hair algea in a pond ( removal)

[littlecobra1977]

i have a 90 gal pond and last year towards the end i let the hair algea go. ok this is a new year and i dont want it in my pond any longer. what is the simplest way of removeing it with out chemicals? i have already scraped the sides of the pond to remove most of it but there is still quite a bit left on the stems of plants, pots, and gravel, and roots. is there a live bearer fish that will eat it? i have a load of red swordtails that, as it gets warmer i want to move out to the pond. along with a bunch of snails that i have. has any one or does any one have a clue as to what could be done. thank you
Shane

 

[Mushroomman]

Well the best way to take care of that is to just drain the pond and scrub it all out, thats what i do every spring when I open my pond.

 

[littlecobra1977]

ok well i did that already but what do you do about the plants that have it on them. im sure its not going to hurt them cuz it did not harm them last year but is there a way too remove it? and what fish do you keep in your pond? just curious. as i said im going to try swordtails and snails ( im useing the pond as a grow out tank for the snails.) thanks Shane

 

[Mushroomman]

Hmmm off the plants... besides ripping it off, I really cant think of anything else you can do, maybe get a bunch of snails and throw them in see what happens.

I have koi, goldfish, and a pleco, and I had channel cats but they died but soon I want to get a few dojo loaches and some sunfish.

Sordtails will be fine, jsut make sure it doesnt get too cold, though I bet you already know that.

 

[littlecobra1977]

thanks Mushroom, i was sure that the swordtails could go out there but its just the waiting game for the wheather to straighten up so i can put them and the snails out there. ill have to try pulling a little off and feeding it to my snails to see if they will even touch it or not. lol right now i have 3 large bull frogs that mysteriously appeared last year in my pond right now( i think they were eggs from some wild plants i brought in). but this year in trying some thing different. i got rid of all my goldfish so i need to stock the 2 90's with some thing this year. any one know of any other fish that will do well in an outdoor pond besides goldfish and koi?
thanks Shane

 

[wayne]

What's your weather like. Also what's the filtration, water changes on the pond?

 

[littlecobra1977]

well i live in illinois , i have the 600 gal hr submersable pump that came with it and its in a biological filter box. water changes came once a month last year. as all i had in it was gold fish, bull head and a few minnows. with the whole top surface covered in water lettace and water hyacthin(SP), duck weed and 6 hardy water lilies. heres a couple pictures to let you see what it looked like last year.