Blanket Weed

[MrWiggly]

[ 17. February 2003, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: MrWiggly ]

[MrWiggly]

Got this tip from a proffessional pond keeper friend of mine last year.

 

Gave it a try .. and it worked for me.

 

Your local chemist will sell you a small bottle of POTTASSIUM POMANGANATE for less that £1.

 

This comes in the form of little blue crystals.

 

Find and empty quart bottle and put in 1 TEASPOONFULL of the crystals .. no more !

 

Fill up the bottle with water, a give a good shake.

 

You now have a bottle of purple water.

 

My pond is approx 14ft X 10ft X 6ft deep.

 

I pour 1/3rd of the bottle into my waterfall to make sure it is well mixed throughout the pond.

 

You pond will have a pinkish tinge for about 3 days .. then it will clear.

 

Within 7 days all the blanketweed will turn brown and die. Looks a bit messy .. but your filter should clean it up.

 

There is no damage to fish, or other plantlife.

 

Do not overdose !!!

 

Like I said .. it works for me.

[peter mccue]

MrW, Sounds interesting but whats the consequence if you do overdose.

[Ed Matysiak]

I use straw. I fill some tights with it and weigh them down with a stone. Does the job!

[MrWiggly]

Pete ..

 

I am informed by a chemist friend of mine that PP is a mild disinfectant that has been used for the last 200 years in general medicine.

 

I don't know the results of overdosing.. I suggest that you start small and gradually increase until you get a result.

[craig mason]

you want to go to your local koi centre david as they sell electronic devices that are garunteed to get rid of blanket weed hozelock make them

[yoxer]

I have an unfiltered pond that suffered badly with blanket weed for 4 years , tried alsorts including barley straw . When I no longer kept topping it up with tap water , the problem ended. After the first flush of algea in spring it remains crystal clear all summer. The ponds is very lightly stocked , and the fish breed each spring. They are not fed from the first hard frosts until late March and then only with worms and Daphne from the local park pond.

[davidP]

I've bought a Cyprio Magn-it and some algae pads to put in the filter. Let's hope the pond unfreezes enough to put them in this weekend.

[craig mason]

you could also try adding a couple of grass carp as they are supposed to eat blanket weed

[davidP]

craig mason:

you could also try adding a couple of grass carp as they are supposed to eat blanket weed

That's a good idea