This is just a post reporting results I had from tips in another thread. I
made it a new thread to highlight it. Take no credit other than my success
story, the concept was posted by others.

I've been fighting string Algae for three years. Barely straw works early
in the year but fails when the trees leaf out and there is too little
sunlight (UV) to make peroxide from straw decay products.

This was a particular problem in my planted stream. harvesting the string
algae would rip up delicate plants such as 4 leaf clover. I have a
waterfall, three stream regions, each with a 10" or mini water fall to
accommodate grading.

I bought Wallmart's "Special Kitty" unscented kitty liter - ingredients
are "ground clay". 25# cost $2.

Added about 2 tablespoons to the top pool that feeds the waterfall. 24
hours later, virtually all the string algae on the falls and smothering my
4 leaf clover in the topmost stream segment was gone! The string algae in
the 2nd stream segment was reduced significantly, but the algae in the
third segment and pond entrance seemed untouched.

2nd day I added 2 table spoons (guess) more, half at in the upper pool,
half at outlet from the second stream segment to the third segment.

3 day - stream almost completely cleared! In the third stream segment I
still had s good clump that was protected by parrots feather. Also had a
good blanked of algae at in the pond near the stream entrance.

I added about 1 tablespoon sprinkled over each remaining area.

4th day - only some very sickly string/blanket algae to be found anyplace!

Thanks for the tips folks!!!

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

What we need to do is figure out what it is about adding the plain kitty
litter, which is clay, and which is basically the same thing as koi clay (???)
anyway, what is it about it that worked on the string algae?
Did the clay particles grab at the string algae on its way down the stream,
tear it up and dump it in the pond?
Did someone sprinkle it on string algae in the pond? Did it tear it apart and
sink it?
So folks, if you try the koi clay (which I'm going to go look up)
or kitty litter treatment, let us know your results. And Gerry let us know
future developments in your pond.

Also want to report what happened in my pond.
For a long time I've had a patch of stringy algae growing at the bottom of my
waterfall. Since I was in the process of doing in an algae bloom from the
infusion of 3,000 gallons after a pond cleaning I left it alone. The pond
cleared and I was thinking about taking the stuff out when we had a series of
rather dramatic heavy rainfalls. The stuff disappeared over night. Did the rain
beat it down and where is it now?




Subject: Kitty Litter destroys String Algae
From: gerry
This is just a post reporting results I had from tips in another thread. I
made it a new thread to highlight it. Take no credit other than my success
story, the concept was posted by others.

I've been fighting string Algae for three years. Barely straw works early
in the year but fails when the trees leaf out and there is too little
sunlight (UV) to make peroxide from straw decay products.

This was a particular problem in my planted stream. harvesting the string
algae would rip up delicate plants such as 4 leaf clover. I have a
waterfall, three stream regions, each with a 10" or mini water fall to
accommodate grading.

I bought Wallmart's "Special Kitty" unscented kitty liter - ingredients
are "ground clay". 25# cost $2.

Added about 2 tablespoons to the top pool that feeds the waterfall. 24
hours later, virtually all the string algae on the falls and smothering my
4 leaf clover in the topmost stream segment was gone! The string algae in
the 2nd stream segment was reduced significantly, but the algae in the
third segment and pond entrance seemed untouched.

2nd day I added 2 table spoons (guess) more, half at in the upper pool,
half at outlet from the second stream segment to the third segment.

3 day - stream almost completely cleared! In the third stream segment I
still had s good clump that was protected by parrots feather. Also had a
good blanked of algae at in the pond near the stream entrance.

I added about 1 tablespoon sprinkled over each remaining area.

4th day - only some very sickly string/blanket algae to be found anyplace!

Thanks for the tips folks!!!

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots









kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Okay, found an interesting thread on the koi vet board
http://www.koivetforums.com/forums/s...3&page=2&pp=15

and

Koi Clay is a naturally occurring calcium bentonite clay, which is available
from only a few of the bentonite mines in the world. It dissolves well and is
ideally suited for recirculating koi and garden ponds. 100% all natural. It
contains a balance of minerals in their natural colloidal form, making them
easily assimilated. They enhance the production of enzymes in all living
organisms, improve water quality and removes toxins from pond water. They
benefit both plants and fish as well as the "good" bacteria living in your
filters.
(from this commercial site
http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page_696/koi_clay.html

and

BENTONITE*
Definition :
Bentonite is a special type of clay that pocesses some properties which make it
of economic importance specially in drilling operations for oil or underground
water . it absorbs great amounts of water and increases enormously in volume ,
acquiring the colloidal property needed for the drilling mud .

