i've done that. but what works is making sure there is enough shade and oxegen plants to keep the algae down. that is the main thing. and getting enough flow in the pond.

the parrot's feather might have not made it through some of the cold snaps. mine didn't and it isn't a whole lot colder here than in jax.

This is a touchy situation. Ponds need algea it just depends on the algea. There are good algeas and bad. The algea on your snails and the preform itself is good algea. You need and want it, it helps balance out the pond. Brian D is right about the water having to cycle. If you take everything out and scrub the preform then all you are doing is getting rid of the good algea you already have and it will be a bigger headache to deal with. Pea soup water is bad algea and so is string algea.
First of all what kind of filter do you have?
How big is your preform?
What size pump do you have?
Donna

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my webshots ~ my photobucket

OK, the pond is roughly 100 gallons, approx 4'x2'x2' (I think), with 2 steps on the smaller end. I don't know the size of the pump but it's not very big, and there is no filtration whatsoever. Maybe that's part of the problem. The string algea was worse earlier in the year. It seems to be a lot less now. Now there is some fluffy yellowish-green algeae that floats on top and all around the sides. I've started using some stuff to clarify the water, that has the good bacteria and barley powder. And I'm adding fresh water once or twice a week, because we're having a very dry spell, and the pond will go down a couple inches a week just from evaporation, and it makes it hard for the frog to get out if it's too low. (I did actually see him sitting on a lily pad this morning -- just like in the storybooks!)

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Real women don't have hot flashes -- we have power surges!

Thank you so much! I can handle making one of those filters. I had only seen the ones you buy, in the pond supply catalogs, but they are so expensive!

Sounds like combining a filter with the clarifier should pretty much clear up the problem. I had no idea there was good algae, so I'll quit worrying about that part.

Thanks so much, all!

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Real women don't have hot flashes -- we have power surges!

OK, I went to KMart last night, and 14 bucks and an hour later, I had the filter filtering away in my pond. (I lucked out; I already had quilt batting, and my pond is little, so I didn't need Large of anything.)
The flow seems to be slowing down a little, so I'm on my way out to clean it out.
The water looks pretty clear already. I'm sure my froggy will be much happier! I'm getting siked now; I just might do fish again!


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Real women don't have hot flashes -- we have power surges!

I have had a bad algae problem also and here is what I did.

Local pond shop, bought product called string algae buster. Mix 1 Tbl. in a bucket of warm water per 100 gallons of pond water. Two applications and the algae is GONE. Cost is not bad, small 4.5 oz jar treats 800 gallons was $16. It is a live product once you mix it with warm water, so if you have UV sterilizer you have to turn it off. I also made one of Adam's homemade filter boxes as a pre-filter to save cleaning my pressure filter a bunch of times. Today I have dropped my water level about 1/3 and am letting Adam's filter do its thing for 24 hours. I also added a sludge digester to help clean up the gunk. It is also a live product. Tomarrow I will top off the pond and bring my ph back into control as well as add conditioner to make sure my fish are ok with the new water. The algae product does not harm your fish or plants. I could almost watch the algae go away, a product well worth the effort. I plan on periodically doing an algae kill, maybe about once a month just for maintenance. By the way, Adams filter is really great! I also went to walmart and got the stuff, set it up and had it running in no time. After I get things cleaned up I will pull it out and store it for some future disaster!