Rampant weed/algae - advice needed

[vole-woman]

Elodea canadensis. http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/im...nts/elodea.gif

[Red Robin]

Originally Posted by vole-woman

Elodea canadensis. http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/im...nts/elodea.gif

....THX! You're a star

Is it classed as an alien or native to Britain I wonder.... [Robin goes off to Google].

Ooops! Wiki says it's an 'invasive' species in Europe - Not that I'm too fussed over such aspects.

[vole-woman]

I wanted to update on this because we've had quite a problem but it's now under control and I thought it might be helpful if anyone else was struggling with slimy weed.

We tried various chemicals in different quantities, and nothing worked at all. The problem was becoming critical because the pump was clogging up every single day, and drowning newts as it did so. If you ran your hand through the water, it was like running your fingers through green soup. All the Canadian pondweed died.

So, in desperation, we shelled out for one of those itronic electronic algae control systems that put small amounts of copper into the water. It was costly and a nuisance to install, and it took a while to get the right level but now it's working a treat. The water's clear of everything but normal blanketweed (which we can just pull out easily when it gets too much) and the other plants have really got going again. Most importantly, none of the animal pond life seems to have suffered at all. We're still seeing lots of amphibians and invertebrates. The instructions said the snails would die, but they haven't.

I'd say our pond's now the healthiest it's ever been.

[kathateria]

I wouldnt have water in my new pond if i didnt have tap water in it. I set it up in the drought,when there was no rain for weeks,and the water butts were dry.
Its clear as day,no algae,or any unwanted plants,only the plants I put in myself. Its been set up about 2 months,maybe a tad more.
But I keep tropical fish,and added the conditioner to the ponds water,that I use for those.