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I'm asking for your advice here. I have lots of algae in the bird baths as does everyone I'm sure. A friend said she buys a product in the aquarium dept that kills algae for the bird bath and suggested I get some. I asked the fish guy at Wlmart if the product I had in my hand would hurt birds and he said it would not. It was safe for fish and birds. What do you guys say?

I use a pressure washer on mine. Just my take on it. Sometimes still have to use a scrub brush too. And I think some gals use a bleach soak?...and then rinse it well.

yep, I bleach mine-and rinse numerous times.

A small amount of laundry bleach (a splash, maybe an eight a cup?)is what I use in between complete rinses of our tiered fountain. Bleach will off gas in a short time actually. The birds and squirrels don't seem to mind it at all.

Well, I'm gonna try this again. My comment was "moderated". Can't even imagine what word I used that caused that.

Anyway, I've also heard that the tablets will not harm the birds. Also, I've read that after cleaning if you put a few pennies in the bird bath, it will help re^tard the regrowth of algae.

Ah, I bet that was the word, so that's why I fixed it.

They sell a product at nurseries for fountains & it keeps your fountain running clean for longer periods with just a few drops & a bottle sells for about $10. I use them in my fountain & a few drops in the birds baths keep them clean. It is safe for birds & critters. You can probably find
these products online too.

I clean my bird bath at least once or twice a week. I soak it in vinegar for about 5 minutes and then clean with an old boat brush and rinse and refill. I heard bleach was not good to use but white vinegar was safe. I have been doing this for years and have had no problems.

FFG, I started putting pennies in my birdbaths a few years ago because I heard the same thing. I don't know how many you have to put but the 5 I had in there disappeared under the algae! LOL!

Oh I see, you said slow the growth not stop it...maybe that was my problem.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zone9alady,

Back when I had a fountain, I tried the penny idea......didnt' work for me either.

I use bleach in mine.....like Conrad said, it will off-gas very quickly. If I've got time, I'll bleach it, scrub and rinse. In between I just pour a splash into the bath and let it go. Been doing this for years and haven't noticed a decline in the bird or critter population.

FFG - I've had that happen to me a few times too, and I have no idea what the trigger word was. Crazy!!!

ve

Since we have a mosquito problem up here and aren't supposed to have standing water, I change my birdbath water every other day..and hose it out well too.

I use about 1 T of Murphy's oil soap in my rain barrels (50 gal.) to keep any mosquito larve from hatching in there. That works too but I don't know how it would affect the birds or animals but my plants don't mind. If I don't run the rain barrels into the beds around the house I dip out of them to water all my pots.

Thought I should add...it doesn't do a thing for algae, just mosquitos!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,

I use the bleach also, and have 2 soaking right now. After a couple of hours I scrub a bit and rinse, rinse, and then leave the 2 flatter bbaths to dry out over night. I have them covered during all of this so the birdies don't visit.

I certainly would be interested in finding something to add that would keep me from having to do this so often during the hot weather + would be safe for the birds...

It takes that algae quite some time to grow in a bird bath so if the water is changed daily and the bird bath is pretty well flushed out, that should pretty well keep it from forming. Once, or maybe twice, a year I will need to really flush mine out, maybe scrub them, but I have never had to use anything that could potentially be harmful to the birds to clean them out.
I would not trust a saleperson to provide me with good, accurate information about any product they sell, especially one in a large chain store.

Algae grows in comparatively no time here. I literally wash the water out of the dishes, one ceramic and one concrete, and then refill each day. As soon as the weather really heats up we are back to green stuff in 3-4 days. I have a 40" concrete fountain with a deeper bowl & with circulating water which is the same & much harder to clean. Maybe it is not algae?

This is like weeding...bummer of a job but it has to be done. There must be something to stretch out the time between scrubbing, other than the winter's cold temperatures.

Mine must be real dirty-birdies. They use up every drop of the water within a day! It doesn't have time to sit around and sprout algae or mosquitoes. I have to refill them daily. I use the jet setting on the hose nozzle as a sort of pressure washer to loosen the most of the gunk daily... I only scrub with bleach 2-3 times a summer to get all of it and thus lessen the speed of buildup.

I have no algae in my birdbath (down to only one, easier to maintain). I blast mine out with the hose and refill daily. Otherwise the water is yucky. Some of the large birds, especially robins, seem to really dirty it up quickly. If I see them use it I change it right away so sometimes it's changed more than once a day. Have never had an algae problem.

