I absolutely love your mindset and attitude towards eco systems and that you exclaim you are not an expert and that you just have an opinion this is how we learn from each other's experiences....well done to you sir 😊

Never boring! You are an inspiration to me. I'm trying to build my own pond, and honestly I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.... I have to do it a little at a time because I don't have thousands of dollars to throw at it like some people do. Watching your videos have helped me learn how to do this on a serious budget in fact I'm going to do two of your big in a barrels as soon as I can get the materials for them. That said , I always look forward to your videos and get very excited when I see them in my feed. Question, is it possible to do an intake bay in a barrel? I'm hoping to try and make one if possible....

Great advice. Always helpful and intriguing! Thanks legend🙏

Not boring at all dude. Very informative! Love your take on keeping the ecosystem balanced. I added siberian irises and pea gravel to one of my water features that had string algae issues and it cleared up beautifully. Thanks

I like so much your clear water ponds.its mind blowing when you see the under water . You are the best of best... and thanks for the all advice ❤

Great video Kev, I’ve watched all your videos as I’m a third of the way through building my own wildlife pond. Thanks

I've found that the best tool for removing string algae is a brand-new, unused toilet brush! Buy it new, rinse it off, and keep it as your dedicated string algae "twirler." Get it in there and swirl. It's actually pretty fun! Be sure to only use a basic brush -- nothing impregnated with any cleansers!!!

No, not boring... It's a fascinating subject. It's where humans most sharply interface with natural cycles at the micro scale. I like the way you stress each body of water is different.

Hi Kev. Thanks for being a wealth of great info. Great library of videos! Do you deal with phosphate issues where you live? If so, how do you deal with it?

Great videos. Ever think about branching out to different items? For example, a recirculating and filtered bird bath. How to treat the water and keep clean without daily water changes?

My old small pond never had algae problems. I believe it was because it had a floating bog that shaded it and gave the fish hiding places. I also always used rain water and had a large flower pot bog filter with more plants. I used the pond water to water garden plants and rain water to replace the pond water. so in effect, I did do some water exchanging. The downside is you can't easily see your fish and the floating bog is not the prettiest thing, but I am still going to put it in my new pond.

great video again. you are going to need a big rainwater tank for all your ponds 🙂

Oh my goodness Kev! I approached my almost getting to pea soup new pond syndrome as you suggested in adding beneficial bacteria etc and some happy plants….noticed not much in the first few days, but then things started to change. This morning I could see all the way to the bottom where my aerator disks live. Yay!!!! I can hardly wait to get the filter up and running when the top of the pond is finally completed! Yep string algae is in my top little pond…but with a stick twirling it out doesn’t take long to do and it pulls some of the mulm out too. I’ve been wondering about the Aquascape Maintain..so it has a binder…also a floculant?

Hi Kev , thank you for your video . But you are not boring enough I am still awake. 🤣🤣🤣🐠🐟🐡🌴🌾🌿☘🙋‍♂️ps I love the graphics on the front picture.

I love your very helpful videos. But seriously, will I ever be done??? There is always a rock or plant or neat find or SOMETHING to add! 😂🥰😅

Hi Kev, I built my pond after watching most of your videos. 9' x 14' 2' deep.. I used your bucket skimmer idea, and the bog in a barrel that feeds the stream back to the pond. It is a full sun pond, and I finished it back in October. It was beautiful and clear until a month ago. I haven't experienced any green water, or 'pea soup' water, but I can't seem to get the string algae in check. I have regularly dosed it with barley extract, and have even tried straight hydrogen peroxide. Nothing seems to affect it at all.. I really dont want to resort to copper algecides. I can't figure out where things went wrong.

Thanks for the vid! Do you have any / have you ever considered getting fish that would eat the algae directly?

I think you should do away with the boring apology, this type of information is invaluable for people with ponds. You also have great visuals to go along with your points

I got half way through watching this video when it first came out and got distracted - I came back to it today because I have been experiencing a bunch of string algae lately. Sure enough, it also corresponds to topping up the pond with town water after evaporation during some recent hot weather. Also there is a bit of leaf litter that I've started cleaning out but I would not have thought it was broken down enough to be contributing. Whatever is in the town water hasn't stopped my yard frogs from spawning continuously! Being mindful of evaporation concentrating the water, I pumped out a lot of water today and refilled with tap water + seachem safe, so I'm not sure if that's made things better or worse. My bacopa that I planted at the waterline has grown up the rocks and down into the water so I trimmed off the parts I could reach, there are a good amount of plants and roots at the edge of the water taking up nutrients and the fish seem to like sleeping in it!

