algea

[pondman]

How can I keep my stock tank from turning green ???

[KSALguy]

prevent any sunlight getting to the water, keep any biological stuff out of the water ie; hay, leafs, cow snott,

green water isnt bad, it just looks bad, as long as you dont have toxic residue in the water like animal waise or pesticide/fertilizer algea is not bad, just flush the trough with new water periodically,

some people use a little bleach in the water to help cut down on algea but i dont know if i would want bleach in my drinking water.

[ozark_jewels]

I have to deal with this in my cattle and goat water tubs. Cattle don't mind algae water but goats DO! I add a sprinkle of copper sulfate powder to the water and absolutely no more algae. Just a very slight sprinkle will do it.
I have to haul stock water to my place in a 400 gallon tank on my truck as we do not have water there yet. It sits on my truck for about three days between fill-ups. The copper sulfate keeps any algae from growing in the big water tank. It won't hurt the cattle, its the stuff thats in most minerals. Just don't go overboard on it.
I will not use bleach either.

[agmantoo]

I see cattlemen use scrap copper metal in their tanks. They just take large scrap metal copper pipe and lay that in the tank. I was told it works. I have commercial cattle waterers that have a floating ball over the openings where the cattle drink. This method cuts the sunlight out and that prevents the algae from growing.

[genebo]

I use barley straw bales in my pond. One bale per acre-foot of water. You put them in so they are half in and half out of the water. It prevents algae growth.

If you could scale this down to the size of your stock tank ....

What I'd do is get an old pair of pantyhose and cut off one leg. stuff it with barley straw and tie the end. Tie this so it hangs halfway into your tank.

I couldn't find barley straw when I wanted it this spring. After 3 years of no algae, suddenly I had algae blooms all over the pond. I finally found some barley straw from a dairy. Instead of the usual 3 bales for my pond, I put 5 in. In about 10 days, all the algae was gone and the pond has stayed clear ever since.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[Christiaan]

I put feeder goldfish in my 100 gallon stock tank, usually a dozen. They keep the algae down and eat all the mosquito larvae, too. Winter usually kills them off.
Occasionally a cow will swallow one when drinking. Quite an interesting expression they get!

[Wags]

Originally Posted by Christiaan

I put feeder goldfish in my 100 gallon stock tank, usually a dozen. They keep the algae down and eat all the mosquito larvae, too. Winter usually kills them off.
Occasionally a cow will swallow one when drinking. Quite an interesting expression they get!

I can just imagine that expression - too funny!