I have a little pop up pond with a couple of water lilies in it. I am having a problem with a green algae on top of the water.. it seems to go to the bottom at night.. or somewhere and throughout the day gets thicker on top... sort of slimy when I scoop it out. What will help get rid of this gunky stuff without killing my plants?
Thank you for any suggestions.. it have a little pump doing a fountain into the water to aerate. I also have a few cheap feeder goldfish in there.
Tammie
Tiny 40 gallon pond ... how do I get rid of algae?
done.. I immediately measured out that amount and poured it into the pond. I also earlier today wraped a poly filter over the pump and when I went out there... it was completely green.. rinsed it out in a 5 gallon bucked of water.. the water is now dark green! It is now back in the pond filtering out more... better than just recycling it. My pond does not have any kind of filter system.. just the simple pump. The plants look moderately happy though.
Tammie
Tammie.........A handful of tadpoles will munch on it as well.....
I wish I could find tadpoles! No natural water around here. Any suggestions?
Tammie
lhasa, is the green in your water from the algae on the top? Or do you have the pea soup algae? Either way, you just need to have a more balanced ecosystem in the pond. Perhaps your pond is also getting too much sun? If it's small the extra heat can cause a problem with algae. Algae are opportunistic plants that will appear when there is food for them to grow on - i.e. too many nutrients in your pond. Unless you fix that problem, you will get more algae. Underwater plants are the way to go if you can't add a biological filter. You could also use fast growing marsh plants like reeds or cattails. They grow really fast and use up a lot of nutrients. Any plant that is a fast grower and can have its feet in the water would help. If the pond gets too much sun and the water gets too hot, use a tall growing variety and put it were it will create a bit of shade over the water.
Also, if you add tadpoles and there is no natural water source nearby, where will they go when they become big froggies?
Just keep cleaning out your filter and that will also help because the last thing you want is a bunch of dead algae decaying in the water. That would simply provide more nutrients and you will get another algae bloom!
That is what I am doing.. cleaning it every day .. the filter that is. I usually dip a gallon or two out every day to water my plants and then refill with the garden hose since that water is very cold to keep the temps down a little. It does get a lot of sun. The algeae is on top of the water during the day and disappears at night... the water is crystal clear at night. I will eventually be building a permnant larger pond in that area when I have the money.. this is just temporary until I can save up for a nice one. May be a couple of years though. I wanted the sound of the water because I LOVE water.
Tammie
If it goes up and down depending on the time of day, are you sure it's algae and not pond gunk? If it's pond sludge (gunk, goo, poop, nasty-stuff, etc) you may benefit from both a pond enzyme, which breaks down pond gunk (which is a combination of decaying vegetation, fish poop, and algae) as well as a barley ball or barley pad.....
:)
MerryM
You don't even have toads?
No toads. Would love to get some toad tadpoles though if I could find them. We used to have them years ago. There was only one tiny water lily in the pond when this stuff started.. no fish or anything else. It is very green and feels slimy when I scoop it out. Where would I find a barley ball?
Tammie
Barley balls or pads are available on Ebay or in most larger pet-stores such as PetSmart, etc...
Its like hay..... it's in the pond section.
eBay: Small Barley Ball 1/4 lb (item 290109731989 end time May-05-07 08:34:56 PDT)
As the straw breaks down, it emits something similar to hydrogen peroxide, to eliminate algae.
Large municipalities have been dumping bails of barley straw in their downtown ponds and fountains for years, to keep them clean of algae. It takes a few weeks to start the decomposition of the straw, but really does work. They also offer barley straw liquid, but it is much more costly.