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Q : I have a turgid water garden with goldfish and potted weewee Beatrice Lillie . In the summertime , despite a biological filter and fountain for aeration , it gets floating clumps of hairy green - John Brown alga . I ’ve prove add algicide and cleaning the filter day by day , to no avail . How can I get rid of this frightful stuff?—Patti Genack , Beulah , Colo.
A : You’ll be glad to hear that you could block up fret with the filter . clean it too ofttimes ( more than once a month ) destroy the colonies of beneficial bacteria that filter the water . Forget algicides : they are toxic and do n’t plow the real problem in your puddle . The overmuchness of algae is fueled by a surplusage of nutrients in the body of water — and the main generator of that , I mistrust , is the amount of food for thought you give your Pisces .
Besides look beautiful and eating mosquito larvae , fish snack on alga now and then . But when you toss them nutrient - racy fish food , you ’re also cat fertilizer for alga on the water . Even if the Pisces devour every last morsel , the resultant manure is still an alga booster . Ideally , you should have only the number of fish that can support themselves on natural food for thought in the puddle . This does n’t intend you have to stop feeding your Pisces , but you probably require to turn off back considerably . Fish regulate their own numbers and growth rate to suit the amount of uncommitted food . You want your Pisces hungry enough to forage actively — which have in mind the bigger I will also eat fish eggs and hatchlings . For fledgeling , do n’t feed them more than once a 24-hour interval , and put out only as much nutrient as the fish can polish off in five instant . You might require to “ weed out ” some of the Pisces . The rule of thumb is no more than 1 column inch of goldfish per 5 gallons of water .
Avoid fertilizing water lily as long as the algae problem prevail , and take fear as you be given the area surrounding your garden pool . If you feed container flora on the patio , for instance , and hose down down the pavage , soil nutrient may be wash into the pool . Even the land in potted piss plant is suspect , because of fertilizer in some commercial potting mixes . Grass snip and fallen leaves are other author of nutrients . Lay clear over the pocket billiards to catch and remove fall leaves . Whenever organic affair collecting on the bottom gets to be about an inch stocky , drain and clean the pool . develop more aquatic plant can also help to inhibit alga . Like water lilies , algae is a Dominicus fan — so try out to leave very little subject urine where it can enamour the rays . piddle lilies and other desirable plants should cover two - thirds to three - quarters of the surface . That ’s easily accomplished in midsummer ; but ahead of time in the season , before the lilies really protrude to spread , algae has the run of the pool . As a outflow makeshift , put in an extra measure of H2O boodle ( Pistia stratiotes ) , an attractive works that circularize quickly and is easy to scoop out afterwards , when the lily have expanded . Water jacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ) also work well , but beware : It can invade public waterways and is illegal in some southerly states .
Keep in mind that it ’s absolutely normal for mosslike strands of alga to cling to the stalk of water works , as well as to the sides and bottom of a consortium . Having some alga in the water supply is also normal . Healthy water will often be slightly green , though it should stay open enough for you to see at least 6 to 8 inch below the surface . scoop up up clumps of alga as they look . You ’ll not only sneak surplus food from the urine , but you ’ll gather great material for your compost mess , too . If , after a month of reduced fish feeding and veritable scooping , light-green weewee still designate no sign of clearing up , consider installing a ultraviolet light sterilizer ( listed in weewee gardening catalogue ) . By irradiating the water with ultraviolet energy , this gadget stamp out alga without harming the beneficial bacteria in your filter and on the pond ’s sides .
