Barley straw for cleaning duckpond

Does anybody know if barley straw will clean a duckpond? You tube videos are not very relevant as are US based and mixed results. Also, want to plant into bales so we can have pond lilys etc. Any advice would be appreciated.

Yes I think it should be. It sort of acts as a filter doesn't it? We have used oat straw over the years but really whatever you can get your hands in with small bales! (easier said than done theses days!)

The straw doesn't act a filter. As it decays it releases a chemical that kills algae.
We have used it in our natural swimming pool with mixed results. It seems to inhibit the growth of filamental algae. Now our water plants have established we don't have an algae problem. Have you a pump to move the water around? Ponds need water movement to stop them stagnating.

Definitely use Barley straw. Other straw may work, but no where near as effectively.
As omamari said 'As it decays it releases a chemical that kills algae' but it needs to be in a flow,at the intake end, if you have a pump for reticulation . if you get the gist. It doesn't last forever, so the new straw has to be put in close proximity to the old straw . sort of like a yeast bug . the new feeds from the old.
This is one of the better descriptions I could find.
http://www.chemungcountyswcd.com/Barley%20Straw.htm
Once it's working well, it is very good in warding off blanket weed . the stringy filamental algae.
Volumes are important . use approx half a small bale for 1000 litres of water.

It's the tannins that kill algae - and stain the water tea coloured. You can buy a barley straw extract which is the simplest way of treating a pond, or try other tannin rich solutions - oak leaves for instance work quite well too. The trick though long term is to allow the pond to balance itself, reduce light by planting water lilies or similar, or a shade plant, and maybe consider getting some pond snails to munch the stuff up.

Maybe it's tannins, but some theories have the barley straw giving off a chemical similar to hydrogen peroxide & releasing it in minute quantities . so minute that you could never emulate it by using liquid hydrogen peroxide, manually.
I don't know the chemistry of it, for sure, but I do know that lots of leaves in a pond can set up an anaerobic rot if left too long.
You are right about plantings . all plants take up the algae causing undesirable nutrients in the pond. Temperature is the other consideration . the warmer the water, the less oxygen & the more prone to algae & that's where lilies in particular, come into their own by shading the water & keeping it cooler. Ever noticed that algae is never the same problem in the winter . well it's not down here, my pond has frozen a few times this winter, in spite of the moving water *yikes*.
Aiming for 60% - 70% plant cover is the ideal & really does help a lot but it can take a while to get them established . hence the name 'new pond syndrome'.