak it in a pail before you put it in your filter. You need to
soak it because it gives off heat when it first gets wet.

~ Read this web page for interesting theroy on the life and times of algae
http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/GRENH2O.html

~ Make sacrifices to the Pond Goddess.
Run to your nearest garden center and buy a gazing ball,
a dragonfly garden stake and bullfrog spitter.
Place around your pond and ask humbly for clear water.

~ Patience, patience and eternal optimism.


k30a