Hand-Removing String Algae and Natural Barley Treatment: Tips for Pond Maintenance

I think this is a natural solution

@Jacob

@Liam thanks man. I’ll have to see if this compares or exceeds the bales we put in. 👊

@Mike no problem, I expect this to be stronger since it’s pure extract.

@Liam that’d be my guess also. Concentration of the active ingredients kind of thing. And the company is right here in Michigan. Appreciate it

@Mike no problem.

Sadly, all that has worked is chemicals for me.

@Jacob I keep telling the wife to expect that…

I didn’t know about the barley thing, after hours of hand raking and it just kept coming back, I put grass carp in my pond. I don’t have algae anymore

@Craig that’s an option I’d not thought of…🤔

@Mike I put 10 in my small pond to start with, they were all about 6 to 9 inches, for several months I did see but only two, I bought 10 more and all the sudden I had all of them show up, they clean the pond but I guess I would advise not to panic if you don’t spot them right off, they’ll be there somewhere. Most hatcheries will advise how many to use per acre

@Craig excellent advice, thank you sir!

I’ve read tilapia eat algae away too

@Craig this

@Jordan I wonder how they’d hold up to ice over. I’ll have to look into that👊

@Mike the videos I’ve watched on it, said that they probably wouldn’t survive. But they were putting them in there for the initial start to help

@Jordan guess I’ll just have to eat them in October then🤪

@Mike haha, that’s what’d id do lol! Plus if they’re as invasive as people say then I wouldn’t want them surviving the winter lol

@Jordan good point. Winter would be a good insurance policy about any getting away

When the grass carp get big just bow hunt them, probably would be fun, I don’t believe they reproduce.

@Craig they actually make good fertilizer too. It’s worth a shot

@Mike I’ve heard pond snails work. Ramshorn and bladder snails. Good luck 👍

@Mason there were a bunch of snail shells in the algae we pulled. I’m guessing it would be a lot worse without them🤷🏼‍♂️

@Mike if you do grass carp, verify they will eat the problem algae. A biologist told me they don’t eat all algae or growths.

@Jacob good call. I looked it up and found that they do not prefer it, but will eat it if it’s the only vegetation available….

I have added a dye to stop all the junk growing in mine. Willing to try just about anything as long as it doesn't hurt the fish.

@Larry that’s exactly what I was going to start with, but my wife wants to try alternatives first. I just found out that grass carp are prohibited here in Michigan so my options are decreasing