Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Algae Control with Ultrasonic Systems

Started reading some more on filamentous algae (FA) after following some of the recent threads on Pond Boss.

Found several articles touting ultrasonic wave generation to control algae growth. (Link below to one such article.)

Ultrasonic Systems for Algae

Of course, it sounds awesome in the articles. However, since I do NOT recall reading about it on Pond Boss, then I suspect it is usually ineffective, or is cost prohibitive.

They do add the caveat that you must correctly identify your algae, since it only works on certain kinds of algae. Interestingly, cyanobacteria (toxic blue-green algae) is one of the types it is claimed to control.

They also claim it does not harm your fish, OR the other organisms in the pond. I am also a little skeptical of this claim. If the tiny pressure waves actually work on algae, then I suspect the must also have some effect on the myriad zooplankton in a healthy pond. However, even if they were detrimental to all of the smaller organisms, then maybe they would be good to deploy in the swimming area of a pond where a "dead zone" might be preferred.

Just trying to kickstart a discussion on ultrasonic systems to add to our Pond Boss knowledge base. Any comments good, bad, or speculative would be appreciated.

Interesting. I never heard of ultrasonic algae control. I am skeptical as well. Reminds me of the ultrasonic devices sold to scare away moles and other critters. So, yeah, I think the ultrasonic waves will impact fish and other organisms.

Here is what I found for ultrasound for algae control from past posts on Pond Boss forum

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=87688

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=479815

There is a web page discussing and opinions of these Ultrasound devices (see ultrasound on their homepage) for use in pond/s. Brand names and sonic frequency are likely variable features due to improvements and when the products were built. Ultrasound Frequencies have increased over time as new models are developed. Higher frequencies are likely an improvement. In my opinion at their website I did not see any quantitative numbers nor results of comparisons of species and numbers of algae that were controlled. I did not see any or what good scientific testing methods were used to evaluate the product. IMO Visual observation of benefit is a matter of opinion and without a control pond in the testing process how do we know the reduction of algae was not a natural occurrence of algae cycling that does always happen in ponds? Sometimes algae loss can occur over a weekend due to nutrient cycling. One site does say the ultra sound is a tool in the pond toolbox for pond management.

All species including algae have natural genetic variation(DNA) for resistance. It influences and 'drives' evolution. My question is - what happens when the ultrasound causes all the vulnerable species to die out and leaves behind those that are resistant to continue to reproduce. Good examples of this are bacterial tolerance to antibiotics and how some plants considered 'weeds' have developed a resistance to glysophate products. Now how do we deal with those resistant multiplying species that have developed?

IMO buyer beware and see if there is any guarantee that the device works as promised and a return policy if one does not see an algae control benefit. If the device is not guaranteed to work as advertised what does that indicate?

Bill,

Thanks for the links to Pond Boss discussions. (I was going off of memory instead of utilizing the search function!)

IMO, if it worked well on a single type of FA common in east Texas, then the pond management companies would have installed thousands of units. If they had, then that would have intersected with someone on Pond Boss. So far, I have seen zero evidence of anyone on Pond Boss even trying an ultrasound unit.

At this time I find it equally likely that I will purchase a perpetual motion machine versus an ultrasound device for algae control.

Before I would ever buy one of those, I would get at least 3 to 6 references for where they had been installed for similar sized ponds in your region. THEN I WOULD FOLLOW UP ON EACH AND EVERY REFERENCE. Ask plenty of questions of the pond owner. Then if I bought one I would make sure that I could return it if it did not do the job that was promised. If you can't return it for a full refund for not working well then I would stay clear of that type of unit. It would be like buying a car and in the next week or two it does not run smoothly and quits taking you places. When you buy something it is supposed to do as advertised. If no refunds I would for sure run in the other direction. Bad on you if you don't do good homework.

I have two algae analysis projects for two different municipal reservoirs that had/has ultra sonic sound units. One village had theirs as solar operated and the other municipality put a unit into two different reservoirs both I think were plug in power - maybe solar? . The first reservoir no longer uses their unit and the second water plant moved both units into one reservoir because algae was too abundant in both reservoirs. So far I have not been impressed with the results. The water plant still has to use algaecides.

IMO some algae species are not much affected by ultra-sound sonic frequencies. If the company tested the units for development, IMO they did not do the tests on enough different species and concentrations of algae. There are 100's of thousands of different algae species. Genetic sequencing is showing all these species are genetically different.

The advertising might say it does not harm fish or larger aquatic organisms, but My question to them is if the sonic kills some hard to kill algae, What happens to the delicate or fragile good bacterial populations and tiny protozoans and rotifers that are very important to the life blood of the ecosystem? Also were the units tested on newly fertilized fish eggs? Does the sonic frequencies affect the early cellular divisions that are taking place on newly fertilized fish eggs from fresh fertilization up through the early cellular DNA divisions of embryo development where organ differentiation is taking place? I doubt all that was tested. I think their primary focus was on killing nuisance algae and bringing the product to market. .