BonniesPlants.com

Thank you Bonnie, I'll do that.
I love your site. Opened the koi cam and watched with the grandkids and grandpa this morning. Your fish a lovely. Thank you.
One more quick question. We bought our home 7 years ago with the pond already in place. I read somewhere that rocks helped the health of the pond so put a few bags of river rock on the bottom. Then we discovered Koi. My question, should I remove the river rock in order to help maintain the cleanliness of the koi environment? All our piping runs over the top of the liner so I have a few large rocks trying to hide some of the white PVC.
Thank you
J-net

I am not in favor of rocks, especially on the bottom. I do have rocks in my stream bed and water falls but they are spaced far apart.

Rocks trap a lot of crud.

And the rock displaces a lot of water and your pond will actually hold more water (far more important than the rocks) without the rocks. Eventually the pipe will cover over with carpet algae and not be as noticeable.

One person I know actually gained a 1,000 gallons once he removed all the rocks!

Bonnie

Bonnie
Then I guess once the water warms up I'll be mining rocks. I much prefer the fish to the rocks.
Thank you for all the information. I've put in an email asking about ordering the clay.
J-net

Hi Bonnie
I received the clay today and just put in the first dose. I'll let you know how quickly it works. I can't wait to have a string algae free pond.

I wonder how many people with algae problems have the problem I discovered and don't know it.. My wife and I were sitting on the deck listening to the waterfall in the pond and I noticed a Grackle (blackbird) carrying something and dropping it in the stream just above the waterfall. It was a packet of baby bird poop. The bird returned every fifteen minutes or so and repeated the same thing. Other birds came to the pond, dropped the little packet on a rock, took a drink and flew away, but this one bird insisted on carefully placing the poop in the stream. The packets are from the babies in the nest that the parent bird carries away. I figured that if this bird is doing this all day every fifteen minutes or so that I'm getting the equivalent of someone tossing several cups of fertilizer in my pond each week. No wonder that this year's algae bloom seems so much worse! I've tried to condition this one bird by standing guard and squirting it with the garden hose when it comes to the stream, but it has not been effective; it avoids the stream when I'm out there, but then returns when it thinks I'm not watching or not holding the hose. Smart little boogers! Thankfully, the plants I ordered from Bonnie arrived today, the weather is supposed to warm and encourage those beneficial plants to grow, and I hope they will soon take care of the extral nitrogen load. In the meantime, I set up a temporary pressure filter and UV light, which I don't normally need, and am backwashing that filter daily. I just hope that bird, which built its nest in the spruce tree next to my property, will soon fledge its young and be done with using my stream and pond as its sanitary system. If your pond suddenly gets green or greener than usual, watch the birds and see if that's the source of your extra nitrogen. Anyone else ever witnessed this?

Don

My own pond is a haven for birds. I see them all the time bathing in the water on the waterfall ledge. I have feeders here for birds because I love to watch them and we have a huge array of birds here in NC.

Problem is the birds, just like frogs, toads, snakes, snails can all carry parasites and bacteria into the pond. If you have done any reading here, you will know I treat my pond 2 times a year for parasites and bacteria. The above listed critters are the reason why. There is no way that I know to keep them out of the pond.

Many of breeders, imported from Japan cost me thousands of dollars and I can NOT risk their health so I treat my pond every spring and fall.

Thank you for bringing up an excellent point and reminder.

Bonnie

A few years ago, I had the same problems with grackles. VERY irritating.

I did quit putting out bird food for a few days and the grackles left. The Finches and Cardinals were not fond of that, but the grackles left. Each spring, when I saw them starting to come around I would stop feeding the birds and the grackles didn't stay long. I didn't even have a slight problem with them this year. Maybe they learned my pond is not their waste disposal plant. I don't know if that will help you, but it seems to have worked for me. Good luck.

