Algaecides in fall winter

[STL Ponds and Waterfalls]

What time of the year do you generally quit using algaecides in your ponds?

[tadpole]

I know that many installers and pond owners rely heavily on algaecides to maintain clear water. I have never had occasion to use alaecides ; or UVs, for that matter. My installs and the ponds that I maintain never have an algae problem. With the proper filtration- mechanical, biological and phyto, proper fish loads, and sensible feeding practices, the water should never develop an algae problem Even string algae should not be a problem.

[STL Ponds and Waterfalls]

Originally Posted by tadpole

I know that many installers and pond owners rely heavily on algaecides to maintain clear water. I have never had occasion to use alaecides ; or UVs, for that matter. My installs and the ponds that I maintain never have an algae problem. With the proper filtration- mechanical, biological and phyto, proper fish loads, and sensible feeding practices, the water should never develop an algae problem Even string algae should not be a problem.

Your lucky than! My installs are always clear but I still get string algae until the plants mature. I guess I should start putting more plants in the pond on the intial install.

[tadpole]

Ideally, the secret is to get the plants well established before the fish are introduced. I try to get my customers to hold off 30-90 days (depending on time of year) before adding fish. And then I recommend that they understock!.

[STL Ponds and Waterfalls]

Originally Posted by tadpole

Ideally, the secret is to get the plants well established before the fish are introduced. I try to get my customers to hold off 30-90 days (depending on time of year) before adding fish. And then I recommend that they understock!.

Exactly! My plants that I get from my wholesaler are small in the spring and matured in the later part of the season. Fish, I give them 4 fish to start thier pond and I usually introduce them about 2-3 weeks after the install in a typical 15x20 600-800 gal pond. Feeding I tell them to just give them a few pellets just to say "Hi" for the day. My problem is getting them to keep debris out of the pond and I think that is why they get a little string algae.

[JimLewis]

Where I live, you only have to use algaecides when we're getting a lot of hot sunny weather. So in Oregon, that means June - September. The rest of the months, you don't need it. Those are the months I use it on my 2 water features at my house. The rest of the year we don't get algae.