In the last article we discussed that if your pond has too many nutrients than you may have a problem with the amount of algae in your pond. There are many options you have to deal with the problem, but all of which could be short term solutions unless you get to the root of the problem.

• If you use tap water to top up your pond level you could be adding too many nutrients into your pond environment. Try using collected rain water instead; it’s better for the environment and also better for your bank balance if you have a water meter fitted to your property.
• Avoid too much decaying material entering your pond by stopping leaves from trees falling into your pond and any marginal planting dropping leaves or flowers into your pond. This will decrease the level of nutrients that enter your pond.
• Try to introduce submerged plants into your pond, these will take up nutrients and compete with the algae for space.
• Try to reduce the amount of sunlight that your pond receives, a great way of doing this is by introducing water lilies or other pond plants that sit on the surface of your pond.
• The non-strand types of algae can be removed by a good pond filter, when UV lighting is also added this can control the algae making it easier to collect and remove.