Algae

POND ALGAE

Nobody likes it and nobody wants it. Pond algae gets such a hard time. Why? Well because it turns your pond water green and if there’s one thing us pond owners don’t want it’s green water. We want clean clear pond water.

So how do we deal with the dreaded algae that can make our life a misery. First lets look at what algae is and then we will look at how to control it.

Algae is good for your pond as long as it is controlled. A healthy pond needs a planktonic algae which is a plant form that provides a food source in our ponds. The types we don’t want are Filamentous and these are known as the blanket algae that sits on the water. There are other types of algae but quite frankly we don’t want them, all except the first one in a controlled way of course. The common time for the algae attack is spring when the water temperature is getting warmer. This is when our pond water may turn green. Now if you have a good balance of pond plants such as water lilies that will soon grow during spring to cover some of the surface of your pond then the algae will slow down and your water will start to clear. The natural balance of a pond is important and if we have enough plants in our ponds including some surface covering plants then they will be taking the nutrients from the pond rather than algae having a plentiful supply.So then apart from the spring splurge of algae greening our waters, it should be clear the rest of the time.

So the control of algae is a pretty wide subject and there are chemical treatments for pond water that can get rid of algae (to a certain extent) which I don’t like to use. If I can avoid putting chemicals in my pond I will, but thats just me. There are the fish you can add to your pond that help to control algae as they like to eat it. Then there are the UV clarifiers that keep your pond clean and clear.

In my next post I will have a look at these UV clarifiers, see you there.

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