Laguna Barley Straw Pellets, 2-1/2-Pound with Mesh Bag

Researched (a lot!) the benefits of using barley straw to aid in getting rid of string algae...and then came along barley pellets. Have a small fishpond and didn’t think to replace the floating plants in the spring. Lesson learned. String algae everywhere within a month of warm weather. Raking it out (a flexible lawn rake works beautifully) was becoming a real chore. Ordered these barley pellets. Waited and waited (after all, we are a fast food people) for a week (!)...nothing. Left for a 2 week vacation; granddaughter gave a report of the fishpond after being away 5 days. Pond is clear except for some murkiness at the bottom. 5 stars for this product...

This product works great in my big koi pond but I took off 1 star because it came with no mesh bag, I had to use a lingerie laundry bag I had on hand.

I used correct dosage for size of my pond. My plants turned yellow, and pond PH went way up, which endangered my fish. I will not try this product again.

This is the best natural thing I have found for keeping my pond clear. I don't worry about my dogs drinking from my pond or kids playing in it like I do with chemical algae removers. It also doesn't bother the fish or my pond plants. The downside to it is that you have to start it before the algae gets going (like April or early Spring) or you have to do a little cleanup before you use it and it is kind of hard to determine how much to use. While it does turn the water the color of weak tea (which you don't notice in my pond, maybe I am using too much?) the water remains crystal clear. I change it once a season, usually in July or August. One bag goes a long way. I have a 200 gallon pond and I get several seasons out of one bag. It comes with a mesh bag which I fill and stake in my pond near my pump. This is not a miracle product and does not remove all the algae from your pond--at least it isn't in my pond. It helps inhibit algae growth and I find it very effective in controlling string algae. I actually prefer seeing a little bit of algae since it looks natural and my gold fish like to eat it.

Surprisingly, these little pellets do the job. I have a small waterfall/pond water feature that holds about 75 gallons of water. Last year I had a problem in the spring with a coating of brown slime covering all the rock surfaces that were constantly wet. I was really bummed, and started scouring Amazon for a non-chemical solution. The solution came in the form of these compressed barley straw pellets which I put in a nyjer seed sock (there is a mesh bag included, but it was too big for my pond) and stuffed it out of view under the edge of the waterfall. In about two weeks the brown slime was GONE. That bag of pellets lasted through the summer, and I replaced them in the fall. When the spring slime started growing again last month, I used up the last of my first bag of pellets and ordered another bag. The pellets swell and break down over the months into a mush that smells nasty when removed from the water, but it does keep the water in my pond crystal clear. I like that it's non-toxic because of the birds that come to drink the water and bathe in the pond. I give this product 5 stars.

Even in the provided black mesh bag, the pellets turn to mush and leak out of the bag. The pellets do not seem to workas well as a simple barley straw ball in a similar mesh bag. I have both this pellet product and a barley straw bale in parallelduckweed growing trays. The bale inhibits algae better than the pellets without the annoying mush leakage. I'll stick withthe Summit 125 Clear-Water Barley Straw Bales.On a positive note, the worms seem to love the mush oozing out of the bag.

Well my orange eye blue shrimps do eat them but it does leave behind quite a mess...but well they weren't originally intended as shrimp food anyways...and I think it helps making the water more clear. But these aren't cheap though, you can find organic barley straw on ebay 10lbs for the same price but no free shipping.

Cleared up the pea green water in my outdoor, full sun 7,000 gallon Koi pond. But this product was also used concurrent with API's Algae Fix (use with caution and PLENTY of aeration) and I also changed out about 25% of the water and scraped some of the sludge out.

Bien

We use these pellets in a mesh bag. At our pond. We set it in our waterfall. And it keeps the water crystal clear.

Mine did not come with a mesh bag as advertised.

I am using it to clear algi from my small pond. it has only been in place for a few days so am not sure if it is doing the trick.

Works great