Pond cleaning

[tankmates]

I added barley straw pellets today. I'm hoping to avoid any algae problems. I did'nt know whether the shade would be enough to control algae.

 

[Muske]

There is always algae in the spring.... Mostly string, but always present in the spring. Barley should help out, cleaning out as much debris as poss. helps too. Once the water warms up, and the plants start to grow, algae will subside and all will be happy. The algae might even get pretty bad, don't worry. Usual spring time activity. Look into a cold water bene. bacteria that can be added once the water temps. reach 60. I use a product called S.A.B. String algae Buster. It is like cycle for the pond. Adds bacteria and organisms that will help breack down the string algae. If you notice the algae getting reallly bad, use a kiddie rake(plastic of course) and use it like a big fork and twirl it like pasta, works really good at removing string algae. I will do this for a few minutes a day early in the season. Probally not totally necessary, but I like to keep my pond free of super long string and algae mats.