Hello again. I'd like to add the element of branches to the pond I built a few days ago to make it look more natural and possibly render it healthier but I don't know if I should use freshly cut healthy branches or dead branches which might bring undesirable guests such as fungi, algae and all. Thanks a lot

Hey Kev, love your pond pornos man! ;) Planning to build my first in the spring... yesterday on the Survival Podcast's episode on Biochar, Jack mentioned that adding crayfish to his pond cleared up the string algae fyi. Have you tried adding crayfish for string algae?

Kevin, I have one question before tapping the thumbs up 👍 button to feed the algorithm monsters..... Good algae grows on rocks? Correct? If so, is one type of rock better than another? Is 1/2 crushed gravel just as good as 1/2" round river rock. I know crushed rock is cheaper. So if they're equally "eco-beneficial," I'd rather use the crushed rock. I am planning to use 50 cubic yards of rock with bubble filtration. Using this much volume, price can be an issue. Thanks.... BTW, I'm already subbed.

just manually remove string algae 🤣 thanks! i created a bog filter and my patio pond turned crystal clear from the foggy pea soup. everything was fine until the string algae 🙄 so now some elbow grease 😉

My koi pond is covered with string algae. Should i empty it, pressure wash it and start over?

Hi Kev were is the best place to buy Bulkheads in Aus Cheers Kevin

Ok so my methods could be considered controversial but it's proven to work every spring before the plants come back and string algae is abundant. I use a phosphate remover paired with hydrochloric acid (very little) my pond is only 2500 gallons so it's crucially important to dose properly. Phosphate remover is a flocculant, So it will bind all the phosphorus to the floor of the pond. I have a sand filter with no sand in it. Just bio balls and pea Gravel, So the phosphate can be backwashed. I've noticed after a couple of years. My pond was very established and never had problem with algae, This is because my beneficial bacteria was able to handle all the nutrient in the pond. I never resort to copper.

Lots of algae in our pond! No bonks though :(

Have been having great results in my pond, filtration is good, fish happy, plants growing well. Just slowly the plants and surfaces have been getting a layer of algae growing and it's starting to get thicker and thicker. Is this a problem? It's not stringy.

You need to stop saying, "I hope this was not too boring." U r far from boring¡!

1. Remove string algae with dab net or hand. 2. Use plants to cover the pond. Comments. Through spring & summer I weekly wade and dab up algae; knowing that heaps is left behind. Fish can pull off algae growing from pond walls or from other plants; but struggle to eat long free algae. 'Our pond is covered with water plants' is my personal lie; even in the densest waterlily patch in mid-summer there is 50% of the area with free water; in the area with submerged-emergent myriophylum there is considerable string algae growing on the fine plant stems. But string algae seems to prefer direct sunlight; there is always less of a problem under any plant, rock; there is less at depth. Nearby deciduous trees - willow, ash, maples - need to have their leaves removed through autumn. Leaves of nearby evergreens - eucalypts, pines - are worthwhile chasing after windstorms. Our pond setup has 13m X 1.5m pond with overflow into a 5m X 1.5m pond; pumped water circulates over a 3m plunging waterfall which we have on while in the garden, at least an hour a day. The smaller pond does have an Oase circulating sponge filter; the water in that pond is always more clear, but there is always more string algae. The ponds are both 35cm deep, but we put 5cm of smooth pea gravel to make it within regulations if grandkids fall in [it happens], and to increase surface area for the nitrophilous bacteria. We use rainwater by preference; but are not at all concerned about chlorinated town water for the plants or the fish. But the system needs an annual cleanout. End of autumn I use high pressure water to agitate the autumn leaves, silt and mulm from the pea gravel and pump it onto the garden. 400 fish were reduced to about 100 courtesy of visiting white-faced herons; they are fine looking wildlife, but we wish they would now stop. They are too skinny to activate motion sprinklers. One heron used a decoy predator as a perch 5 minutes after we installed it.

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