You can call me Algae

It's very easy being green in 2012.

Pond lovers in Canada, and specifically Ontario, started enjoying summer-like temperatures in March.  As my 13 year old would say, "I know, right??"  Great for getting outside and enjoying (almost) all that mother nature has to offer.

Except, it's been a perfect storm for algae.  A great year for Kermit, it is very easy being green in the pond this season.  The above-seasonal temperatures have the green stuff bloomin' all over the place.

'Sticks to Rocks' algae aka Planktonic

Last year, I did it my way--chemical free.  The ecosystem balance was perfection.  My 5th summer out there and not a plastic bottle in sight.  I am paying dearly for that this year.  I pulled; shaded; drained and topped up; and the floating plants were in early! And yet, ugh. Not just the regular string algae this year.  But floating masses of gunk AND green water to boot.  It's nasty to look at, but also harmful to fish as it depletes your pond of precious oxygen.  A green pond means your ecosystem is out of whack.  Time to get it back in balance.

Pond lovers: here's the scoop on algae.

1. String: "filamentous". You'll recognize it because it's, um, stringy.  It can grow 2ft in a day.  Best strategy?  Yank it out.  Often.  I bought a spaghetti scoop from the dollar store and I find it terrific for extending my reach down into the deeper sections of the pond.  A product called eco-blast can be sprinkled onto the strings but yanking is just as effective.  You must be very diligent!  I find it rather soothing.  Weird, I know.
2. Green water.  "planktonic". Easy to spot because you won't be able to see anything else in the pond.  It floats around and sticks to everything.  Too much and it even starts to muck up the surface of the water. Your best defense against this is a UV light.  Either in-line with your filter intake, or built-in to the filter itself, the UV blasts those blooms into smithereens.  Make sure you get the dead stuff out of the bottom -- use a net; and, treat with sludge remover.  More on that in another post.

One final word:  plants.  Algae competes with real plants for resources.  The more plants you have, the worse off the algae have it.  Buy early, buy often.  Here in the true north strong and free, we have to wait for the best plants to grow in the ditches of Florida (yes, really) where they get harvested and shipped up to us for a tidy profit.  Luckily, it seems the entire continent is warming up early this year so the plants arrived at the local pond shop early.  Now, we wait.

Meanwhile.  With apologies to Mother Nature, I had to dose the pond with the liquid algae treatment (contains copper) AND the eco-blast -- which really doesn't sound very eco to me, but, works like a charm on the stringy stuff.  The liquid treatment works on the other types.  With fingers and spaghetti scooper crossed, we hope this is the last of the algae for this season.   Sorry Kermit: no more green. Too easy.

So two years goes by...

Inspired by former schoolmate and blogger ninabeast, I am firing up the pond blog. Chickens, fish....aren't they both related to dinosaurs or something?

So here we are in 2012. May, to be precise. And, it's the May 2-4 weekend! So much has happened, but really: you don't care about that. WHAT is up with the pond?!

Tomorrow pictures will arrive.

It's busy out there, and I have much to share with you my pond friends! Think about this:  algae.  There will be test.

Hose Froze

I did the last 25% water change today. Almost. I dropped the large pond by 6", then when I went to refill it.....found the hose had frozen solid. Duh. Glad I didn't explode the water tap. Would not have surprised me actually. Things happen to me.

Little frosty this morning @ -10C. Nothing else froze over, but the spray from the waterfall made for some interesting sculpture this afternoon.

While the sun was out I took a peek at some of the water iris. I divided up a huge one last year -- and these are the random pieces I shoved planted in a pot. I'm very happy to see that I didn't kill them, and they're actually sprouting.

And on the unhappy side, look at these little guys. They were so happy with +10 yesterday...and so unhappy with today's drop.

Warm, cold, cold, warm

The weather will not make up its mind this year! It's been snowing (lightly) over the last two days, and yet today: 14C!

No pictures today, but I did take a half hour to scoop some crud (scientific term for pond sludge) from the bottom of both ponds. After the water changes, I can see the bottoms quite well (pond bottoms, people!) so am able to aim the scooper and de-sludge. I also did the 3rd of the 4 25%water changes in the large pond.

Since the smaller pond is pretty much cleared out, I treated it with 'sludge reducer' -- to get the good bacteria in there working on keeping everything clear.

Since the lower pond water was so clear today (sunshine helps!) I was able to count fish. 22! And, some pinky-finger sized babies! Looks like Captain Jack has had another busy winter.

Naughty boy.

Snow?

Just like removing the winter tires too early, hooking up the waterfall in March is a sure fire way to get it to snow. Not too much, just enough to make it too cold for the ever-so-pampered pond girl to venture out and numb the fingers. Nevermind the fact that the pond water is sitting at a bone chilling 36F.

The fish have dropped back down for a short nap, which sounds like a great idea to me. Best to rest up now until the real pond fun begins.

the Pond Girl will not be stopped

Yours truly has been spending all this gorgeous March weather inside due to infectious disease. So it had to be really warm out before this pond girl was going to head outside and get things fired up. When the outside temperature hit 20C, and the pond girl's temperature dropped below 99F, it was time for some fresh air and relatively easy pond start-up activities. The meticulous cleaning and storing of the pond equipment certainly paid off. Yes, I know my way around a pump housing, and the tools required to re-assemble it. Having it all ready to go was a real time saver.

Good thing I also stored the manual in there: I forgot that the centre screw is reverse direction. So much for righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. I know tools, and I like to get messy, but I'm still a girl and can say 'righty-tighty' if I want to.

Plugged it in, dropped it down, then drained 25% of the over-winter water. A piece of old eavestroughing works well to get the water where it's needed. And away from anyone with a sense of smell. Mine's not working yet, which at pond start up, is a blessing.

Topped it back up and will continue the 25% water changes over the course of the next 3 days.

Final task was to remove (and store properly!) the rock heater that keeps a hole in the ice over the winter to let any accumulated gases escape. It hangs from the 2x4...also now removed.

Enough for day one. As usual, I overdid it and am exhausted. Too much, too soon. But hoping this weather holds until I'm at full recovery. Don't know about you, but when the temp heats up, I'm outside until November. I have no time, or clearly--patience--for illness!

Another year gone by...

Apparently the Pond Girl has had a busy year! No updates since last April? No excuses -- just explanations. The pond girl went back to her 'real job' and thus time at the computer trickled away like the water in my waterfall.

Now that I'm settled back in (somewhat anyway) I thought I'd take another crack at keeping my pond adventures up-to-date and online!

We begin mid-march. The 15th, actually. And while the ice in the lower pond has been melted for awhile now, the upper pond is just now breaking up.

It's amazing, really, once you get your priorities in order what you an accomplish. With my new headset, I was able to listen in to a conference call AND snap a few early morning pictures at the same time.

It's spring break now, and the weather is way ahead of schedule. I think the pond might get opened a little bit earlier this year!