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One of several problems you will undoubtedly come across when you’ve got a koi pond as part of your yard is algae. Algae love to grow in warm, moist environments, such as your pond will give them. Algae will threaten to take over if you don’t diligently make the effort to thwart it. New pond owners will see that their pools are especially prone to algae, simply because they haven’t yet established an ecological balance of plants and fish. In fact, if you’ve only recently installed a water garden pond as part of your yard and have noticed stuff growing in the liner or the waterfall, it’s probably algae, and you will have to do something to help keep it under control.

Although many of the short, velvety algae that quickly covers the liner and everything else in the koi pond are beneficial when they aren’t allowed to take over, you will still want to implement steps to help keep the population down. You will find chemicals you may use in the water that won’t harm the plants and fish but should help diminish this kind of algae, but don’t expect to ever completely get rid of it. A limited amount is beneficial for your pool as it puts oxygen into the water and provides the fish something to nibble on.

String algae is much more difficult to control. This sort of koi pond algae thrives in areas of the water garden environment where there is a large amount of sunlight. Therefore, it has a tendency to form on waterfalls as well as in shallow areas of streams. Additionally, these parts of the pond have got a ready supply of nutrients continually flowing through them. Using a skimmer or algae net can help you remove string algae as well as other larger debris, like leaves.

It is easy for algae to become such a problem that it will smother plants and fish. Building your water garden in an area of your yard where it won’t be in direct sunlight for hours on end may be beneficial. When you just have koi inside your pond, they’ll require less sunlight than plants do, and will even get sunburned should they be exposed to an excessive amount. Therefore, select a location which will have direct sunlight for part of the day and will also have shady times and areas. The warmer the water gets, the more algae will form.

You also need to work on controlling the quantity of nutrients that enter the water, since the more nutrients that are present means additional algae that can thrive in the environment. By carefully planning where your pond is situated or building a lip along the edge, you’ll be able to lessen the amount of rainwater runoff that enters the pool. Rainwater contains air pollutants, fertilizers and weed killers, as well as other particles which can be appealing to algae.

Koi pond algae need three things in order to grow: water, nutrients, and sunlight. Through the elimination of these factors, you can lessen the formation inside your water garden and ensure it is safer for your plants and fish.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 5:05 am and is filed under Home and Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.