Try our barley straw bales. An eco-friendly - 100% natural alternative to chemical treatments. Each pack contains 4 bales and 1 bale will treat up to 1000 gallons (4500 ltrs).
Green water is caused by the presence of phytoplankton or algae, these are not directly harmful to fish or plants, but are unsightly and detract from the beauty of your garden pond. There are many species of algae, some are suspended single-cell organisms while others are filamentous or form "strings". Many of these are small enough to pass straight through conventional filter systems.
Algae is often caused by decaying vegetation. Nitrogen released during the decaying process is soluble in the pond water. Nitrogen is a nutrient that is essential for plant growth and if there is lots of it in the water this will normally result in an algal bloom.
Composts and fertilisers applied to the surrounding garden are high in nitrogen and can cause algae problems. Fish foods are also high in nitrogen, so make sure you are not over feeding your fish if you get murky water.
Green pond water and blanket weed can occur in new ponds when most of the water has come from the tap and is high in nutrients like phosphates and nitrates.
Blanket Weed is a problem nearly all pond owners encounter at one time or another. Blanket Weed can quickly fill an entire pond during the summer months.
To combat these problems you can take a number of steps.
One of the first things you should do is increase the oxygen content of your pond. By introducing plants like Elodea Canadensis during April or early May which can help to compensate for the oxygen lost during decomposition of debris in pond water during the winter.
The decomposition of barley straw creates beneficial humic substances that will inhibit the growth of algae. This is an effective, eco-friendly and 100% natural alternative to chemical treatments.
Please note, barley straw will have no effect on blanket weed.
Consider fitting a net if there are a lot of leaves getting in to your pond and take care to remove the leaves at regular intervals especially during autumn. You should also consider installing a fountain or waterfall to your pond, this will help to put oxygen back into the water.
If your pond has a pump and filter consider installing an ultraviolet clarifier. As the water passes over the UV light the algae is killed. These units start around £50 and cost around £10 - £20 a year to run depending on the size of your pond.
If your pond does not have a filter, a good growth of plants especially lilies, floating plants and oxygenators is an excellent way to keep the water clear. These provide shade and compete with the algae for food. Aim to provide 60% or greater coverage to minimize light availability.
An additional help to control the growth of algae is to add Ramshorn snails to your pond, although if you have very large fish they may eat the snails. Tadpoles are very effective algae-consumers so do not remove any frog or toad spawn from your pond - they will produce thousands of little scavengers. There is also a species of fish that eats blanket weed. These are called Grass Carp although they can only eat relatively small amount and will not discriminate between the algae and your plants.
You can obviously remove Blanket Weed manually, although this can be almost a daily task.