Does anything eat blanket weed...?

[KevinStock]

Hi there - have just found the forum and enjoyed reading a number of the posts.

I have seen here and elsewhere a lot of info about barley straw and plant balance and am trying both in our wildlife pond but am still getting plagued by blanket weed.

I keep finding myself thinking, does anything actually eat blanketweed?

I am guessing not as I'm sure it would have been mentioned but I remain hopeful....

Cheers
Kevin

[Weeksy]

I've found tadpoles are very good at eating blanket weed. It does depend on how much you have, theres only so much a tadpole can eat!

Cheers
Steve

[KevinStock]

I had hoped our tadpoles would help, unfortunately it seems our dragonfly lava ate the tadpoles before they could have much effect!

As far as I can tell, of the several large clumps of spawn, we now only have 1 tadpole that swims fast and looks worried...

Oh well

[Alan]

Hi kev, and welcome to the forum.

I think all you can do is scoop the stuff out if you can, and just wait for the pond to find its own balance. If you're adding tap water to the pond, this could be adding too much nutrients, which will encourage too much algae and blanket weed growth. Try rain water.

Alan

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Nishi Koi "goodbye blanket weed" is what we use and it works

[John]

Originally Posted by KevinStock

Hi there - have just found the forum and enjoyed reading a number of the posts.

I have seen here and elsewhere a lot of info about barley straw and plant balance and am trying both in our wildlife pond but am still getting plagued by blanket weed.

I keep finding myself thinking, does anything actually eat blanketweed?

I am guessing not as I'm sure it would have been mentioned but I remain hopeful....

Cheers
Kevin

Hi Kevin

first of all a warm welcome to the forum.

I too have been plagued by blanket weed but a few weeks ago I was advised two things.

1st. Whenever you top up the pool with fresh tap water always put in some form of dechloronating agent in the water. I use Pondcare Stress Coat. The reason for this is that apparently fresh untreated tap water helps generate blanket weed.

2nd. I was introduced to to a product called Allclear. It is a powder that you mix in a bucket then spread it over the surface of the pond. You have to make sure that you have cleared up as much blanket weed as you can before applying it but I have now used it and I haven't had any blanket weed since.

I tried barley straw Liquid prior to that and it didn't work but this new stuff (not cheap at £22.49 for 750 grams) treats up to 7,500 gallons. The maker seems to be named Ponds.uk.com but when you try that name as website it seems to come up as a domain name order site.

John

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

Nishi Koi "goodbye blanket weed" is what we use and it works

But wont these eat everything else as well?

[Rich]

or you could try grass carp. As was said before, just keep it in check by removing the worst of it and it will eventually go.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Originally Posted by Alan

But wont these eat everything else as well?

lol, its a powder that you put in the pond during the summer to remove blanket weed

I don't really see the point in messing about with insects and fish like grass carp when you can remove it easily with this stuff

[Marvin Africa]

Jonny would probably eat it!