"Powdery" algae?
 

My Dad has a small 500 gallon pond...
It's old cement, painted, with sloping sides.
900GPH Rio 3100 in-pond pump,
Tetra PF3 biofilter. No bottom drain.
25W Aqua Ultraviolet UV.
Bunch of mostly small goldfish.
Lots of plants. Semi sun/shade.

Problem is a "powdery" kind of green algae
sits on the sloping sides of the pond.
If anything disturbs it it turns into a cloud of
fine algae. It's not string algae and it's not
pea soup algae. I think it's too fine to net.

Although there's good water flow it's not
enough to sweep this stuff out. It doesn't
adhere to the walls at all, and seems alive (green).

What is it, and how to control it?


Steve J. Noll | Ventura California (zone 10)
| Glass Block Pond http://www.kissingfrogs.tv

"Powdery" algae?
 

Could it be dead algae from the UV?
Maybe it will eventually turn brown?

Have you heard of the 'garbage can filter'?

Route the water through the top of a garbage can full of
quilt batting, old clothes, bedding (something along those lines) with a hole
at the bottom. and see if you can 'strain' the stuff out.




k30a

"Powdery" algae?
 

"Steve J. Noll" wrote in message
...
My Dad has a small 500 gallon pond...
It's old cement, painted, with sloping sides.
900GPH Rio 3100 in-pond pump,
Tetra PF3 biofilter. No bottom drain.
25W Aqua Ultraviolet UV.
Bunch of mostly small goldfish.
Lots of plants. Semi sun/shade.

Problem is a "powdery" kind of green algae
sits on the sloping sides of the pond.
If anything disturbs it it turns into a cloud of
fine algae. It's not string algae and it's not
pea soup algae. I think it's too fine to net.

Although there's good water flow it's not
enough to sweep this stuff out. It doesn't
adhere to the walls at all, and seems alive (green).

If it is sitting on the walls and not fouling/clouding the water, it's
probably just pond sweater algae. Having it is a good thing because it gives
your fish something to feed on, and more importantly tells you your water is
healthy. My sweater alage is about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick and looks great if
you ask me.

BV.

"Powdery" algae?
 

On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:07:45 -0400, "BenignVanilla"
wrote:
"Steve J. Noll" wrote in message
...
My Dad has a small 500 gallon pond...
It's old cement, painted, with sloping sides.
900GPH Rio 3100 in-pond pump,
Tetra PF3 biofilter. No bottom drain.
25W Aqua Ultraviolet UV.
Bunch of mostly small goldfish.
Lots of plants. Semi sun/shade.

Problem is a "powdery" kind of green algae
sits on the sloping sides of the pond.
If anything disturbs it it turns into a cloud of
fine algae. It's not string algae and it's not
pea soup algae. I think it's too fine to net.

Although there's good water flow it's not
enough to sweep this stuff out. It doesn't
adhere to the walls at all, and seems alive (green).

If it is sitting on the walls and not fouling/clouding the water, it's
probably just pond sweater algae. Having it is a good thing because it gives
your fish something to feed on, and more importantly tells you your water is
healthy. My sweater alage is about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick and looks great if
you ask me.

BV.

"Sweater" algae - that's a new one on me. Google search turns up
nothing.
Problem is it clogs the foam filter on the Rio 3100 every couple days.
And if anything disturbs it, the water quickly clouds up. It does
settle back in reasonable time, though. Way too much of it for the
fish to eat.
Just ordered a Danner Pondmaster 2000 1' x 2' filter to use as the
pump input filter so it doesn't have to be cleaned so often.



Steve J. Noll | Ventura California (zone 10)
| Glass Block Pond http://www.kissingfrogs.tv

"Powdery" algae?
 

On 02 Aug 2003 21:47:40 GMT, ESPMER (K30a) wrote:


Could it be dead algae from the UV?

It's much larger than pea soup algae.

Maybe it will eventually turn brown?

It's alive and well.

Have you heard of the 'garbage can filter'?

Route the water through the top of a garbage can full of
quilt batting, old clothes, bedding (something along those lines) with a hole
at the bottom. and see if you can 'strain' the stuff out.

