cambria koi, Hi. Are you the same cambria koi from the old forum?
reptilegrrl, I have the same problem.
Josh, I have used that Pond Balance (the one from Interpet, right?) before and it really did work great. The thing that bugs me is that nagging suspicion whenever any chemicals are used. Is it really safe?
From those discussions years ago on the old forum, there never was a consensus as to what actually causes string algae. It is more of a problem in cooler climates, and does not respond the way regular algae does to competition from other plants.There is some nutrient that it favors- phosphates maybe- can't remember.
John John's gave a great tip: Oxi Clean. I believe that you have to shut down circulation, sprinkle it on, allow time for the algae to die, and get it out of the pond. Killing it that way is easy- getting the dead algae out is a different story indeed.