Algae Control – Algae Information

To keep things easy with visual identification for BioWorld Treatment purposes, use the following three classes: Filamentous, Planktonic, and Water Weeds.

Algae Types for Simple Recognition

Algae Treatment Information
Customer Comments

To keep things easy with visual identification for BioWorld Treatment purposes, use the following three classes:

1. Filamentous – appears as moss, mats or stringy on the surface of the water, subsurface floating or on the bottom. Can also be attached to rocks or plants in the water. Some are slimy smooth while others feel like very course horse hair. Generally, filamentous algae can be picked up by hand.

BioWorld has a 100% project success with filamentous algae when enough quantity of our formulations are used for the specific water system.

2. Planktonic – the water has a color of green and the algae cannot be picked up by hand.

BioWorld has a 70% or higher project success with planktonic algae when enough quanity of our formulations are used  – many factors can dictate the success.

3. Water Weeds – plants that have a root structure where the nutrients are acquired from the sediment in the bottom of the water. When pulled by hand, the root is very apparent.

BioWorld is not designed for rooted plants, duckweed, watermeal, or milfoil. Proper use of selective herbicides or mechanical removal are the most common forms of control. The BioWorld treatment can be used in conjunction with certain herbicides to get the best results.

Algal Divisions

  1. Bacillariophyta. The diatoms are placed by the authors in their own division, but others place them in the Family Bacillariophyceae: (load an image of Asterionella). These mostly microscopic algae are unicellular, or filamentous (colonial, such as Asterionella), and typically have a golden brown color; they compose the “pastures” of the sea, carrying on much of the world’s photosynthesis. Diatoms are also common in lakes and streams, especially as part of the attached community of algae (periphyton) that grows on submerged rocks, logs, plants, and debris.
  2. Chlorophyta. The grass-green algae are mostly microscopic and may be unicellular (Chlamydomonas), filamentous (Spirogyra), or colonial (Volvox, Scenedesmus); some are also flagellated.
  3. Pyrrophyta. This group of microscopic algae includes the dinoflagellates, or peridinians, that are especially abundant in the ocean where certain species comprise the deadly “red tides”. The armored Ceratium is a common freshwater form and its spectacular shape makes it easy to identify in the plankton. Most taxa are unicelluar (Peridinium), or small chains of cells; all are flagellated. The “bioluminescence” often seen in the wake of ocean ships is almost always due to dinoflagellates.
  4. Cyanophyta. These prokaryotes, the blue-greens, are microscopic and visible algae with no plastids, primarily photoautotrophs; some assimilate organic substances such as acetate and amino acids so these forms are organotrophs. Some blue-greens can “fix” molecular nitrogen converting it to usable nitrates. Blue-greens have been considered “weed” species by many limnologists because they can cause unpleasant growths in lakes where eutrophication occurs. Lakes, for instance, that receive runoff of excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the watershed because of domestic, agricultural, and/or industrial pollution. Noxious “blooms” may occur of such forms as Anabaena and Oscillatoria (load from Cyanophyceae).
  5. Chrysophyta. Chrysophytes are microscopic unicellular, or colonial forms common in lake plankton. Common taxa include Dinobryon and Mallomonas (load from Chrysophyceae).
  6. Euglenophyta. The euglenoids are microscopic unicellular algae that are flagellated. This group includes the common genus Euglena and Trachlemonas (load from Euglenophyceae). One unique feature of Euglena is that it forms spores under unfavorable environmental conditions; Euglena will form reddish spores that usually float on the surface as a reddish scum.

BioWorld Algae Treatment: The Solution for Eutrophication

What is eutrophication? It is the overall process that supplies organic nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, to a water feature. When eutrophication goes unchecked, the results can be catastrophic. Organic decay consumes oxygen which is a critical component of lake habitat. Depleting a lake of this life-sustaining substance can lead to death of fish and other aquatic life forms. This contributes to more organic decay and more oxygen depletion until eventually the lake may not support animal life.  This textbook definition became a reality for a 3-acre County park pond teeming with beauty and life. The combination of hot weather, heavy nutrient loading and warm water resulted in excessive algae growth in the pond. Dissolved oxygen levels drastically fell and numerous fish died. Maggots fed off the decaying fish and picked up botulism bacteria. Ducks ate the maggots and dead fish, became infected and dozens died. This produced an environmental disaster and brought unwanted attention from the CA Department of Fish and Game, the media and the local community. BioWorld was contracted to help fix the eutrophication problem by providing algae control products and services. BioWorld Algae Treatment used a unique combination of bioenhancement compounds and selected, naturally occurring microorganisms for the safe and natural treatment of algae. The enhancement formulation maximized the ability of the microbes to reproduce and thrive in the water system. The Algae Microbes were more efficient at consuming the nutrients in the water which disrupted the algae growth.  Within a couple of months, BioWorld broke through the eutrophication cycle, eliminated the algae, digested debris and created a more balanced ecosystem for the fish and wildlife to thrive once again.    BioWorld Algae Treatment (for filamentous, stringy mat-type algae or planktonic, green water algae) is environmentally safe, non-hazardous, non-toxic, non-corrosive, non-flammable, and non pathogenic. It is the ideal solution for overcoming eutrophication in lakes and other water features without using chemicals.  

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