String Algae and nutrient balance
 

What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to do a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to do
a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.



It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is nearly
10c !

Peter

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to do
a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.



It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is nearly
10c !

Peter

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to do
a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.



It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is nearly
10c !

Peter

"2pods" wrote in message
...

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've
never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to
do
a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.



It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is
nearly
10c !

Damn, that Scotland is a cold place. How the hell do you keep the castle
warm? Don't the GF freeze in the moat? :)

SA is still growing here too and the pond temp is about the same as yours.

"2pods" wrote in message
...

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've
never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to
do
a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.



It's still growing here in the west of Scotland, and the pond temp is
nearly
10c !

Damn, that Scotland is a cold place. How the hell do you keep the castle
warm? Don't the GF freeze in the moat? :)

SA is still growing here too and the pond temp is about the same as yours.

Damn, that Scotland is a cold place. How the hell do you keep the castle
warm? Don't the GF freeze in the moat? :)

SA is still growing here too and the pond temp is about the same as yours.



We can't keep gf in the moat anymore, as it's full of Loch Ness mini
monsters for the winter but there are plenty haggis to throw on the fire to
keep warm ;-)

Peter

Damn, that Scotland is a cold place. How the hell do you keep the castle
warm? Don't the GF freeze in the moat? :)

SA is still growing here too and the pond temp is about the same as yours.



We can't keep gf in the moat anymore, as it's full of Loch Ness mini
monsters for the winter but there are plenty haggis to throw on the fire to
keep warm ;-)

Peter

"Hal" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've
never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to
do a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.

I wish I could tell you I know exactly what causes it, but I can't.
I can tell you the year I had it very badly was the year I tried to
keep the general hardness and carbonate hardness up over 100ppm. At
the time I guessed the addition of baking soda and plaster of paris
must be creating the conditions right for the type of string algae I
was encountering and stopped adding them. I went back to a sock full
of garden lime to maintain KH, GH and pH, and reworked my plant pond.
I took the gravel (river pebbles) out and put in a line with holes to
send jets of water across the bottom and the string algae mostly went
away. I say mostly because I have a short clump on the side where
Goldie (gold colored comet.) rests occasionally, so I assume the
current of moving water isn't as strong at that spot, but it could be
the fish is hiding?? I can't say the moving water is the answer, nor
the high KH, GH, and pH the culprit, but those are the obvious things
I changed.

Not so obvious could be a number of things about the plant pond that
just went away. For one, there was a good bit of detritus among the
stones holding the underwater plants in place. most of the
underwater plants died, covered in string algae. I salvaged a bit of
anacharis, but two other types of underwater plants disappeared
completely.

I don't know how to get rid of it, but I wish you well.

Thanks,

I've just started getting into PMDD for the aquarium plants. Since I now
have enough micronutrients to last the millennium, I may experiment with the
pond next year. The pond plants did not do that well this year, although the
Potassium helped. I suspect there must be some other nutrient missing,
either Iron or Magnesium. I may end up with the healthiest Algae in NA, but
it's all about learning.

"Hal" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae, does it prefer cooler weather? I've
never
really had that much other years, but this year it's noxious. I went to
do a
pre-fall cleaning of the pond a few weeks ago and this stuff came out in
clumps. I can't say I noticed this stuff during the summer, but the pond
was
more or less on autopilot this year. The only thing different this year
was
the cooler weather and the Potassium I was adding for the plants.

I wish I could tell you I know exactly what causes it, but I can't.
I can tell you the year I had it very badly was the year I tried to
keep the general hardness and carbonate hardness up over 100ppm. At
the time I guessed the addition of baking soda and plaster of paris
must be creating the conditions right for the type of string algae I
was encountering and stopped adding them. I went back to a sock full
of garden lime to maintain KH, GH and pH, and reworked my plant pond.
I took the gravel (river pebbles) out and put in a line with holes to
send jets of water across the bottom and the string algae mostly went
away. I say mostly because I have a short clump on the side where
Goldie (gold colored comet.) rests occasionally, so I assume the
current of moving water isn't as strong at that spot, but it could be
the fish is hiding?? I can't say the moving water is the answer, nor
the high KH, GH, and pH the culprit, but those are the obvious things
I changed.

Not so obvious could be a number of things about the plant pond that
just went away. For one, there was a good bit of detritus among the
stones holding the underwater plants in place. most of the
underwater plants died, covered in string algae. I salvaged a bit of
anacharis, but two other types of underwater plants disappeared
completely.

I don't know how to get rid of it, but I wish you well.

Thanks,

I've just started getting into PMDD for the aquarium plants. Since I now
have enough micronutrients to last the millennium, I may experiment with the
pond next year. The pond plants did not do that well this year, although the
Potassium helped. I suspect there must be some other nutrient missing,
either Iron or Magnesium. I may end up with the healthiest Algae in NA, but
it's all about learning.

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae

Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
when removing. ;o)

, does it prefer cooler weather?

Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond) with
shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and keeps
the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant lilies
are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae

Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
when removing. ;o)

LOL.

, does it prefer cooler weather?

Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan

Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.
--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae

Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
when removing. ;o)

I obviously missed something here. Do Algae removal and baptism go hand in
hand?


LOL.

, does it prefer cooler weather?

Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan

Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.
--
derek

Derek Broughton wrote:

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae

Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
when removing. ;o)

LOL.

, does it prefer cooler weather?

Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan

Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.


Smart man.

Derek Broughton wrote:

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:02:45 -0400, "Bill Stock" wrote:

What's the scoop on Sting Algae

Can't help myself....... if you have the true Sting variety, use caution
when removing. ;o)

LOL.

, does it prefer cooler weather?

Absolutely! This is why we cover the the Demon Pond (and my Lily Pond)
with shade cloth for fall/winter/early spring. Keeps the leaves out and
keeps the sun blocked just enough so the SA can't grow, yet the dormant
lilies are not impaired by it at all. ~ jan

Does it _prefer_ cooler weather, or is it just using up the extra sunlight
now available because the lilies are dormant? I think you'd have just as
much string algae in the summer if you didn't have the lilies. I guess it
does thrive at temps where most other plants are dying back, though.


Smart man.