String Algae
 

String Algae:
What is it? What does it look like? Where can I find pictures? How do
I best deal with it?

--Bryan

--
************************************************** **********
* Can't see the Forest | Bryan B. *
* Through the Trees? | Reply if you want. E-mail *
* Take it out! | address changes frequently *
* (Damn Viruses!) | to foil spambots. *
************************************************** **********

It looks like this:
http://www.adbio.com/images/algae/st...t-14k-shad.jpg

I would take some pictures of my pond but my digital camera doesn't take
very good pics..

BryanB wrote:
String Algae:
What is it? What does it look like? Where can I find pictures? How do
I best deal with it?

--Bryan

--
************************************************** **********
* Can't see the Forest | Bryan B. *
* Through the Trees? | Reply if you want. E-mail *
* Take it out! | address changes frequently *
* (Damn Viruses!) | to foil spambots. *
************************************************** **********

I looked on google images but didn't see any pictures
that I liked.

It looks like green hair, waving in the water.
If you pick it up it has some substance to it
and it takes some heft to pull it apart or pull
it off where it is attached. You can pull it apart
and see the fibers.

This is opposed to gloppy algae that falls apart
in your hand or suspended single cell alage
that makes the water looks like pea soup.
Or fuzzy algae that is short and grows on rocks,
plant baskets or the liner.

There are some commercial substances to deal
with but I haven't used any. Some folks have
sprinkled it with koi clay or plain kitty litter and
liked the results.

I just remove it by hand. Some twirl it up in a
brush or a stick or branch.
If fish are not fed in the spring sometimes they
will munch it up and they like to search about
in it for hidden aquatic insects, infant fish and
tadpoles and zoo plankton.

All algae in the pond feeds off of
fish waste, sunlight, too much freshwater, dust
and blown in dirt, spent and decomposing plants.
Our ponds are usually overloaded with these
because they are small and we enjoy have lots
of fishy friends and over feed them.

And all kinds of algae is very efficent at getting
going especially in the spring or when a pond is
new.

kathy :-)
www.blogfromtheblog.com

Otto Pylot wrote:
In article . net,
BryanB wrote:


String Algae:
What is it? What does it look like? Where can I find pictures? How do
I best deal with it?

--Bryan


String algae grows in long string-like configurations or ropes as
opposed to other types of algea that grow in clumps or just looks like
a mat on rocks and whatever else you have in your pond. Technically,
string (or hair) aglae is Cladphora and blanket weed (another
string-like algae) is Oedogonium.

There are lots of ways ( and recipes) to get rid of string algae. What
works best for me is a product called Algaefix by PondCare. I use that,
as directed if the string algae becomes too unmanageable. As a
preventative, once I've started treatment, I use a couple of small
bales of barley at the top of my waterfall to help keep it under
control. Your pond should have good aeration if you choose to use it.
Algaefix is safe for all of my water plants as well as my fish
(Shubunkin goldfish and mosquito fish). With the exception of normal
algae blooms throught out the year, my pond stays crystal clear and
healthy.

Is Algaefix one of those dye products, or does it work by some other
mechanism?

To answer the original question: I acheive an acceptable level of scum
control with a combination of mechanical removal and potash supplementation.

-- Kizhe

On Thu, 05 May 2005 16:38:50 -0400, Michael Shaffer wrote:

It looks like this:
http://www.adbio.com/images/algae/st...t-14k-shad.jpg

Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Had to laugh when I saw it.

String algae has it time and place, imo, rake it off when it forms a matt
and leave the rest alone, Praise be that you don't have suspended algae
instead. ;) ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

"BryanB" wrote in message
ink.net...
String Algae:
What is it? What does it look like? Where can I find pictures? How do
I best deal with it?
=====================
I find there are two types of this string or hair algae. One forms mat-like
tangles and the other is more hair-like and straight. I haven't found
anything to work to get rid of it. It's not a problem in my ponds but is in
the smaller kiddy pools.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 05 May 2005 16:38:50 -0400, Michael Shaffer
wrote:

It looks like this:
http://www.adbio.com/images/algae/st...t-14k-shad.jpg

Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Had to laugh when I saw it.

String algae has it time and place, imo, rake it off when it forms a matt
and leave the rest alone, Praise be that you don't have suspended algae
instead. ;) ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

THE POND IS CLEAR!!!!! new ponders here, first one we did out in the yard.
It did the spring thing, very algae green, and like magic the last 3 days it
has cleared up. If I didn't see it myself I would never thought such a green
swamp looking water pond would ever be so clear, we can see the bottom! WOW!
Mother nature is interesting! Thank you to all here who have left much
helpful info. KathyAZ

BryanB wrote:

String Algae:
What is it? What does it look like? Where can I find pictures? How do
I best deal with it?

String algae is Oedogonium. For pictures look at:
http://www.lifesciences.napier.ac.uk...eb/oedogon.htm

String algae starts out as chains of single cell algae that look like
green hairs of parts of a spider web. For me they start out from a
plant or edge of the pone. When they reach the surface they form a mat
of green goop that is called blanket algae. In the early spring crystal
clear pond started getting a good growth of string algae.

The cure for string algae is prevention. This means lowering nutrient
level and providing some shade. The steps of prevention include:

1) Do not add nutrients (fertilizer, fish poop, water with nitrates,
etc.) Do not let fish overload the ponds natural balance.

2) Remove nutrients by adding plants. Both marginal plants and submerged
oxygenators will help. Hardy marginal plants, water iris, marsh
marigold will be among the first to use any excess nutrients in the
water.

3) Shade the pond. Sunlight is necessary for string algae to grow. I
use Azolla caroliniana (a very small floating fern called "fairy moss").
It is invasive, so don't get it unless you really want it. It is easy
to dip out.

4) Float a bale of barley straw. It will prevent string algae when the
water warms up.

5) Use trap door snails to digest the dead algae and other dead material
in the pond. Bacteria does this also but doesn't over-winter as well.

In the early spring I get impatient and add one dose of AlgaeFix (an
algaecide) and add one dose of granular Microbe-Lift Spring/Summer (a
blend of beneficial bacteria that breaks down dead organic matter
naturally)

In early April my pond was building up string algae. I put the marginal
plants I had submerged on the bottom back on the benches. I added
AlgaeFix and Microbe-Lift Spring/Summer. Now in early May, it is
crystal clear. No filters, no UV, no scooping.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
18,000 gallon (17'x 47'x 2-4') lily pond garden in Zone 6
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA

BryanB wrote:
String Algae:
What is it? What does it look like? Where can I find pictures? How do
I best deal with it?

I think barley straw is supposed to help.
It is available in small compressed pellets that you put in a mesh bag
and suspend in the pond. After a while the it leaches something into
the water that reduces the growth of algae. It is not 100% control
but it is nature.