So how many types of algae are there?

[BruceP]

Steve.... I had that problem with our 700g indoor tank. Tried whatever I could think of to filter it out to no avail. Then all of a sudden it disappeared.... two years after start up...Still dont know what causes it. Now our 1000g tank has the same thing but it's only a year old........ I keep waiting... lol

[CHICHI]

Steve.... I had that problem with our 700g indoor tank. Tried whatever I could think of to filter it out to no avail. Then all of a sudden it disappeared.... two years after start up...Still dont know what causes it. Now our 1000g tank has the same thing but it's only a year old........ I keep waiting... lol

Some hypothesis as to why by Norm meck

http://users.vcnet.com/rrenshaw/GRENH2O.html

[avorancher]

Steve.... I had that problem with our 700g indoor tank. Tried whatever I could think of to filter it out to no avail. Then all of a sudden it disappeared.... two years after start up...Still dont know what causes it. Now our 1000g tank has the same thing but it's only a year old........ I keep waiting... lol

Now THAT is the solution I've been waiting to hear. So I can use the "new pond syndrome" excuse for another year.

Seriously, great link ChiChi... I'll have to do a more thorough read later. As you can see by the photo, my water is quite clear even without the UV so far this year... it is just all those ##!! pieces of suspended algae. I'll probably fire up the UVs soon and put on the shade cover. If that bug I found turns out to be the start of Chilodonella, I'll be hitting the pond with PP anyway.

[CHICHI]

Now THAT is the solution I've been waiting to hear. So I can use the "new pond syndrome" excuse for another year.

Seriously, great link ChiChi... I'll have to do a more thorough read later. As you can see by the photo, my water is quite clear even without the UV so far this year... it is just all those ##!! pieces of suspended algae. I'll probably fire up the UVs soon and put on the shade cover. If that bug I found turns out to be the start of Chilodonella, I'll be hitting the pond with PP anyway.

Did it look like this ?

[avorancher]

Yes it looked like Chilodonella but I only found one and instead of swimming, it was moving up and down the algae shafts as if feeding on the algae. I'll keep a watch out because I know Chilodenella can multiply quickly. I'm thinking that I just lucked out and found one in the drop of water with the algae sample... I'm sure there is all types of parasites in miniscule numbers in every pond. I did scrapes on 3 koi last month and found nothing.

[CHICHI]

Yes it looked like Chilodonella but I only found one and instead of swimming, it was moving up and down the algae shafts as if feeding on the algae. I'll keep a watch out because I know Chilodenella can multiply quickly. I'm thinking that I just lucked out and found one in the drop of water with the algae sample... I'm sure there is all types of parasites in miniscule numbers in every pond. I did scrapes on 3 koi last month and found nothing.

Those in the Pics were eradicated at 16C using "Acriflavine" (dry powder version) combined with .3% Salt

[hiphuggger]

I have the same problem with that suspended algae....it goes thru everything, and it seems there is no solution
I only have a Ultima Ii filter and skimmer, but at this very moment we have bag filters over all the returns and they are filling up quick. The Ultima II must be a great biological filter...but that is where it stops.

[CHICHI]

I have the same problem with that suspended algae....it goes thru everything, and it seems there is no solution
I only have a Ultima Ii filter and skimmer, but at this very moment we have bag filters over all the returns and they are filling up quick. The Ultima II must be a great biological filter...but that is where it stops.

A correctly sized UV should eliminate these problems

The mistakes we sometimes make myself included is buying the wrong size unit to meet the individual requirements of our particular System or worse still pushing far to great a flow through these

GPH quoted by Manufacturers have been proven to be much too high for the Units to function effectively ..

