Algae Advice

[Spooky_uk]

We moved in to new house in December and inherited 2 ponds (1 fish 1 wildlife) the fish pond has a stream/waterfall leading into it  and the previous owners had removed the pump for over winter but also snipped the cables literally. I have now wired it back up and we have water flowing again.

My query is the buildup of algae in general and what to do with it . Firstly I am not a pond expert at all (I do keep Tropical freshwater fish in an Aquarium though so not totally clueless).

The Algae is the fiberous stuff and it is covering not only the sides of the ponds as far down as you can see but also all the plants and weed in there(for example the water lily leaves are covered in the stuff).

At the moment the pond has several thousand tadpoles swimming about - will these help the cause by munching at it (the ones that are not scoffed by the fish that is!).

Is there anything I use to alleviate the problem or is it going to need a manual "clean" - which I dont really want to do until the tadpoles are gone. I have no problems with a proper manual clean just that it will have to wait if thats the case...

Any advice appreciated..thanks.

[Margaret]

Hi Spooky.Is it in both ponds? I have never had any problem with blanketweed in the nature pond as it is so well planted.Generally if you are not keeping and feeding fish, there are no waste products feeding the wretched stuff.Much more difficult with the fish pond.You need to remove as much as you can manually and it is hard work.Every day is not too often.Block out sunlight which is also a major cause,by planting up lots of weed and floating plants.When the water lily leaves get to the top this will also help.An algae bloom is very common this time of year.

You can treat the pond with Interpet pond balance which is a very naturael treatment and alters the PH to make the conditions harder for blanketweed to grow.But it sheer persistence that pays off.I would buy some more plants and weed,a very good one is Hornwort which does not need planting as it doesn't have roots ,but it grows well all summer then sinks to the bottom over the winter.

Another tip,especially if you have a waterfall ,is to root water cress in glasses of water in the house,then throw it into the pond,or waterfall and it will greedily feed on the excess nutrients,such as the nitrates.

[Spooky_uk]

thnaks for reply. The wildlife pond is not a problem (the smallest of the two). Its the larger fish pond that is the problem. There isn't any that is easily removed to be honest - its "growing" on all the other plants, including the tonnes of pond weed in there, and the sides of the pond (liner).

made my mind up to give it a proper empty and clean in the summer (not even sure how deep it is yet etc so will be factfinding as well!) once the tadpoles have evolved and left and weather is warmer. Will give the other ideas a bash until then see if I can minimise it as much as possible. thanks.