BENTONITE
Hydrated Bentonite is a natural clay, which comes from volcanic ash.*


13. Add bentonite clay to large or koi ponds.* The clay acts as a coagulant
and settles out algae.* It will cloud the water in the short term but will
shortly thereafter clear up.* It also benefits the koi by providing minerals.

and

Unhappy with the inconvenience of traditional litters, biochemist and cat
lover Thomas Nelson began investigating alternative clay formulations in the
early 1980s. He observed that a certain type of clay called bentonite clumped
up in the presence of moisture, allowing waste to be isolated and scooped out,
leaving behind clean litter. Today, roughly 60% of the cat litter sold in the
U.S. is of the clumping variety, and most of it is made from bentonite clay.
Bentonite is largely composed of montmorillonite, a clay mineral made up of
stacks of SiO4 sandwiched between two sheets of octahedrally coordinated
aluminum, magnesium, or iron. Substitution of lower valence ions for some of
the higher valence ones in the octahedral sheets creates a negative charge
imbalance that traps cations, most often sodium or calcium, between the stacked
sandwiches.

Also found that some folks ingest this stuff to clean toxins from their
systems! eekk! ;-)

Now I've *got* to pack to drive to Seattle, this is a quick trip but I'm going
to try and visit one nursery while I'm over there and look for pond stuff!


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

interesting I am having a problem with the algae on the bottom of my
pond floating to the top ( pond scum like ) will dump some kity litter
in the big filter and see what happens and report back later

John Rutz

Ka30P wrote:
What we need to do is figure out what it is about adding the plain kitty
litter, which is clay, and which is basically the same thing as koi clay (???)
anyway, what is it about it that worked on the string algae?
Did the clay particles grab at the string algae on its way down the stream,
tear it up and dump it in the pond?
Did someone sprinkle it on string algae in the pond? Did it tear it apart and
sink it?
So folks, if you try the koi clay (which I'm going to go look up)
or kitty litter treatment, let us know your results. And Gerry let us know
future developments in your pond.

Also want to report what happened in my pond.
For a long time I've had a patch of stringy algae growing at the bottom of my
waterfall. Since I was in the process of doing in an algae bloom from the
infusion of 3,000 gallons after a pond cleaning I left it alone. The pond
cleared and I was thinking about taking the stuff out when we had a series of
rather dramatic heavy rainfalls. The stuff disappeared over night. Did the rain
beat it down and where is it now?




Subject: Kitty Litter destroys String Algae
From: gerry
This is just a post reporting results I had from tips in another thread. I
made it a new thread to highlight it. Take no credit other than my success
story, the concept was posted by others.

I've been fighting string Algae for three years. Barely straw works early
in the year but fails when the trees leaf out and there is too little
sunlight (UV) to make peroxide from straw decay products.

This was a particular problem in my planted stream. harvesting the string
algae would rip up delicate plants such as 4 leaf clover. I have a
waterfall, three stream regions, each with a 10" or mini water fall to
accommodate grading.

I bought Wallmart's "Special Kitty" unscented kitty liter - ingredients
are "ground clay". 25# cost $2.

Added about 2 tablespoons to the top pool that feeds the waterfall. 24
hours later, virtually all the string algae on the falls and smothering my
4 leaf clover in the topmost stream segment was gone! The string algae in
the 2nd stream segment was reduced significantly, but the algae in the
third segment and pond entrance seemed untouched.

2nd day I added 2 table spoons (guess) more, half at in the upper pool,
half at outlet from the second stream segment to the third segment.

3 day - stream almost completely cleared! In the third stream segment I
still had s good clump that was protected by parrots feather. Also had a
good blanked of algae at in the pond near the stream entrance.

I added about 1 tablespoon sprinkled over each remaining area.

4th day - only some very sickly string/blanket algae to be found anyplace!

