Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Treating algae question

I would choose not to straight out remove the nutrients but tie them up with a tight bond. I expect all this alga is a good thing to a point where it is part of nature and has its place. To much of a good thing can be bad too.

Small life anywhere needs nutrients that are very fine and soluble. What greater place than water and warm water at that.

The alga is really tying up the nutrients in its cells of growth. In doing so it needs the building block of life Calcium, carbon, few amino acids to build the cell. The cell needs to go through a chemical break down like composting to break the chemical bond. Depending on the total composition and temperature what is left or released is different, but the nutrients end up back in the pond starting the cycle again. This is why the general and majority consensus is to prevent the nutrients from getting into the pond and manually pulling out the nutrients.

Sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate perfect in that it is aggressive in breaking the cell (hydrogen peroxide) but as well leaves soda ash behind to bond with the phosphates and nitrogen's. In basic terms sodium phosphate and sodium nitrate. I am sure there is some other impurity's but expect them all to be alkali in nature. Potassium phosphate, potassium nitrate, calcium phosphate, you get the point. This product is very aggressive and I expect can kill most anything if it is small enough in the concentration.

It is important to know that these bonds now are tight bonds. A PH swing or more aggressive nutrient needs to be in contact to break the bond making the one of the two elements soluble or free again. A plant will make its own chemical in its fine roots to break these bonds and absorb these nutrients. Small basic life needs soluble nutrients but more complex life not so much.

I have used calcium hydroxide in our pond for FA and pond dye to control it. Crayfish I expect are helping too. My point is that if you can tie up the soluble nutrients where a plant would have to create a chemical reaction to break the bond the FA will not be overly abundant. Taking out the light needed for FA will pull another leg out from under it.

Just with everything you don't want to over do it but bring the balance back. Taking out the FA manually is very labor intensive and allot of work. When it floats to the top I just sprinkle some calcium hydroxide on it and its gone in hours. The chemistry thoughts are that what free soluble nutrients the FA grew on I have added equal amounts of elements that will tie it up when it breaks down in the body of water somewhere.

This is just a petrol-chemical chemist talking and what seems to be working for me.

Cheers Don.