Algae, algae and more algae!

With warm weather and sun exposure (essential for tadpoles healthy development) algae is bound to bloom. The good part of this is that algae is a food for many tadpoles. The bad part is that algae can and did choke plants and during the night depleted water of oxygen and caused the tradgedy that killed off my fish. The idea is to get a balance.

I tried algae killer that claimed to be friendly to fauna and threw in some barley staw with no success. I introduced duck weed to try to cut out its source of light and energy but the algae simply grew faster and grew on the duckweed until it was so heavy the duck weed sunk like the Titanic.

The emergent water plant (a native species of Acanthaceae) also struggled with algae choking anything under the water but the algae couldn't touch the leaves that made it above the water level. This plant is known for its ability to soak up excess nutrients that can promote algal growth.

Water lillies also managed to grow above where algae couldn't swamp it.

To control strand algae I remove it by hand when I can see it in large lumps. Algae is a useful organic addition to your soil. Be warned however that little creatures hide in algae and it is worth giving it a check before disposal. I once had a large tadpole that had held over transforming into a frog over winter drop onto my lap when I was flinging algae into the garden and often find dragon fly nymphs and snails too.