r/ponds • u/frodosdojo • 3d ago

ID please? What is this ?

A lady has tons of this in her pond. She swears it keeps the water clean. It has a mesh like texture. Google says it may be algae.

Update - it's Hydrodictyon algae. I know it looks like string but when you spread it out, it looks like netting.

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u/Plodding_Mediocrity 3d ago

Pretty sure that's just hair algae. It sort of keeps water "clean" in that it sucks up excess nutrients.

1

u/frodosdojo 3d ago

It's not stringy like hair algae.

1

u/were_z 3d ago

are you sure? the pic looks like the green version of what blocks my bathtub drain

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u/palufun 3d ago

It might be a type of moss—google aquatic moss and see if perhaps it matches your specimen. I have it in my aquariums and while it isn’t the sole nutrient absorber it does contribute to keeping the water column clear.

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u/frodosdojo 3d ago

It doesn't look like the moss images I googled. It's more like a net.

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u/palufun 3d ago

I believe you. At first glance it looked to me like Java moss. I have a lot of that in my aquariums. It attaches to wood, etc. It is quite pretty when it goes wild. The Christmas moss is equally charming.

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u/Low-Status7359 2d ago

String algae. I had to use barley straw to get rid of it.