Thanks for the tips folks!!!

gerry

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On 13 Jun 2004 17:21:03 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:


Okay, found an interesting thread on the koi vet board
http://www.koivetforums.com/forums/s...3&page=2&pp=15


Another reference, I always wonder when a name such ad "koi clay" is
"invented". Is something really unique or just an expensive label?

http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/clayvsclay.html

{

One of the confusing aspect of commercially available montmorillonite
clays is the use of two names for exactly the same mineral.

Montmorillonite clays are bentonite clays and bentonite clays are
montmorillonite clays. They are not two separate minerals as we think.
They are one and the same thing. All types of bentonite clays are grouped
together under the Montmorillonite or Smectite group of clays. To speak of
one is to speak of the other.
}

Also see

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/algae2.htm

{
15. Add bentonite clay to large or koi ponds. The clay acts as a coagulant
and settles out algae. It will cloud the water in the short term and has
other benefits for koi by providing minerals. One place that sells calcium
bentonite clay is koiclay.com.
}

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On 13 Jun 2004 16:55:43 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:

What we need to do is figure out what it is about adding the plain kitty
litter, which is clay, and which is basically the same thing as koi clay (???)
anyway, what is it about it that worked on the string algae?
Did the clay particles grab at the string algae on its way down the stream,
tear it up and dump it in the pond?
Did someone sprinkle it on string algae in the pond? Did it tear it apart and
sink it?

From my observation, there is an effect has something to do with physical
contact of particles.

In my original post, I mentioned I had to add it several times is
different locations. Including some directly on a clump that was in a
still area of my stream.

Had it functioned via binding alone nutrient or mineral in the water, I
don't see why some of my stream would be cleared and some not!

5th day of usage now, only added the kitty litter the first 3 days. There
is almost no mass of string algae, a few very sickly blobs, very clear
water. Of particular interest, one "blanket" I intentionally did not
harvest in my pond is now just a sludge mass on my pump intake screen. The
snails seem to be enjoying a feast on it.

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

gerry wrote in message . ..
This is just a post reporting results I had from tips in another thread. I
made it a new thread to highlight it. Take no credit other than my success
story, the concept was posted by others.

I've been fighting string Algae for three years. Barely straw works early
in the year but fails when the trees leaf out and there is too little
sunlight (UV) to make peroxide from straw decay products.

This was a particular problem in my planted stream. harvesting the string
algae would rip up delicate plants such as 4 leaf clover. I have a
waterfall, three stream regions, each with a 10" or mini water fall to
accommodate grading.

I bought Wallmart's "Special Kitty" unscented kitty liter - ingredients
are "ground clay". 25# cost $2.

Added about 2 tablespoons to the top pool that feeds the waterfall. 24
hours later, virtually all the string algae on the falls and smothering my
4 leaf clover in the topmost stream segment was gone! The string algae in
the 2nd stream segment was reduced significantly, but the algae in the
third segment and pond entrance seemed untouched.

2nd day I added 2 table spoons (guess) more, half at in the upper pool,
half at outlet from the second stream segment to the third segment.

3 day - stream almost completely cleared! In the third stream segment I
still had s good clump that was protected by parrots feather. Also had a
good blanked of algae at in the pond near the stream entrance.

I added about 1 tablespoon sprinkled over each remaining area.

4th day - only some very sickly string/blanket algae to be found anyplace!

Thanks for the tips folks!!!

gerry

That's very interesting. I'm not sure how the coagulant features of
clay (probably the aluminum) would get rid of string algae. Normally
coagulants cause free floating (pea soup) algae to coagulate (or come
together) and then be big enough to filter out (or it sinks). Most
fish products to get rid of cloudy water is aluminum sulfate. I wonder
if the kitty liter contains a mineral that the string algae does not
like, such as magnesium. I would expect the iron to drop out of
solution pretty quickly. magnesium is a little harder.

Did you sprinkle the clay on top of the string algae or did you just
add it to the water?

clay is very fine silt. I can imagine it would coat vegetation either cutting off
sunlight or even making it too heavy to float or stay attached. it does bind up
stuff very well so it could be a combined mechanism of action.
string algae has a narrow range of growth. I cannot get it to grow in my pond only a
little bit on the lip of the waterfall. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Keep reporting on the long term progress
of your pond, the kitty litter and the
string algae. It might be a good tip for the
algae primer.
Thanks!

kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On 15 Jun 2004 05:32:10 -0700, (Sam Hopkins) wrote:



I bought Wallmart's "Special Kitty" unscented kitty liter - ingredients
are "ground clay". 25# cost $2.