Some UV myths exploded in this link use the sub link for Ponds contained therein http://www.americanaquariumproducts....ilization.html

[hiphuggger]

I wish I could say I had the wrong sized equiptment and it was my failure, but alas; my pond is approx 3000 gallons, my UV is rated 120 Watts, my Ultima II is rated (not sure) approx 5000 gallons, ...and the turnover from my pump to the pond is 2400 gph.
BUT~ my pond is in direct sun light all day....16 med- large koi. My skimmer was an after-thought discovery!~ And just skims and returns the water via another port on the waterfall......
What I don't understand is why is bead filter is returning crap BACK to my pond. I have really thick, can't -see- thru micron filter socks hanging off the return right now, and it is filled with algae and black crud......I am getting a little frustrated to say the least. I am considering getting a bag filter to mechanically filter out everything the Ultima II misses....
Ah, the joys of koi's

[CHICHI]

I wish I could say I had the wrong sized equiptment and it was my failure, but alas; my pond is approx 3000 gallons, my UV is rated 120 Watts, my Ultima II is rated (not sure) approx 5000 gallons, ...and the turnover from my pump to the pond is 2400 gph.
BUT~ my pond is in direct sun light all day....16 med- large koi. My skimmer was an after-thought discovery!~ And just skims and returns the water via another port on the waterfall......
What I don't understand is why is bead filter is returning crap BACK to my pond. I have really thick, can't -see- thru micron filter socks hanging off the return right now, and it is filled with algae and black crud......I am getting a little frustrated to say the least. I am considering getting a bag filter to mechanically filter out everything the Ultima II misses....
Ah, the joys of koi's

Then the UV is failing to perform for one of several reasons - the biggest culprit being the "Direct Sunlight" mine was the same I was pushing all my return water through these !
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BABY-KOI-WATER...1%7C240%3A1318

and having to rinse them every other day

[hiphuggger]

WOW..those are BIG pads! Just for giggles, my husband has jammed a thick polishing pad on top of the bead filter, and still has the 100 micron filter socks hanging from the return. Tomorrow, we'll see what result we get. But the filter socks have already strained a lot of the yuckies and we are starting to see fish! Not sure I'll see the bottom, but it's a start.If the additional filtration is the key, then we have to look for something permanent, as this set-up is very unsightly!

[farne230]

Your water clarity looks great. I fear the only practive which will eliminate algae growth year round will requre the addition and expense of shading and ozone IMO.
Bob

[CHICHI]

Your water clarity looks great. I fear the only practive which will eliminate algae growth year round will requre the addition and expense of shading and ozone IMO.
Bob

[koikate]

Check out this thread for Sodium Percarbonate treatment and its effect on algae in ponds.

https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53618

[koikate]

Aside from the SP treatment, quick shade equals floating rafts filled with nitrate eating annual plants to eliminate the conditons that cause algae growth; i.e. sun and nitrates.

Raft that puppy for some instant shade.

http://koiphen.com/forums/showthread...84#post1568884

[avorancher]

There are several treatments that could kill the algae, but my experience last year is that it just comes right back. I would rather concentrate on something that I don't have to add every week. I turned on my big UVs yesterday but I don't think they are going to make much difference because new algae clumps grow as quickly as the old can be filtered out. Wouldn't O3 be similar to using UV in this case? Remember... my water is not green at all... just full of small floating bits. Nitrates are less than 5 ppm and phosphates are also low at .5.

Pond should be getting up to 70F soon and that is the time when I put a shade cloth over the pergola. It doesn't completely shade the pond but did help a little last year. Reducing koi feeding would no doubt help but the DW wouldn't go for that one nor the little floating islands.

Bob... did you hook up O3? I remember the softener and/or RO unit you put in.

[geraldlim]

My water garden is full of this pondscum since I took the koi out and stopped the submersible pump that would turn it into a whirlpool. The stuff kinda grows on the bottom, not attached to anything. It floats up in the day when it is photosynthesizing. When I had strong currents in it, it would just get sucked into the gravel bog filter. What is the turnover rate, and is there good current in it?

[koikate]

I don't hear people saying anything about barley straw treatments. Around where I live, there are a lot of folks farming primarily trout and salmon. These guys hate algae as much as koi pond people do and they swear by barley straw.

