One of several problems you will undoubtedly encounter if you have a koi pond in the yard is algae. Algae love to grow in warm, moist environments, such as your pond can provide them. Algae will threaten to take over unless you diligently take the time to thwart it. New pond owners will find that their pools are especially prone to algae, because they haven’t yet established an ecological balance of plants and fish. In reality, if you’ve only recently installed a water garden pond in the yard and have noticed stuff growing in the liner or the waterfall, it’s probably algae, and you’ll need to take steps 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 as long as they aren’t allowed to take over, you will still need to take steps to help keep the population down. You can find chemicals you can use in the water that won’t harm the plants and fish but will help diminish this sort of algae, but don’t expect to ever completely remove it. A small amount is helpful in your pool in that it puts oxygen into the water and provides fish something to nibble on.
String algae is much more difficult to manage. This sort of koi pond algae thrives in parts of the water garden environment where there exists a great deal of sunlight. Therefore, it will form on waterfalls as well as in shallow areas of streams. In addition, these parts of the pond have got a ready availability of nutrients continually flowing through them. Utilizing a skimmer or algae net will help you remove string algae in addition to other larger debris, like leaves.
It is easy for algae to turn into such a problem it will smother plants and fish. Building your water garden in an area of your yard where it won’t be in direct sunlight all day long may be beneficial. When you only have koi inside your pond, they will require much less sunlight than plants do, and can even get sunburned if they are exposed to too much. Therefore, select a site which may 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 at controlling the quantity of nutrients that enter the water, because the more nutrients that are present means increased algae that can thrive in the environment. By carefully planning where your pond is situated or building a lip around the edge, you’ll be able to lessen how much rainwater runoff that enters the pool. Rainwater contains air pollutants, fertilizers and weed killers, as well as other particles which are appealing to algae.
Koi pond algae need three things in order to grow: water, nutrients, and sunlight. By reduction of any of these factors, you’ll lessen the development inside your water garden and ensure it is safer for your plants and fish.
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