Added about 2 tablespoons to the top pool that feeds the waterfall. 24
hours later, virtually all the string algae on the falls and smothering my
4 leaf clover in the topmost stream segment was gone! The string algae in
the 2nd stream segment was reduced significantly, but the algae in the
third segment and pond entrance seemed untouched.

2nd day I added 2 table spoons (guess) more, half at in the upper pool,
half at outlet from the second stream segment to the third segment.

3 day - stream almost completely cleared! In the third stream segment I
still had s good clump that was protected by parrots feather. Also had a
good blanked of algae at in the pond near the stream entrance.

I added about 1 tablespoon sprinkled over each remaining area.

4th day - only some very sickly string/blanket algae to be found anyplace!

Thanks for the tips folks!!!

gerry

That's very interesting. I'm not sure how the coagulant features of
clay (probably the aluminum) would get rid of string algae. Normally
coagulants cause free floating (pea soup) algae to coagulate (or come
together) and then be big enough to filter out (or it sinks). Most
fish products to get rid of cloudy water is aluminum sulfate. I wonder
if the kitty liter contains a mineral that the string algae does not
like, such as magnesium. I would expect the iron to drop out of
solution pretty quickly. magnesium is a little harder.

Did you sprinkle the clay on top of the string algae or did you just
add it to the water?

Most of the clay was just added to high flow rate areas where it would
break apart and flow downstream. 90% kill that way.

In low flow areas, there were a few pockets left - added a little right on
the pockets.

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:42:20 -0400, gerry wrote:

This is just a post reporting results I had from tips in another thread. I
made it a new thread to highlight it. Take no credit other than my success
story, the concept was posted by others.

I've been fighting string Algae for three years. Barely straw works early
in the year but fails when the trees leaf out and there is too little
sunlight (UV) to make peroxide from straw decay products.


Update

About 7 days and 6 tablespoons of kitty litter, no strings or blankets to
be found! There is some green mush around the bases of iris and the like,
but I can't even remove it - falls apart.

All other life forms in the pond seem very happy! I'm certainly giving up
on barley straw or herbicides.

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

There are two types of bentonite clays - calcium bentonite and sodium
bentonite. Calcium bentonite is generic 'koi clay' and what you are
looking for. Sodium benonite, the kind used in clumping kitty
litters, tends to swell and form icky masses and is generally not used
in ponds for algae and trace minerals.

By the way, the term 'clay' refers to a particular size of soil
particle with specific physical properties, just as silt is a totally
different larger one. And sand is still larger. Particle size is of
primary importance here. They are not interchangable. A mixture of
all three particle types in a good garden soil, usually with some
organic humus thrown in to help structure, is what is referred to as
'loam'.

There have been very good past threads on koi clay on this forum.
Type into a search 'calcium bentonite' or 'koi clay' and read them.
They are very informative and tell where to get generic c.bentonite of
a more desireable form than generic kitty litter.

You can purchase very costly koi clay --if you can even find it
locally in a pet store-- for about $15 or more for 4 pounds, or get
the generic kind u.p.s. delivered to you for about $50 for 50 pounds
(cowboy mining co in texas, amoung others). I got mine out of los
angeles from Laguna Clay - 20 pounds for about $25 to my door, U.p.s.
I had tried generic clay kitty litter and it was unsatisfactory -
never dissolved even after soaking for 2 weeks, then taking a ride in
the blender-, but the brands mentioned that people use were
unavailable to me.

I have read everything I could easily find about koi clay and what it
does. Some believe it helps with their string algae, and others
think it was just coincidental timing. I dont know because my s.
algae was on the way out already when I first put it into my pond.
Others believe koi clay helps cycle new bio filters by providing trace
elements for the bacteria that is missing in liner ponds. And others
sprinkle it on their moist koi food to give the creatures added
minerals for general health, color, and skin luster. Others use it as
a flocking agent in pond water to clear it. Others say its doesnt work
for them. And others put it into water and drink it themselves to
cleanse their systems. (not kitty litter, but very fine bentonite
clays.) As well as a host of commercial applications in mining, water
clean-up, paints, cosmetics, emulsifiers, etc etc.

