I couldn't find another place to post this so here it is. I have a fountain on my patio that the birds come up to drink in. I need to know if there is a safe treatment for the alge that I could use that won't hurt the birds. When I read the bottles I see at HD, Lowes and WM for the alge treatment it says it could be harmful to pets. I need something that will clear up the water, keep down the alge and not harm the birds. Any suggestions?
Nice fountain! I use a couple drops of bleach in my birdbath.
Bleach really? And this will clear up the water, get rid of the alge and not hurt the birds?
I too have a fountain in my backyard. When it gets a little green, I add about a cup of Clorox to the base. By the time it pumps up to the top and drips over, it's been somewhat dissipated. Have lots of migrating birds and haven't lost one yet. Clears the water, birds and squirrels are happy. Occasionally have to vacuum leaves and debris from oaks, tho. You might try a lesser amount in your fountain...say....quarter cup...Hope it helps.
I also clean it once a week with a stiff brush and change the water every other day. The bleach helps control the algae, I don't know if it gets rid of all of it.
I assume ya'll use a color safe bleach. I don't want to turn all my birds white! LOL!
Well.....now that you mention it....I do find a lotta white Bird poop on the patio....hope P.E.T.A. doesn't find out what I've done..........
Well there ya go. Another mystery solved. I'll try the bleach tomorrow. Thanks to all for the help.
lol!
The bleach will work, but it's not stabilized so it dissipates very quickly. You'll likely be adding it almost every other day, or at least I had to. I use the small chlorine tablets that are sold for spas. The large 3" ones for the swimming pool are too much for the fountain, but the 1" spa ones work great. I only have to add one about every 2 weeks. A bottle of the tablets is about $20.00 at Lowe's and one bottle lasts me almost a year. They disolve slowly, so the chlorine concentration isn't so high that it will affect the birds. Hope this helps.
If you want to go organic use a barley ball. You should be able to get them at a nursery and/or online. I know Gardeners Supply has them but you can shop around and find them cheaper.
nada
I didn't think of the tablets, that's a great idea. What area would I find these in? The garden patio or someplace else?
At the Lowe's I go to they are outside in the garden area, in the same location as all the pool chemicals and large bags of fertilizer. I tried the barley bags in my larger fountain and would have preferred the non chemical approach, but they were very expensive and didn't do a very good job for me.
Thanks, I'll see if mine has any.
