Pond Algae : A Guide On Removing Nuisance Pond Algae From Your Pond
The bane of pond owners everywhere, nuisance algae is a problem that consistently comes up. Ponds cost a lot of money to set up, so does the necessary equipment that comes along with the hobby. After spending much money and time on the pond, along comes an algae bloom to mess things up.
Now you can't even see your fish anymore. And it doesn't seem like this problem is going to go away anytime soon.
There are 3 main types of nuisance algae that most pond owners deal with. They are filamentous algae (horsehair algae), microscopic algae and attached-erect algae.
There is a very simple reason why these algae are spreading through your pond like wildfire. Nutrients. Nitrates and phosphates are the two biggest culprits.
The next time you find yourself in the gardening section of a departmental store, take a look at the fertilizers they sell. You will see the letters N P K stamped on all of them. N stands for nitrogen, P for phosphorus and K for potassium. All commercial fertilizers are made up of these elements.
But we're concerned with only two nutrients, Nitrate and Phosphate. To your aquatic plants and nuisance algae, these nutrients are fertilizers.
Therefore, it is important that we keep the presence of both nitrates and phosphates down to a minimum.
Similar to the way aquarium hobbyists keep down their nitrates, water changes can also be employed to export nitrates out of small ponds.
When dealing with larger ponds in the thousands of gallons range, water changes are a lot more difficult. The first thing you want to do is clean the pond. Remove as much detritus, fish waste and sludge from the bottom. Clean up any dirty filter pads as well as your pumps.
Lower your feeding frequency as well as the amount fed. Rotting leaves and debris should also be removed as they are a great source of nutrients.
Aquatic plants compete with algae for nutrients so introduce some to your pond. You can also use shade to your advantage, floating plants like water lilies prevent sunlight from reaching plant life in the water column or at the bottom. Floating plants should be covering about 50 to 70 percent of your ponds surface.
UV sterilizers are successfully used to destroy microscopic algae. Depending on the size of the pond, UV Sterilizers are a pricey option though.
Another method towards algae treatment employs the use of barley. First used in Europe for centuries, its has become a common item in the pond hobby.
The barley is submerged completely in the pond and as it rots, it releases chemicals that are harmful towards some types of algae. These chemicals do not affect your fishes.
Usually sold in three forms, you can buy barley extract, barley straws or barley pellets. They are not completely effective but they are cheap enough to try out.
An Algaecide should never be used despite their common use in the hobby. They are a poison (copper sulfate) and will definitely harm your ponds ecological system. It has even been frowned upon by the European Union.
They are a short-term fix. Because to do not solve the main problem that brought about nuisance algae in the first place. Nutrients are the cause for this problem. Which brings us back to nutrient control, where we started.
