Barley straw for pond clarity

[islandguy]

Been seeing plenty of internet references to barley straw as a safe biological control for ponds full of algae and perhaps other sources of turbidity. Never considered it possible to actually get some in Thailand, but today saw a company that had a liquid extract which seemed to be pretty concentrated (5ml for 1,000 liters of water as I remember). Anybody know a source for this or have other suggestions? I have read some of the threads here that touch on this, so flittering water (not really part of our problem), having water plants in floating planters with roots in water (will be doing this), and reducing light on ponds (waiting for trees to get bigger) are concepts I’m already familiar with. Thanks for any helpful or interesting replies.

[Khaeng Mak]

Aeration, phoslock and some big fat tilapia.

[MikeN]

Lazada has people selling the extract and bags of straw.

[geoffbezoz]

Absolute rubbish. A balanced plant life pond, fish content in line with water quantity and good pond husbandry is what is needed. Not quick fix gibberish.  My Thai family owns nearly 80 Rai of ponds, relying on my knowledge of husbandry for almost 14 years..

[IsaanAussie]

Agreed green pond culture is a good way to go to limit costly inputs. Ten years ago there was a good thread on the Farming forum dealing with the topic. There was a number of fish farmers producing good returns feeding fish commercial feed and using aeration equipment etc... One in particular grew to satisfy a number of large buyers.

Because I was using the pond primarily to support the pig sty I was limited to growing fish that tolerated low oxygen levels. Throwing in a few bales of rice straw and pumping in small amounts of effluent maintained enough nutrients for pond life to thrive and that life then feed the fish. Obviously less fish that grow slower. 

I found I didnt need any test gear for the water. When you had dragonflies on the pond, the water was clean and the water plants green and healthy, things were looking good.

Edit - Forgot the aeration/mixing bit. I have a 3" sullage pump which was used to add water from the sty septic system. I would usually then drop that pump into the pond where the effluent had been added and run the hose back in on the opposite side of the pond. This provided for aeration and mixing. Made a big difference to achieving the balance. No algae blooms even with no shade.

[islandguy]

Thanks for the reply and information. When you talk about pumping and aeration, were you pumping just water or a mix of air and water? Or letting water mix with air using a surface spray or jet? I already have a pump house next to pond so this would be pretty easy to set up.

[IsaanAussie]

Just now, islandguy said:

Thanks for the reply and information. When you talk about pumping and aeration, were you pumping just water or a mix of air and water? Or letting water mix with air using a surface spray or jet? I already have a pump house next to pond so this would be pretty easy to set up.

The water got mixed and aerated through the pump and hoses together with the water stream returning to and breaking the pond surface. Drawing from one side and returning on the other gets the water circulating in the pond. I often target a "dead" corner of the pond and return the water onto it to mix it up. 

Give it a try, I am sure you will see an improvement.

[islandguy]

Thanks, happy to try. Regarding the rice straw, was there any downside to this and does it fit into any local understanding or practices?