Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations problems with algae?

Bill,

The effect I noticed was the absents of the filamentas algea and heavy algea growth that normally plagued the pond. There was still a good algea bloom through the summer with average of 24" visability compared the the previous "pea soup". I believe if I were to try it again I would back off a few pounds to try to keep a better plankton bloom.

I have 18 bags (9 lb each) in my pond of 1 acre. I only have them placed at one end of my pond where the wind pushes everything. I do have algea in the end without the straw, but it is absent at the end with the barley straw placed in 3 ft of water and every 6 feet. I did this at my pond because I had VERY heavy duckweed growth that I had treated with sonar and I knew that something had to take up the nutrients when the duckweed was gone. The sonar eliminated nearly all types of plant growth I had in my pond which I had not expected. So I prepared for the worst. I would say (in my opinion)for a larger pond it would take quite a bit of barley straw to treat the algea. My pond is very fertile by nature and neighbors septic leach bed i believe that is only 100 feet up the hill from me. As you probably know by now from my post I am not an expert but I experiment with just about everything I can to learn cheaper and more economical ways to do things. I manage several ponds by the book for freinds and a few I get to experiment with. All my ponds are free of labor charges by me as they give me the opportunity to learn the trade.