Vanessa

The pressure filter and uv are working wonders and my pond is clearing significantly. I also will remove the grackle nest just as soon as the babies that are currently there are fledged. My pond looks much better now and will be ready for Tuesday and Wednesday when I have seven classes of 5th graders coming for a lesson on ponds from the school behind my house. I now have a good story to tell them about the "dirty bird" who used my pond for a toilet.

Don

I have some boxes in my greenhouse where I winter over my lilies. I have the strangest alge that is kind of foamy and when I use the UV it clears the water below but I still have the foamy stuff that I skim off but it seems to keep coming back? Any suggetions on how to kill this?

Thanks

Maria

There are many types of algae. I’m wondering if what you have is some form of a filamentous algae, or commonly referred to as "pond scum". Filamentous algae forms greenish mats on the water's surface. It starts out by growing along the edges or bottom of the pond and "mushrooms" to the surface.

The growth of filamentous algae results from high levels of nutrients; carbon monoxide, and the Sun's energy. Methods of controlling filamentous algae include increased shade, reducing the frequency of fish feedings, water changes and the use of chemicals. I’m not a fan of using any type of chemical to control algae issues in the pond.

What you can try is using Koi Clay (Bonnie sells this). Koi Clay provides a very effective means of killing string algae.

A UV sterilizer will effectively destroy single celled organisms such as water borne bacteria, viruses and/or to control algae and/or to kill fungi and protozoa
Steve

Well, I might be a newbie but I'm going to open my big mouth about algae. I've read every thread in this forum and it appears that Koi Clay deffinately helps string algae but it does absolutely nothing to help your basic green water algae problem most pond owners moan and groan about.

So, I've heard you all say "barley straw doesn't work!" but I've really heard nobody say they've used it correctly. Bottom line is, you can't wait until you have a pond screaming green and then add barley straw because it will not work. But there is a secret to this barley straw stuff and if you know the secret, barley straw can do wonders.

In the Pacific Northwest where I live, there are a whole lot of fish farms raising trout and salmon; none of which eat algae to grow on and these guys hate algae and love, even swear by barley straw! The secret is WHEN you put it in your water AND NOW IS THE TIME!!!

You add barley straw the moment your pond temps reach 60 degrees; the proper ratio is 8 oz. for every 1000 gallons. Please, please, if you know you've had an algae problem in the past, don’t wait; it'll be too late! Add barley straw in the spring; the moment your temps get to the point your koi want to feed again!

And please, do yourselves a favor and don't add those cute little compressed barley straw 8 oz. bales your local pond and aquarium store has to offer at ridiculous prices. You can go down to your local Farm and Feed store and get a 50 lb. bale of barley straw for about $5 bucks. So why would you pay $8.95 for two 8 oz. "little pretty bales." Get a grip!

Buy a full bale, rip it apart and portion it out in 8 oz. packages. If you want barley straw to work right, don't put it in your pond compressed and baled, put it in your pond loose, chopped and in an onion bag or tied up in some nylon netting that you go out and buy at your local fabric store. Add a nice big rock to each 8 oz. package so it sinks and drops to the bottom of your pond. Use as many bundles as you need and toss the loose barley straw bundles into different parts of your pond. Also tie a length of nylon cord to each 8 oz. barley straw bundle and secure one end of the cord under a rock or potted plant at your pond's edge so it's easy to retrieve. Then toss those barley straw bundles out into your pond; it's better to use several small bundles that one big one. Let the straw bundles rot and decompose for a month so they'll release the chemicals that barley straw is famous for. In a month retrieve them, throw away the old barley straw and use it as mulch or compost for your garden and refill your barley straw bundles with the fresh straw again. Keep it up all spring, summer and fall.

Just remember; to stop green algae this summer, start this barley straw program the moment your pond temps reach 60 degrees. If you wait until the water gets warmer and the algae develops it will be too late; barley straw will not make an existing green algae problem go away; but it WILL PREVENT a green algae problem from developing if you put it into your pond early enough in the spring.

Honest! Pacific Northwest trout farmers swear by this stuff!