Filamentous Algae, a Nuisance in Ponds

Ponds are pretty to look at, especially if there are a lot of fish or aquatic plants in it. Sadly, there are times when your ponds can get a little bit ugly. This ugliness is caused by the green things that you can vividly see in the water. This is what we call filamentous algae. We have to take note that the green coloration of the water does not come from the filamentous algae. The green color that we usually see in pond water is caused by the planktonic algae that floats in ponds.

Filamentous algae is composed of strands of cells that often form as long strings. People have a lot of names for the filamentous algae. Some people call them blanket weed, long string algae, moss, pond scum, etc. Filamentous algae is more often present in spring. In some warm places, it can be a problem all throughout the year.

We can consider having filamentous algae in our pond water as the most common aquatic weed problem. The presence of the filamentous algae can seriously degrade the quality of the water. In excessive amount, these filamentous algae can cause an oxygen depletion, resulting to the death of the fish in the pond, because it decomposes as a result of natural die-off or herbicide application. If we can control it earlier and regularly, chances of having problems associated with filamentous algae are reduced. We have to remember that filamentous algae can reach our ponds in several ways. It can be via rain, tap water or even wind. There is also a possibility that these algae can enter our ponds if they are attached to the plants that we put in our ponds. They grow fast if there is a sufficient amount of nutrients and direct sunlight. They can also be found in waterfalls. No need to worry because there are algae treatments

Even if filamentous can be ugly to look at, we also have give them credits for some of the benefits that they can give to our ponds. First, filamentous algae keeps out the planktonic algae.Since filamentous algae and planktonic algae consumes the same kind of nutrient, there is a competition, and it lessen the chance of planktonic algae to take over the pond. Technically, filamentous algae acts like some kind of

of a vegetative filtration for the pond's water. However, we should still bear in mind that everything in excess can be harmful. Same goes with the algae,it can cause a lot of problem if they become overpopulated in a pond. Some of the problems that they can cause is suffocating the small fish in the pond, or sometimes, these filamentous algae can strangle the good plants that we put in our ponds.

We can control the filamentous algae in different ways. We have physical way first, where in you will painstakingly harvest the algae with a use of a rake or a stick. You can also try putting a lot of plants so that they can compete with the nutrients in the pond. You can also try shading ponds. Both of these methods can be accomplished by using water lilies though you have to cover almost 50% of the pond first before it take effect. Sometimes, water hyacinth can also be used. We can also try mechanical and chemical way of controlling these algae.

To sum it all, we can say that filamentous algae can be a nuisance or a helper in our ponds, depending on how we will let them be. If we just want to maximize their use, we have to make sure that they don't over crowd our pond.