Related products:

• Barley extract with peat
• Bio-filters

INTRODUCTION

This is the most common problem with ponds. This age-old problem has always baffled pond owners since the beginning of time. This would be a good time to grab your favorite beverage of choice and sit back and soak in the following information. This section is quite large and will require some time to read and understand the principals of algae growth. There are many things you can do to inhibit algae growth. Please note that there are two different kinds of Algae, good and bad. The good algae is the green coating you see on the sides of the liner and containers. The bad algae are the type that robs the nutrients from the pond and is usually suspended throughout the water. Also, if your pond is clear but long stringy algae is growing, you have  a problem and need to get your water in balance.

When enough suspended algae is present, the water appears to be tinted green and becomes almost pea soup like in appearance. You can’t see anything in your pond but algae. Not very appealing to the eye. Sunlight is the catalyst needed to culture the algae that you see. By limiting the amount of direct sunlight your pond receives, you are eliminating its source, thus reducing the algae bloom significantly. This is the real first step in getting your ponds algae bloom under control.

CONTROLLING THE SUN

It would be nice if we could just flip a switch and magically reduce the penetrating sunlight that enters our ponds. Fantasy over! Some people drape large sunscreen nets over their ponds to filter the sunlight. While this is effective, it ruins the overall appearance and limits the sunlight most aquatic plants need to grow properly.

Additives have been introduced over the years that color or tint the water to a dark translucent black or blue. These additives will help to filter the direct sunlight from penetrating the surface of the pond.

The amount of light reaching the pond surface can also be controlled with floating or surface plants. Approximately 60-70% of the pond surface should eventually be covered with these type plants. Water lilies, water lettuce and water hyacinth are good choices to accomplish this coverage quickly. Plant taller marginal plants along the side of your pond to help shade the pond from the later afternoon sun. Place these so that they will shade the pond starting around 1 PM. You will have to rearrange them to effectively shade sections of your pond from the late afternoon sunlight. Planting trees will also help to shade the sunlight, but offer up another problem of falling leaves that decay in the pond bottom.

AQUATIC PLANT SOLUTIONS

Planting the appropriate number of plants needed to use the waters nutrients to exclude the lower algae life form is very effective. Carpeting the bottom of your pond with submerged aquatic plants like cabomba, sagittaria, hornwort and anachris will help this process and provide a natural filtering system and habitat for developing fish. If your pond is green, you need to remove your submerged plants from the pond bottom and place them closer to the pond's surface where they will receive sunlight for growth. As the water clears they may be lowered again to the bottom. This is not a quick fix-all. It could take 6-8 weeks to significantly reduce the amount of algae and see a noticeable difference in appearance. By achieving an ‘Eco-balance" in the pond naturally, you will eventually see a dramatic difference in the water clarity and quality. Many pond owners line the pond bottom with washed 1-2" round river rock that is 1-2" deep and plant the submerged plants in the rock.

ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZERS 

Uv's have been around for quite a while, but only recently introduced in the pond industry. UV's are probably the most common solution for ridding the pond of algae. Please note that simply hooking up an UV is not in itself the overall fix. You must achieve the Eco balance we have talked about to have clear and clean pond water.

Here is how they work. Water is pumped via a pump to the inlet of the UV system. The water passes over the UV bulb exposing the algae water to the UV light. The rays of the light divide the DNA of the algae causing it to clump together and be filtered out by your bio-filter. A side note here: The UV MUST is placed in-line between the pond and the filter. Placing the unit after the water has been filtered will kill the algae, but it just ends up in the pond to feed the existing algae. Even some manufactures include instructions to install the unit this way, but we can tell you from years of experience, forget it!