With large fountains/water features/pond I'm sure it's a very different scenario and it would be necessary to use some product to keep algae from forming. Perhaps occasionally shocking with pool chlorine would be useful. Of course not if one has fish and it would have to be covered to prevent birds using it when the chlorine level is high. Once the chlorine has dissipated it would be safe for them. Then if one addressed the reasons for algae formation the water might remain clear for quite awhile.

There is lots of info online about this subject - most say the answer is in aeration and prevention.
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Algae-in-Ponds

Algae definitely grows faster in hot, humid climates. I also use the jet setting on the hose to clean it every day when its refilled. Still needs to be scrubbed with some frequency. Especially if those blasted crows sneak in and dunk their bread in it!!! Neighbor feeds them, and they bring it over to our house to dunk it. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The small amount of chlorine laundry bleach added to our fountain or bird bath can keep it clear for several days. (sometimes I add it after the algae starts to turn the water green, and it clears up in a couple of hours) It is a real time saver for me, unless I enjoyed spraying it out each day. Our tiered fountain is right outside the living room windows, so keeping it looking clean is sort of important. But also the birds and squirrels still frequent for drinks, so no issue there.

Algae grows very fast in mine...it may have something to do with the minerals in our well water...but in 3 days it is going again whether or not it has been flushed each day. But with 5 bird baths...6 if I remember the last one, they only get done every other day here. Mine are all fairly deep....none of those really shallow ones.
The same thing happens in our rain barrels too.
They usually get cleaned out a couple times a yr....when rain is headed our way to refil them.

The Chlorine added to a bird bath to control algae most likely is more harmful to the birds then the algae would be.
Allowing dirty water to stay in a bird bath for more then a day may well be a good way to transmit diseases to the birds.

The liquid on this page may help.....

http://www.gardeners.com/How-t...7644,default,pg.html

quote:

Originally posted by KimmSr:
The Chlorine added to a bird bath to control algae most likely is more harmful to the birds then the algae would be.
Allowing dirty water to stay in a bird bath for more then a day may well be a good way to transmit diseases to the birds.

More harmful than those nasty creeks & rivers & standing water they drink? Really?
And mine is well water too! That's probably better for them than city water...but hey, we all gotta use what we have and do what we have to do to keep things running smoothly! So far, I'm not perfect and really don't ever expect to be!

OH Dear, I must have a lot of diseased birds around my property. I have algae in my ponds, fountains and birdbaths...and the squirrels drink from them everyday too along with all the other animals that live in the woods.

"More harmful than those nasty creeks & rivers & standing water they drink? Really?"
Yes! The wild thingys have eveolved drinking that "nasty" water not the chlorinated water you make by adding Chlorine in the water you put out for them. If you went up to the mountains and drank some of that "pure mountain" water, that wildlife has done stuff in you really do not want think about, you would get sick. Back in the 1940's when IO was a Scout we were taught that you always boiled the water, or put those iodine pills in, you found out in the woods because of what the wild animals did in those streams.
They are not harmed by that because they have been drinking that water, not a purified, chlorinated, water all their lives.
It remains totally amazing to me that many people will spend large dollar amounts for bottled water not realizing most of it comes from municipla systems, today, and has Chlorine and Flouride in it.

I must be the dirtiest person around. I have never scrubbed my birdbaths. I refill with water when it needs it. The birds flock to it all the time. Yesterday there was a blue bird taking a bath in it. I usually only have sparrows visit it. It is right outside my sewin room and I am constantly watching it as I sew.

quote:

Yes! The wild thingys have eveolved drinking that "nasty" water not the chlorinated water you make by adding Chlorine in the water you put out for them.

They aren't adding bleach to their bird bath water...they are cleaning the bird bath with it & rinsing it out.

quote:

If you went up to the mountains and drank some of that "pure mountain" water, that wildlife has done stuff in you really do not want think about, you would get sick. Back in the 1940's when IO was a Scout we were taught that you always boiled the water, or put those iodine pills in, you found out in the woods because of what the wild animals did in those streams.

I have & I didn't! I still would and doubt very much that I would get sick!...but I'm talking about a "pure mountain stream", not any of the creeks or rivers where farm chemicals & yard chemicals have polluted the drinking water!

quote:

They are not harmed by that because they have been drinking that water, not a purified, chlorinated, water all their lives.

I'll bet that the "town" birds have evolved too since they have been drinking from bird baths most of their lives that have city water in them.

I don't buy bottled water! I'm too cheap, I have good well water and I would use a filter system if my water wasn't good and just refill bottles.

But as for cleaning bird baths (or not)...whatever works for everyone!

I have a well anyway...no chlorine or anything added. Well, except maybe limestone.