Pond Algae Archives - Page 4 of 11 - Pond Algae Solutions Blog

Are There Different Treatments For Different Algae Types?

July 7, 2013May 29, 2012 by Mark

You might recall a recent article where I talked about pond weeds and algae, and that when you deal with weeds, it’s important to identify what you have so that you can treat it effectively.

Different weeds require different treatments in some cases.

But what about algae? Does this work the same way?

Well, kind of, but not so much…let me explain.

There are some things that might be used to help with algae problems that are very specific. These would include uv light, which is really only useful on green water issues. It won’t help with string algae problems. Ultrasound can help with both of these general types of algae but there are some very specific species of algae in each group that it may not work well against due to their cell structure.

Aquatic Weeds And Algae – What To Treat First

July 7, 2013May 22, 2012 by Mark

In large ponds there are times when if it weren’t for bad luck, you’d have no luck at all. What I mean is that while pond weeds or pond algae aren’t all that uncommon during the summer, it’s bad enough if you have one of them, let alone both, or in the case of aquatic weeds, several different varieties.

Interestingly and often enough, when you have a big old algae bloom, it may choke off everything else and not allow other plants to grow. The same might be said of things like duckweed. When a pond owner treats the duckweed and clears it, lo and behold, an algae bloom crops up. Such is life I guess. Seriously though, the reason one plant simply took the place of the other is that you really didn’t address the reason the plants are growing so well in the first place. If nutrients are abundant, things will likely grow.

For the scope of this article however I want to talk about what you can do if you find several different plants sprouting up in your pond. In my opinion, it’s important to go at the problem in a logical fashion rather than just trying to kill everything in one atomic blast of chemicals. Namely because the latter approach usually doesn’t work well.

Why Is Green Water So Hard To Control?

July 7, 2013May 14, 2012 by Mark

Green water algae, which, as we’ve described before, is made up of millions of single cell algae that freely floats around in a pond, can be very difficult to get rid of once it develops out.

This is not new news for many pond owners that are plagued by it.

Here’s the normal course of events. A frustrated pond owner sees their water turning green. Over a few days or a few weeks time, the appearance could range from just a hint of tint to a full blown green catastrophe where you can’t even see your fish a few inches below the surface.

Quite often there’s a reasonable assumption that since the pond started out pretty clear, if you just drain and change the water out, then maybe the algae won’t come back. But this rarely if ever helps that much. It often turns out that this just ends up as a great waste of time and water because in a short while, the green water will be back, just as it was before.

The problem with the idea that you can just wash this green stuff away is that the root causes of why the algae is growing well to begin with have never been addressed. It’s also important to realize that almost any new pond, or freshly renewed pond that’s being started up in the spring, may very well show some green water symptoms early on.

As I pointed out in this particular video on making your own bio-filter, there is a time early on in a pond’s start up that you should use some form of beneficial bacteria to get some good bugs established in the pond, and in the filter. These are the cleaning and balancing mechanisms that a pond will use to keep things like green water from getting out of hand.

How Do I Kill Algae Naturally?

July 7, 2013March 26, 2012 by Mark

How to kill pond algae naturally is a valid question, because most people usually associate the use of chemicals, namely algaecides, with killing algae. It’s our basic nature to want to simply kill something, get rid of it, and go on without more trouble. The only problem is, this approach doesn’t always work that well with ponds.

At the same time, many people are becoming aware that a more eco-friendly approach to home, garden, and pond care is a good thing and they want to know how to achieve a particular result without using the aformentioned chemical cocktails.

So when someone asked me the question, “how do I kill algae naturally?” I’ll normally tell them that you can’t. At least not directly.

Now I know that many folks will say, well, what about barley straw? What about beneficial bacteria? Plants?

All are good options to the degree that they all have a history of helping with an algae problem in some way. But it would be a mistake to say that any of them “kill” algae.

Ultrasonic Algae Control – Pros And Cons And The Way Around All Of That

July 7, 2013March 26, 2012 by Mark

For the last 5 or 6 years we’ve had the pleasure of seeing a number of new technologies come along that have helped in the battle with pond and industrial algae. Few have garnered more attention than ultrasound. After all, it’s high tech, easy to install in most situations, and when it works, it does a really good job of stopping algae growth.

At the same time, I’ve always said that it’s not a silver bullet by any means. It has great capability, particularly on larger waters, where it can be very cost effective compared to chemical and biological solutions. But make no mistake, it has it’s limits. I don’t normally suggest that small pond owners use the device, simply due to cost considerations. There are other options like UV light that may help. For ponds of say, 1/8th of an acre on up, ultrasound may be a good solution.

As we’ve described previously here, ultrasonic systems send sounds waves, precisely tuned to create vibrations in any algae cells that are in the targeted range, and over time, these vibrations create damage that will ultimately disable the cell in some way. The sound waves do not adversely affect fish or other wildlife and visually, you’d never notice any disturbance in the pond at all.

Can You Get Ahead Of Pond Algae?

July 7, 2013March 19, 2012 by Mark

I don’t think it will come as any great surprise to those of you reading this, but the truth is, most people wait until pond algae is well underway before they do anything about it. I’m not being critical, I’m just sharing an observation. And I understand.

First of all, algae can grow quickly when conditions are ripe for it. Warm and sunny days are what you want when you’re growing something green. Then too, algae in a pond comes on as an unwanted annoyance and it’s a pain in the behind to deal with sometimes. And people generally, to their credit I think, tend to put off or resist the temptation to use a chemical in their pond.

Not everyone feels this way of course as some folks will use algaecides liberally, but many pond owners aren’t as comfortable with them as they used to be. I kind of hang more with the second crowd. And the longer I do this algae control thing (going on almost a decade now) the more I’ve learned that chemicals just aren’t the answer to everything.