Water Fall

R

rjordan392

AC Members
Jan 17, 2008
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Hello,
I have an green slime algae problem on my water fall and its basin. The basin holds about 8 gallons and it is located close to a well kept bluegrass lawn. I am hesitant in using just any algae killer for fear of it affecting my lawn when wildlife splashes the water or when I dump the water after scrubbing the walls and basin to remove the algae.
I seen profucts for ponds but the manufacturers do not say if their products will affect grass.
I tried using barley straw but did not see results. I placed some in a mesh bag with a ping pong ball for floatation. I do not know if that is the correct way to use it.
Our water department uses ammonia, chlorine and orthophosphate in water supply. Although these chemicals are in ppm that is safe to drink, the phosphate and nitrate I believe are enough to feed the algae.
Is there a safe product that I can use that will not harm grass?
Evaporation is about 1 gallon per day during summer.
 
I won't speak for chemicals as I have no expertise in them at all.

Do you have any plants in the pond? Fast growing plants like lilies will help suck up some of the nutrients that algae uses. In the end though, light is your enemy. Can you shade the pond?
 
I will try the lilies as you suggest. There is a pond supply company near me and when I was there last, I noticed that there were differant types of plants for ponds including lilies. Shading the water fall is not possible. I will pay them a visit this Spring before I start up the water fall again.
 
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Another thing to remember that although your water department is only putting ammonia and orthophosphate in at very low ppm you probably have a lot higher level in the fountain. Eight gallons of water losing 12.5% means that every week the levels of phosphate and ammonia increase. Say they start out at 8ppm at the end of week one = 15ppm, week two = 22ppm, week three = 29 ppm. So in three weeks the levels in your fountain have increased 3.65 times. By the end of the summer your going to have one heck of an ugly algae bloom if all that you do is replace the water. So the only way to keep your fountain algae free is to do a 100% water change every week. Alternatively you can add plants and do an 80% water change every 3 weeks. This is also very good for your fountain as it can help with mineral deposits.
 
That is interesting. I thought when water evaporated, it took the nutrients and minerals with it. When I had a marine fish tank with corals, strong lighting was needed and this helped promote undesirable algae. The only other thing needed was sufficient nutrients in the water. I also had a reverse osmosis and deionization setup for fresh water replacement. But over time, undesirable algae still appeared dispite my best efforts. Soon articles in magazines appeared showing a new approach to combat algae. It was recommended to set up another tank and place marine algae purchased from the aquarium store in it. Then a water supply from the main tank was fed to it and allowed to flow back by gravity to the sump. I put one of these in service and got results in 3 weeks. As the algae grew, it competed with the slime algae for nutrients in the main tank and there was much less algae on the glass then before. All I had to do was trim the algae every few weeks.
So it appears that placing some fresh water plants along with water changes in my water fall basin would be the best approach to control algae.
 
When water evaporates the minerals and nutrients cannot be converted to a gaseous form with it (basic chemistry - melting points of minerals) So they are stuck behind.

Now I'm not going to argue that putting plants into the fountain will not help, they will. It just might not be sufficient keep the algae from taking over. In your marine tank you were using another type of algae to fill up the niche in your aquarium that was allowing the unwanted algae to thrive. Most freshwater plants have somewhat different nutrient requirements than algae. This is why people with heavily planted and lightly stocked freshwater aquariums still get algae. The plants have evolved to use different quantities of nutrients so that the slower growing plants can compete with the algae.
So the best solution is to put plants in the fountain and still do biweekly 80% water changes. I know the most attractive solution is to toss some plants in and then not worry about it, but with growth like your describing this is probably not going to happen.
 
I too have the green slime algae on the waterfall in the summer that has turned into a black hard algae that has permeated the rock and won't come off even with steel wool. I have lilies in the water but have not yet found a method for controlling the green slime algae on the waterfall. I do about a 10% water change per week in the summer but I guess that is not enough.
 
I saw your waterfall and pond. Really nice. I know you will enjoy the serenity and sounds of the whole setup.
I think the answer may be in finding a large plant that will take up the nutrients to starve the undesireable algae. When I was in the marine hobby, some were adding small mangrove trees to their tanks. Others set up another tank and filled it with marine algae and then drew water to it from the main tank and then it flowed back by gravity to a sump below the main tank. The mangrove, I believe is a brackish water tree and I don't know if it will grow in fresh water. Check this out.
I think the Japanese are big on fish ponds and perhaps waterfalls and if you could hook up with your counterpart, then you might be get some good tips.

I saw this on the net and you may want to take a look at it.
www.biodigesters.net
I am going to give them a call this Spring.
 
biodigesters = scam.

Don't fall for it. Most of the claims on their site are completely bs. There really is no way to remove nitrogen and phosphorus without water changes or plants (the plants just lock up the nitrogen and phosphorous in their tissues).
 
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