Mega algae problem in waterers. What is the best way to get rid of it?

[HHandbasket]

I know that when I used to breed fish and had a house full of fishtanks, any exposure whatsoever to sunlight causes algae to grow in fishtanks. The tanks would have to be positioned such that they had no exposure to sunlight through windows. I would imagine it would have that same effect in a bowl of water exposed to sunlight, as well.

Short of excess light being an issue, it could be the water from your tap. Our dog's water would get slimy and occasionally a bit of algae in her water bowl, even though she emptied out her bowl at least once a day. Someone else also suggested to us it could be our tap water. We bought a new Brita pitcher and are using the old one now to filter the dog's water, and it no longer gets slimy, filmy, or gets algae in it in any way ever since we started filtering it (in February of this year).

So maybe your tap water is contributing to the algae issue.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

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I would avoid the pennies in the water bowls. Pennies are not made from copper anymore. They are filled with zinc and copper plated. Not sure if the zinc at that level is even safe.

JMHO

Most metal drinkers are galvanized meaning plated with zinc as a way to protect the steel underneath. The minor amount of additional zinc a new penny would contribute would be negligible. If this really concerns you then use a penny minted before 1982 when they were still mostly copper.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Paint the buckets or get black buckets. I put ACV in my dog's 5 gal water buckets and have not seen any algae in the past couple months that I've been using it, as well as I'm not seeing any skeeters on day two when I fully dumb out the buckets (i top off water or add ice every day - but dump and refill outdoor buckets every other day) doing it with my chickens as well - no algae and the waterer is white and outside.

 

[patnjess]

me too
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[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

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No, Algae won't hurt chickens. I use a goldfish, two/three in the rain barrel I use by collecting rain off the coop roof to eat the algae and skeeters

I wish I could do this... could you imagine watching a chicken chasing a goldfish around a water jug? lol!

 

[Saltcreek]

Quote:
I would avoid the pennies in the water bowls. Pennies are not made from copper anymore. They are filled with zinc and copper plated. Not sure if the zinc at that level is even safe.

JMHO

You can use pennies - IF you check the dates. Pennies made 1982 and before are all copper. Starting 1983 and after, they are zinc with a copper flashing/plating. I actually save my pennies 1982 and before, because the value of the copper is more than twice the 1 cent penny.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I use bleach or apple cider vinegar but cleaning is not required very often since I seal the lid on my 5 gallon bucket and only clean it about every 15 gallons.

 

[west655]

If you put copper pennies in your water -- be sure they are dated before 1982 when solid copper was used. Newer pennies are not solid copper

 

[Jmeyer1313]

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No, Algae won't hurt chickens. I use a goldfish, two/three in the rain barrel I use by collecting rain off the coop roof to eat the algae and skeeters

Wait so you use fish in your rain barrel? Genius

 

[ncffp163]

I'm using a 35 gallon plastic barrel with an automatic waterer for my run/coop. The barrel is blue with a lid on it and I fill it with a hose attached to a water level float. I've got a thin coat of algae in the barrel now. I have got some Fountec Algaecide for it. It says it is used for fountains, water gardens, bird baths and that safe for birds and other animals, just not fish. I have not used it yet, because I haven't found out if it's safe for laying hens/eggs. Any suggestions?