Slimey Pond

[chang35baht]

Hi Guys, Please help me because I,m tired of emptying and refilling my little concrete garden pond. The green alge/slime builds up over the week and eventually it is to much of an eyesore that we have to clean/refill it again.

It is concrete base and sides. When it was made they put a sealing agent in the concrete to stop leaks I imagine. I have a small electric pump/fountain. Sometimes it may have 2-3 small fish i if the kids bring them back from a fishing trip. But basically it`s just a garden feature.

Is there some sort of powder or mixture that I can put in the water to stop or slow down this continual process of cleaning and refilling

[sbk]

Welcome to the club. I have bought the algae powders from back in the US with no discernable results. Our pool is too shallow and heats up quickly allowing the algae to flourish. Unfortunately I can't seem to talk hubby into draining it, breaking up the cement, digging it another half a meter deeper, and then re-cementing the thing. Unreasonable man

Best action I have found is to clean the pool with a toilet brush. (obviously not one that has been used in the bathroom). It snags the algae and then use it on your plants or something.

[Jai Dee]

Get some water snails... they will eat your algae and breed prolifically until their population stabilizes with the amount of available food.

[sbk]

And then you need ducks to eat the water snails?

Never seen an unwanted population of anything stabilize itself in my garden

[rio666uk]

dont know about thailand but in UK you would normally add barley straw in a net - this will cut down the algae.

if you want to take it a bit more seriously, a good pump suitable for circulating the ponds water volume each hour, pumping into a good filter. UV filter is also needed to clear the algae completely.

it neednt cost the earth - you can make the filter yourself!

[Jai Dee]

I'm not joking about the snails... seriously, we've got one of those ceramic bowl water features that are about 1 metre across and 250mm deep... with a pink lotus growing in it... in full sun... and we used to have a really bad algae problem too.

One day, I noticed that the water was a lot cleaner and had a closer look... snails had found their way in somehow, and were happily munching away on the algae.

Now these are only tiny snails... about 1.5 - 2mm long, but they sure cleaned up our algae.

[ratcatcher]

I'm not joking about the snails... seriously, we've got one of those ceramic bowl water features that are about 1 metre across and 250mm deep... with a pink lotus growing in it... in full sun... and we used to have a really bad algae problem too. 

One day, I noticed that the water was a lot cleaner and had a closer look... snails had found their way in somehow, and were happily munching away on the algae.

Now these are only tiny snails... about 1.5 - 2mm long, but they sure cleaned up our algae.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He's absolutely right. Get some snails, they eat the algae,breed and stabilise. Very efficient. Forget the garlic!

[bonsaimax]

Get some water snails... they will eat your algae and breed prolifically until their population stabilizes with the amount of available food.

This is true. You can buy those "golden" snails, very effective and inexpensive. And you can also buy a couple of sucker catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus) http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=plecosto...plecostomus.htm

These are dark coloured fish that adhere to the tank or pond using their mouths. They have hard bony plated bodies and look like pre-historic creatures.

Perfect algae eaters

Edited October 26, 2005 by bonsaimax

[Big Tony]

Aluminum Sulphate?

[RDN]

I have a few bowls with flowers and fish in them, but no slimy green stuff. Instead, my pots are full of da.mn snails - little black ones. Every few months I clean the bowls out and get rid of as many snails as I can see. But they always come back!

[Jai Dee]

And I can see RDN, that your water is crystal clear.... no algae at all.

[jrincon17]

Welcome to the club. I have bought the algae powders from back in the US with no discernable results. Our pool is too shallow and heats up quickly allowing the algae to flourish. Unfortunately I can't seem to talk hubby into draining it, breaking up the cement, digging it another half a meter deeper, and then re-cementing the thing. Unreasonable man

Best action I have found is to clean the pool with a toilet brush. (obviously not one that has been used in the bathroom). It snags the algae and then use it on your plants or something.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

get sucker fish , you know the ones that eat algae

[chownah]

Get rid of the water and you'll have no slime problem....slime loves to grow in water but in a dry environment it has a difficult time.

[Rooo]

Most effective way is a large dose of chlorine & scrub away the layers of algae.As one layer dies off scrub & expose the lower one to the chlorine.Worked on my pool , but don't know about the plants.

[Steve2UK]

Barley straw certainly works - you have to allow it to decompose and it releases a chemical that inhibits/kills the algae. If you can get it, just put a couple of handfuls in a an old stocking with a pebble to weight it. It won't harm the plants or fish - chlorine will kill both.

Next time you've cleaned the pond and pulled out most of the algae, get 2 or 3 goldfish to put in the pond and don't feed them. They'll graze the algae.

Try to keep as much sunlight off the water as possible - either by shade from something over the pond or with plants in the water whose leaves will cover about half the surface (e.g. water lilies). Sunlight encourages growth of algae.

[aughie]

Direct sunlight, a shallow pond and too many nutrients in the water will bring on algae blooms. Scoop out the debris that collects on the bottom of the pond to help eliminate nutrients. Feeding fish introduces nutrients. You need something to compete with the algae for the nutrients in the water. Plants will do this if they are introduced before the algae, ortherwise, the algae will smother the plants. Depending on what fish you bring home from the trips they may eat the snails. If the fish eat the snails then you could try some commercial products.

