Keeping Your Garden Pond Free Of Algae
Keeping Your Garden Pond Free Of Algae
Keeping Your Garden Pond Free Of Algae
Algae (or green water) in your pond looks unsightly and lives on the rotting vegetation, fish faeces and uneaten food in the water.
New ponds should be planted so that at least 2/3rds of the surface is covered and remove blanketweed as soon as possible. Do not overfeed fish in your pond and remove uneaten food. Don’t change the pond water, as the algae will thrive on the new nutrients introduced this way.
A good way to banish algae is to install a filter and an ultra violet clarifier (UV for short) or use one of the products available for use in ponds.
However, you do need to think ‘green’ and buy environmentally friendly treatment, as you don’t want your plants damaged. Blanketweed grows rapidly and can be a real nuisance in your pond. You will need to clear some away. One of the most recognised treatments for blanketweed and green water is ‘barley straw’. The barley straw inhibits algae growth by producing an enzyme as it breaks down and also creates an ideal living area for infusoria, which feed on algae when living there in large enough numbers. You need to start treatment as early as possible, even during winter, before you have a problem. It is really important to remember that dead algae will affect the quality of the water in your pond and you need to monitor this and remove as much blanketweed as you can.
There are various other methods of control you can use and they will all be as effective as each other. There is even an electronic blanketweed control that uses a multi-frequency processor to weaken and breakdown the blanketweed by disrupting the calcium ions in the water. It’s harmless to fish and plants and can be used all through the year.
You could make yourself a rod to collect the blanketweed. Just move the rod through the water in a circular way (a bit like the machine used to collect candy-floss at the funfair) and remove the blanketweed to your compost heap.
A word of caution, never use more than one treatment at any time as to do so could cause a different set of problems.
Backyard Ponds is a community blog set-up to answer pond related questions.