Pond. Weed

Hi we seem to be getting a lot of weed of some kind not sure what it is but it's a pain any ideas thanks

 

Blanket weed, just one of the joys of pond keeping.

A rough stick, push it into it and twist.

You wont entirely eliminate it but at some point it will become livable.

 

Thanks but about a week ago the pond emptied but was. Not leaking strange I thought anyway what happened was the weed was around the pump over flowed the filtration unit so instead of come back into pond it was going over the back into the garden all though I clean the pump weekly

 

You might find some helpful info here -
Keep Blanket Weed at Bay: Pondkeeper Blog

Some of the more modern bacteria and enzymes treatments seem a lot safer than those of old.

Also be aware of how much you are feeding the fish, they will always beg for more even when full.
Generally halving what you feed them now will still keep them fit and well, as most owners overfeed, just that its less obvious than all the over weight dogs and cats you see around

To prevent your pond emptying again, postion your pump on some bricks so there is always some water beneath it and if possible, place some plastic sheet under the filter box so any or all the overflow is directed back into the pond.

Depending on the space in our filter, if you have some room on one of its sides, above the height of the normal outlet and clear of the filter material, put in a tank connector and a hose so if it does start to block up, it will just run back into the pond.

 

Thanks for the replys I looked on the pond keeper website and bought some thing to help with the blanket weed in the pond.. I saw some thing about snails do we have to get these as well as we just got fish and plants. Odd dragon fly will have a rest on the pond.. Thanks

 

Snails do eat some Algaes but do not think they go near blanket weed.
More than likely you already have small snails imported on the plants you bought.

Best to remove excess by blanket weed by hand with a net or stick and a friendly product to remove the remains.

 

I used to use organic methods of removing blanket weed.
They some how break it down and stop it growing, they will then clog up your filter pretty fast, so be ready for that.
I dont bother these days, I just remove what is a problem with a stick.

I just keep my pond as natural as possible there days, it the best way if you want to attract wildlife.

 

I have lots of blanket weed in my little pond. Given up the idea of trying to eliminate it entirely. I tried barley straw nets and the weed will stick to it, but the nets need replacing fairly frequently. You can make the nets yourself using barley straw and nylon stockings. I bought mine from a pet store and I have found the diving beetles love the barley nets to hide in.

It is my understanding that blanket weed is caused by an imbalance in the pond nutrients. Yours is a new pond and not yet fully established. If the nutrients in the water are too high the blanket weed will gain a foot hold very quickly. Once your plants start getting established that will probably help as their roots will take nutrients from the water. Too much sun in the pond helps blanket weed to grow, too. I just pull mine out when it gets too much. The pond skaters seem to like sitting on it And the snails seen to eat some. I find lots of snails in it when I pull it out.

 

I bought these items from www I will try and take out as much weed as possible before treatment... Not seen any snails or other creatures in plants.. With blanket weed I am finding it getting around all the plants especially lilly pads and quite hard to remove weed..
But I think I will get a water test kit to check..

 

My pond has a series of phases that it appears to go through.
Starts out pretty clear in early spring, then I get duck weed which grows very quickly and would cover the whole area if I didn't remove it.
That now appears to have almost died out and I have blanket weed.

I think the problems occur and change as the water quality changes, I've never found a chemical or organic method that sorts it all out.

What ever happens fish and wildlife couldn't care less.

 

The main reason why we are trying to cut down or remove blanket weed is that the pond emptied it self and left fish on top of plants out of what water was there.... What we have noticed is that if we try and remove blanket weed the next day it's come back in force...

 

I'm not well up on filters these days, mine is just a box full of various filter mediums all just working on gravity.

I have had my filter box over flow so I just fitted an over flow pipe to the top of the box and ran that back into the pond, I now know the filter needs cleaning when the overflow starts to run.