Introduce additional bacteria and emzymes to compete with the algae.

http://www.thepetstop.com/fish_shop/Miscel...us/BI-AQUA.html

Or you can use an algicide. Be sure to obtain one which does not kill fish or ornamental plants. (I think it will kill snails and crustaceans though.)

http://www.pondliner.com/AlgaeFix.htm

good luck

-a

[sbk]

Tried those Aughie, they don't actually work that well.

Best solution would be to set the husband to work but somehow he just won't cooperate. So, second best short term solution (I'm going to get some of that barley straw when I go home next year, I've seen it in the large pet stores) is the toilet brush.

[The Coder]

I have a great deal of experience with koi ponds. You do NOT need chemicals. You do NOT need to change the water. You do NOT need a filter system. You do NOT need to scrub off or draw out the algae.

All you need is a biologically balanced pond and it will take care of itself and become crystal clear and stay that way without you doing anything and it is just so easy. Just put in some appropriate aquatic plants and creatures and the pond will take care of itself. New ponds will quickly form a green pea soup algae bloom and that is ok. While your plants and creatures are doing their thing, over time the pond will also start to build up micro organisms that filter the water. You can give your pond a head start by adding a scoop of muck from the bottom of someone else’s mature pond. With just a little setup work, you will soon witness the miracle looking in and seeing it become crystal clear all by itself and staying that way year after year.

All you need to do is read one chapter in a good book about water gardening basics and you will be armed with what you need to know to get it setup. Nothing is as cheap or easy as biological! Working with instead of against nature is the way to go.

Edited October 27, 2005 by The Coder

[chang35baht]

Thanx for all your suggestions guys and SBK. I think I`ll try the biologically balanced method and see how that goes. Also I`ve just remembered that a couple of my friends keep fish indoors. So I`ll ask them how they keep their tanks clean.

Thanks again people.

[aughie]

Another thing to check is the the nitrate level of your tap water. You might be starting with water which is high.

[mijan24]

Thanx for all your suggestions guys and SBK. I think I`ll try the biologically balanced method and see how that goes. Also I`ve just remembered that a couple of my friends keep fish indoors. So I`ll ask them how they keep their tanks clean.

          Thanks again people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your friends may have a filter system plus "chockers" = sucker catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus) aded to this the snails and clear water is yours.

[sbk]

And your pool has to be deep enough. Too shallow and it overheats easily thus creating algae, no matter how ecologically balanced the life is. Our little pool is 3 years old and the only time it doesn't have an algae problem is rainy season when it is mostly cloudy. It really needs to be deeper. Now, where did my husband go?

[WhiteShiva]

And your pool has to be deep enough. Too shallow and it overheats easily thus creating algae, no matter how ecologically balanced the life is. Our little pool is 3 years old and the only time it doesn't have an algae problem is rainy season when it is mostly cloudy. It really needs to be deeper. Now, where did my husband go? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We have a small pool in the garden, 1 x 1 meter, and approx 20 cm deep. Keep a few small fish there. Had a problem with algae (maid was cleaning the pond weekly), but after installing a fountain and running it for an hour or so in the evening, the water gets re-oxygenated enough to prevent any algae forming. Fish are probably happier to, but difficult to tell. At least they are alive and active.

Which is probably why your pond didn't get algaeed (!) up during the raining season - a regular supply of fresh oxygenated water.........

A simple, cheap, and reasonably environmentally friendly solution.

[The Coder]

And your pool has to be deep enough.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good depth offers a number of great advantages to any pond. However, you might be able to get balance even on a very shallow one by enough surface coverage using aquatic plants to reduce the direct sunlight. If it is too shallow for water lillies, you could go with something thin like duck weed, water lettuce, or just put an ornamental bridge over it. If you look around you can see even shallow barrel ponds can be clear so don't give up on biological. And don't forget choosing several kinds of critters of your choice to munch away algae. Buy your hubbie a book on bio pond care for his birthday It is amazing and rewarding to see it work.

[mijan24]

Welcome to the club. I have bought the algae powders from back in the US with no discernable results. Our pool is too shallow and heats up quickly allowing the algae to flourish. Unfortunately I can't seem to talk hubby into draining it, breaking up the cement, digging it another half a meter deeper, and then re-cementing the thing. Unreasonable man

Best action I have found is to clean the pool with a toilet brush. (obviously not one that has been used in the bathroom). It snags the algae and then use it on your plants or something.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And then you need ducks to eat the water snails?

Never seen an unwanted population of anything stabilize itself in my garden 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tried those Aughie, they don't actually work that well.

Best solution would be to set the husband to work but somehow he just won't cooperate. So, second best short term solution (I'm going to get some of that barley straw when I go home next year, I've seen it in the large pet stores) is the toilet brush.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And your pool has to be deep enough. Too shallow and it overheats easily thus creating algae, no matter how ecologically balanced the life is. Our little pool is 3 years old and the only time it doesn't have an algae problem is rainy season when it is mostly cloudy. It really needs to be deeper. Now, where did my husband go?  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

SBK sorry sometimes it takes awhile to click - Yes the best method for having a clear clean no algae pond is for SBK's husband to dig their current shallow one deeper - Come on SBK's male dig deeper.

Edited October 27, 2005 by mijan24