Even though there's more than the recommended water flow in
this pond it's not enough to sweep much this stuff into the pump
so that it could be run thru such a filter. Plus, his current Tetra
filter is not all that much different from what you describe - it has
a couple batting-type pads that could filter this stuff out if you
could get it there. Plus, it clogs for pump foam filter before it
ever gets to the Tetra filter.

k30a



Steve J. Noll | Ventura California (zone 10)
| Glass Block Pond http://www.kissingfrogs.tv

"Powdery" algae?
 

Sweater algae is substrate algae. Algae that is attached to something so this
is not what you have.

If you can not pull the stuff through the water fast enough to filter it all
out I'd empty the pond, wash it and start over. Also do as much as possible to
keep nutrients out of the water, such as sun, big water changes, fish poo,
fish food, decaying plants, fertilizers and dirt.


k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...ors/index.html

"Powdery" algae?
 

Steve,

You might try a vacuum system that sends the material outside the pond, like
a shop vac, or one of the hose end vacuums outfitted with an exhaust hose to
cause the discharge to go out of the pond rather than through the little
sock net. If it is heavy enough to not move to the filter readily, and yet
loose enough to create clouds, I don't know of any other way to get it.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Steve J. Noll" wrote in message
...
On 02 Aug 2003 21:47:40 GMT, ESPMER (K30a) wrote:


Could it be dead algae from the UV?

It's much larger than pea soup algae.

Maybe it will eventually turn brown?

It's alive and well.

Have you heard of the 'garbage can filter'?

Route the water through the top of a garbage can full of
quilt batting, old clothes, bedding (something along those lines) with a
hole
at the bottom. and see if you can 'strain' the stuff out.

Even though there's more than the recommended water flow in
this pond it's not enough to sweep much this stuff into the pump
so that it could be run thru such a filter. Plus, his current Tetra
filter is not all that much different from what you describe - it has
a couple batting-type pads that could filter this stuff out if you
could get it there. Plus, it clogs for pump foam filter before it
ever gets to the Tetra filter.

k30a



Steve J. Noll | Ventura California (zone 10)
| Glass Block Pond http://www.kissingfrogs.tv

"Powdery" algae?
 

K30a wrote:
Sweater algae is substrate algae. Algae that is attached to something so this
is not what you have.

If you can not pull the stuff through the water fast enough to filter it all
out I'd empty the pond, wash it and start over. Also do as much as possible to
keep nutrients out of the water, such as sun, big water changes, fish poo,
fish food, decaying plants, fertilizers and dirt.


k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...ors/index.html


--
I have had that in my pond its green but doesnt float or atatch to
anything
in my pond I saw it on pipes etc and when the Koi swim by it forms a
"dust cloud" behind them settles out again in a few minuts.
this year after the spring algae bloom, and after the string algae took
ahold it disapeared but I cant offer a reason why exept perhaps that
I doubled the amount of water being pumped, around the pond
my pumps dont have pre filters just a intake guard that keeps anything
over 1/2 inch out




John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

"Powdery" algae?
 

I too have the same pond (700gal), the same equipment, and the same problem
I hope someone will write in with answers or solutions. Thanks.

"Steve J. Noll" wrote in message
...
My Dad has a small 500 gallon pond...
It's old cement, painted, with sloping sides.
900GPH Rio 3100 in-pond pump,
Tetra PF3 biofilter. No bottom drain.
25W Aqua Ultraviolet UV.
Bunch of mostly small goldfish.
Lots of plants. Semi sun/shade.

Problem is a "powdery" kind of green algae
sits on the sloping sides of the pond.
If anything disturbs it it turns into a cloud of
fine algae. It's not string algae and it's not
pea soup algae. I think it's too fine to net.

Although there's good water flow it's not
enough to sweep this stuff out. It doesn't
adhere to the walls at all, and seems alive (green).

What is it, and how to control it?


Steve J. Noll | Ventura California (zone 10)
| Glass Block Pond http://www.kissingfrogs.tv

"Powdery" algae?
 

"LYNN FORRES" wrote in message
...
I too have the same pond (700gal), the same equipment, and the same
problem
I hope someone will write in with answers or solutions. Thanks.
snip

What kind of plant load do you have

BV.