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I have two ponds with two very different types of algae growth.
The main pond (6500G) has the type of algae that, given full sun and immature shower filtration, would clog the leaf trap, etc. At one point mats of the stuff could be seen floating around the pond in the water as it came loose. It also seemed to like the little bits of oyster shell that would lodge in it as the bits broke away from the shower filter, before the shower was mature.
Near the end of summer the shower filter matured and I shaded half my pond. The stringy algae subsided and is now not found in the leaf trap or much in the microscreen.
My other pond has different filtration and different algae. The algae in the small pond is the light green stuff, very short. Doesn't get into anything. This 1500G pond has a higher turnover rate than the main pond, although the relative stocking rate is probably higher.
When I had probes in both ponds, the ORP in the main pond tracked slightly higher, but not significantly higher, than the side pond. The side pond also gets full sun and temperature swings slightly wider than the main pond. The main pond is full shade in winter.
I haven't figured out the difference, except for two things: filtration type and turnover. The main pond turns over about 1.5 hr. The side pond about twice as fast (45m). The filtration on the side pond goes 1/2 through a cloverleaf II, 1/2 bypass, and then 3/4 over a small shower stack. It used to turn over 3x as fast but adding the shower stack slowed the overall turnover (using a 3600SEQ12).
So you can see I think the reason is the turnover rate. I'm toying with the idea of adding a second pump and shower filter system to the main pond to see if that makes the difference. But the electricity cost... yeeow. Greenhouse first!
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