Can't agree with the barley straw always being a gimmick. Texas has had some major, dang near total, fish kills on big reservoirs due to red algae infestation. It obviously got transferred to some pretty large bodies of private water by birds. One guy documented that he had the only red algae free body of water in his area of North Texas by using barley straw. I believe his "pond" was around 40 or so acres.

OTOH, I've seen it not work on others.

Lusk has successfully used bacteria as part of an overall plan to rid a 1.5 acre pond that I know of that has/had a huge filamentous algae infestation. I recall that the alkalinity level was off the charts due to a huge amount of limestone in the runoff area. The bacteria was part of a solution that included spraying, aeration, tilapia and dye. Before calling Lusk in, I tried 100 pounds of tilapia to no avail.

It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP Grandpa