From what I can tell, the secret to making it work is WHEN you put it in. It's got to go into the water BEFORE algae begins to develop as the water warms up; some say 50 degrees and everybody says by the time the water temps reach 60 F. Or in other words about the time your fish come out of their winter slow down and want to feed again.

Nobody around here uses those cute little baled barley straw bundles you find in pond shops; they all just go to a farm store and buy a bale of barley straw. It's about five bucks. They pack it loosely into onion bags or net bags; 8 oz of barley straw for every 1000 gallons. Then they add rocks to the barley straw bags so it sinks, tie a nylon cord to it and toss the bags into the pond securing the end of the nylon cord at the pond's edge under a rock or something. They toss several small bags into the water rather rather than one big one to make sure the algae preventing chemicals in barley straw gets evenly distributed throughout the pond. They also retrieve and replace each bundle after 4-6 weeks in order to keep the treatment up throughout the algae season.

Barley straw will not kill an existing algae problem; it will only keep one from developing.

The big trout farmers around here just swear by the stuff.

[avorancher]

I don't hear people saying anything about barley straw treatments. Around where I live, there are a lot of folks farming primarily trout and salmon. These guys hate algae as much as koi pond people do and they swear by barley straw.

From what I can tell, the secret to making it work is WHEN you put it in. It's got to go into the water BEFORE algae begins to develop as the water warms up; some say 50 degrees and everybody says by the time the water temps reach 60 F. Or in other words about the time your fish come out of their winter slow down and want to feed again.

Nobody around here uses those cute little baled barley straw bundles you find in pond shops; they all just go to a farm store and buy a bale of barley straw. It's about five bucks. They pack it loosely into onion bags or net bags; 8 oz of barley straw for every 1000 gallons. Then they add rocks to the barley straw bags so it sinks, tie a nylon cord to it and toss the bags into the pond securing the end of the nylon cord at the pond's edge under a rock or something. They toss several small bags into the water rather rather than one big one to make sure the algae preventing chemicals in barley straw gets evenly distributed throughout the pond. They also retrieve and replace each bundle after 4-6 weeks in order to keep the treatment up throughout the algae season.

Barley straw will not kill an existing algae problem; it will only keep one from developing.

The big trout farmers around here just swear by the stuff.

I think Hydrogen peroxide is a product of decomposition of barley straw, therefore similar to the Sodium Percarbonate you mentioned earlier. I have no doubt it works in some ponds but you're probably right about applying it before the problem starts. I put in a bunch of Barley Concentrated Extract last year when my problem was even worse and the only thing it eliminated was most of the padding in my wallet.

We had some visitors to the pond today and they were all amazed at how clear the water was. Meanwhile, I'm going nuts trying to make it clear. Maybe I'm the problem.

[avorancher]

My water garden is full of this pondscum since I took the koi out and stopped the submersible pump that would turn it into a whirlpool. The stuff kinda grows on the bottom, not attached to anything. It floats up in the day when it is photosynthesizing. When I had strong currents in it, it would just get sucked into the gravel bog filter. What is the turnover rate, and is there good current in it?

Hi Gerald. I think you're on to something here. Last year, I could watch the algae float up from the bottom of my shallow stream. It would float up in the daytime and sink at night. Last year it was big globs.

I could probably have a better turnover rate but with a big pond it is difficult. My turnover is around 75 minutes. Currents are adequate for self cleaning the bottom, especially with air domes on. I tried leaving the air off for a while to allow the particles to sink, but they never do. Filtration picks up a lot of the particles but it either passes right through or new algae is generated as fast as the old is removed. I can go at least a week before cleaning the Nexus Easys, so the stuff is really small and non-clogging so far. I can use a very fine net to pick it up but it just dissolves if you touch it. maybe it is dissolving inside the filters and starting its cycle over when exiting. So far the UV is having no affect.