SUMMIT 135 Clear-Water Barley Straw Bale 15 oz, Treats up to 5000-Gallons

I just installed my pond this spring which is estimated to be about 5000-6000 gallons between 3 separate pond levels. During installation I didn't have all the pumps and filters running consistently as I was working on each level of the pond which lead to algae bloom, little water bugs, and everything else you don't want in a pond. I have two pumps and a UV light. After finishing the pond I replaced the water with fresh water around end of June, cleaned it up, and added this Barley Straw bale. It's now end of August and my pond water is completely clear, there is some normal pond scum/debris on the bottom liner but not thick. Between this barley bale and the UV light I've had clear water all summer with a nice blue-green color to the water. I'll be adding one of these bales each spring after the snow melts to keep my pond clean and clear all summer long.

Straw was recommended by a pond guy to help keep pond water clear. It has so far helped a ton this spring. 2 of them in our 10,000 gallon pond with fish. Will always keep them in there now. Easy to re-use once they sink, just dry in the sun for a few days and put them back in!

I have a 6000 gallon koi pond in Austin TX and with a really mild winter, my pond developed a green algae bloom. This has never happened before. I had never used barley in my pond, but after some research, I decided to give it a try. After one week, I can already see a difference and with continued use over the next few weeks, I expect that the water will be clear again and the algae gone. I am extremely pleased with the product and have already ordered some of the smaller barley bales to place in my bog garden, (where they will be less noticeable.), and highly recommend this product.

We are trying his product in the retention pond next to our house to try and alleviate the algae growth latter in the summer. It's definitely easy to use - just hurl it into the pond like a football quarterback. It's too soon to say if this product is effective because it needs to break down in the water over time & the quantity needed is determined by the size of pond, which can be difficult to estimate. We hope it is effective because it is quite expensive.

When water in our 800 gallon fish pond begins to warm in spring before the Japanese Maple can again produce it’s foliage to shade 60% or a bit more of the pond from direct sunlight, these bails of barley have somehow prevented the rapid growth of dark green algae we use to have to treat chemically every spring that killed all the large snails in the pond and that I doubt did the fish any good either, especially stressing out the 4 senior fish that were among the nine original fish I put in when the pond was new 30 years ago. A da@med great blue heron had two of the others for breakfast before we covered the pond with netting, while three of the other original guys and gills passed on of natural old age issues.Those nine fish went at it overtime every spring producing so many youngins I was find new homes for so many that I guess half the ponds in town are full of fish that were spawned right here. I had no idea fish live as long as they do if ya keep the herons and chlorine out. Quality of their food probably made a difference too. I tried switching to cheaper stuff a couple of times and they everyone just looked up at me like “you don’t really expect us to eat that, do you?” So, I’ve kept ordering a couple of the 6 pound bags of the high dollar floating sticks every couple or months to keep them all friendly, fat n happy. I think they appreciate the clearer water in spring the barley somehow provides by preventing most of that thick green algae slime that’s just plain unappetizing and a bear to get rid of once it takes over. That called for two bails of the barley magic.Are there any prizes for longest rambling reviews? Like maybe a big, fat bag of their fav high dollar floating koi and pond fish sticks, by any unlikely chance?Ah, didn’t think so.

I have purchased this product in the past from local store and it WORKED GREAT however trying to save some money and time I purchased from Amazon and product is NO GOOD. Started growing in the bail and DID NOT reduce algea. Sadly I have to wait months to see result and lost chance for refund,

Mixing chemicals is a thing of the past and so is the algae. We have a small pond and waterfall which certain months has algae. I placed this straw bale at the top of the waterfall and stacked some big rocks on it. The water flows through the straw bale and into the pond. Four days, algae problem resolved. No harm to the fish or lily flowers. I'll change it out every couple of months. Makes life so much easier.

Seriously, this is a very important product for those of us who have ponds or pools that have algae bloom.I found out about this years ago and it worked. The problem is finding the Barley Straw Bales for the ponds.Not only are they available on Amazon, they are available in a variety of sizes. I got the smallest one for my little goldfish pond where I don't want to use chemicals. I ordered the larger one for a swimming pool that has been allowed to "go natural". The barley straw worked within days in both circumstances. It is amazing to see this in action. If you have any green algae problem and don't want to use chemicals ( which can kill the plants you may want ), order this today.I should mention that in the small pond ( it is really small) the racoons got the bale and took it apart.....the straw still works I just need to remember not to take it out when removing stuff from this particular pond.