In addition, someone from Scandanavia on one forum reported that
cattle downwind from Chernobil were fed bentonite clays to purge their
systems of toxins from that disaster, and it worked.

Interesting stuff. Lalu

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On 17 Jun 2004 21:00:31 -0700, (lalu) wrote:

There are two types of bentonite clays - calcium bentonite and sodium
bentonite. Calcium bentonite is generic 'koi clay' and what you are
looking for. Sodium benonite, the kind used in clumping kitty
litters, tends to swell and form icky masses and is generally not used
in ponds for algae and trace minerals.

By the way, the term 'clay' refers to a particular size of soil
particle with specific physical properties, just as silt is a totally
different larger one. And sand is still larger. Particle size is of
primary importance here. They are not interchangable. A mixture of
all three particle types in a good garden soil, usually with some
organic humus thrown in to help structure, is what is referred to as
'loam'.

There have been very good past threads on koi clay on this forum.
Type into a search 'calcium bentonite' or 'koi clay' and read them.
They are very informative and tell where to get generic c.bentonite of
a more desireable form than generic kitty litter.

If you had read this thread, I referenced the other threads and specially
am not using clumping no scented kitty litter. You can search and find the
specific one I used.


gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

If you had read this thread, I referenced the other threads and specially
am not using clumping no scented kitty litter. You can search and find the
specific one I used.


gerry


Hi Gerry, I am glad you have found the generic kitty litter to work
for you and your persistent algal problem. It doesnt for everyone,
but the right kind of k litter, which you seem to be lucky enough to
have in your local area, is indeed how many individuals start using
clay in their ponds. When (if) they see the benefits they want to
move on to even better quality clay so as to not have all those little
residual hard bits on the bottom of their ponds that the wrong
inexpensive litter can leave behind. Not only will they eventually
have to clean it out (ick), but they sure wouldnt want to
accidentally punture their liner with any sharp undissolved bits from
using low grade litter when better, safer products are available. At
least this is what the generic stuff in my area is like, and why I
ordered the more pricey stuff. You apparently were luckier than I.

Using clay in ponds is an absolutely wonderful topic, and there is
alot of good information out there about it as you have said. I wish
there were even more. And I have indeed read every word I could find
about it, including yours. I love clay and its various uses, and love
reading and talking about it. Sorry you apparently didnt like my
comments, no offense was intended. Alas, I do like to talk, so I
probably will be back.

In fact I just added some clay yesterday, and today my pond and my
fish are looking absolutely sparkling and lovely. At least my fish
love me, LOL.

Good luck to you and your pond.

Lalukitty (who has indeed used various kitty litters for 'traditional'
uses for decades, and unfortunately knows more about the stuff than
she ever knew existed.)

If you had read this thread, I referenced the other threads and specially
am not using clumping no scented kitty litter. You can search and find the
specific one I used.


gerry


Hi Gerry, I am glad you have found the generic kitty litter to work
for you and your persistent algal problem. It doesnt for everyone,
but the right kind of k litter, which you seem to be lucky enough to
have in your local area, is indeed how many individuals start using
clay in their ponds. When (if) they see the benefits they want to
move on to even better quality clay so as to not have all those little
residual hard bits on the bottom of their ponds that the wrong
inexpensive litter can leave behind. Not only will they eventually
have to clean it out (ick), but they sure wouldnt want to
accidentally punture their liner with any sharp undissolved bits from
using low grade litter when better, safer products are available. At
least this is what the generic stuff in my area is like, and why I
ordered the more pricey stuff. You apparently were luckier than I.

Using clay in ponds is an absolutely wonderful topic, and there is
alot of good information out there about it as you have said. I wish
there were even more. And I have indeed read every word I could find
about it, including yours. I love clay and its various uses, and love
reading and talking about it. Sorry you apparently didnt like my
comments, no offense was intended. Alas, I do like to talk, so I
probably will be back.

In fact I just added some clay yesterday, and today my pond and my
fish are looking absolutely sparkling and lovely. At least my fish
love me, LOL.

Good luck to you and your pond.

Lalukitty (who has indeed used various kitty litters for 'traditional'
uses for decades, and unfortunately knows more about the stuff than
she ever knew existed.)