What is algae and what causes it to grow
Benefits of pond skimmers and nets
Importance of beneficial bacteria and why every pond should have it
Why algae "destroyer" type of products (algaecides) aren't the best solution
Pond weeds and how they affect your pond's health
Aeration systems and why they're vital to a healthy pond and fish
Fish kill and what can cause it
Treatment plans for controlling algae and pond weeds
Most pond and water garden owners are busy this time of year frantically trying
to get rid of algae in their pond. Some have ponds that are thick with plankton
or "pea green soup" algae and string algae that looks like "stringy green
hair".
We're desperate to have a clear pond and see our prized fish that we've missed
seeing since the snow fell and winter began. Some people will try "anything"
to make their pond clear and most go about it in the wrong way. We've provided
this information to help you in creating and maintaining a clear and healthy pond
and how to make your pond more enjoyable.
First of all, it's important that you understand what algae is and what creates
it. Algae is a tiny plant, some microscopic in size, and it seems to grow wherever
there is a body of water. It feeds on nutrients in the water from
decaying matter
such as fallen leaves, fish wastes, uneaten fish food, dead bugs, dead algae,
etc. and thrives when there is a lot of sunshine and warm water. When you have
all or some of the above in your pond, well you simply have got algae problems.
Let's see what we can do to get rid of the algae or at least reduce it so we
can enjoy our pond more.
Since I explained to you what algae is and what it "eats" to grow, I'm sure
you've
figured out some of the things that need to be done to reduce algae. The most
obvious steps are to reduce the nutrients that algae needs in order to grow such
as the fallen leaves, uneaten fish food, dead bugs and dead algae, etc. You
can quickly reduce the quantity of decaying leaves by having a skimmer that sucks
the leaves, dead bugs, etc. from the surface of your pond before falling to the bottom and
begin to decay. The skimmer hides inconspicuously along
the pond's edge and even has a faux (fake) rock lid so it doesn't detract from
the beauty of your pond. The skimmer houses your pump and the pump sucks the
water and debris in which is filtered by a screen mesh. Clean the debris out of your
skimmer weekly, or as needed. For those of you not wanting the expense of
a skimmer or your pond is too large for one, you can get a pond net. Pond nets
provide an additional purpose besides keeping unwanted fallen leaves out of your pond.
They also help to keep out unwanted predators such as blue herons, racoons, cats,
belted kingfishers (bird), etc. from eating your prized fish. The nets are almost
invisible looking and add protection as well as function to your pond's clarity.
(You can find our skimmers here
and our pond nets here.
Uneaten fish food can be a common problem in ponds, too. For most of us, we chose to
have a pond so we can enjoy a beautiful part of nature in our backyard. We decided to have
fish as "pets" that we can feed and admire. Unfortunately, we
sometimes get a little carried away when it comes to feeding the fish and feed them too
much food. We throw a handful of food out in the water and watch
the fish come up to the surface and eat it. If they don't see it right away, we
throw another handful out. This continues and before you know it, you have a
lot of uneaten fish food at the bottom of the pond whcih feeds the algae you're so
much wanting to get rid of. To prevent this from happening, feed your fish a few
fish pellets at a time. Try to feed your fish on a regular schedule, say every morning at
10:30a.m. and every evening at 6:00p.m.. Whatever the time, try to make it routine. The
fish will get used to you feeding them at that particular time and will await your
presence and the food they are about to receive. If they don't gobble up ALL of the food
within approx. 3 minutes, then they are not hungry and you shouldn't throw more food out.
It will just add to the algae problem.
Sunlight and warm weather also causes algae to grow. Sunlight can
be reduced a bit by providing some type of shade in your pond. If you haven't already
created your pond, try to choose an area that has a few hours of shade every day but yet
away from tree roots that can puncture your pond liner (or the clay sealer in man-made
natural ponds) and add debris from falling leaves. For those of you with large
ponds and lakes we recommend the use of a pond dye, AquaShade. This
is an aquatic sun blocker that you add to your pond that blocks the sun from penetrating
through the water and providing sunlight to your pond weeds and algae. By using
AquaShade, you're starving the algae and pond weeds that need sunlight to grow. The
pond will turn a turqoise or aqua color while treating it with AquaShade all while being
safe for fish, swimming, etc..
Now that we know what things to reduce in our ponds, I'd like to discuss the
things we should increase.
It's always best to try to reduce as many things as possible that add to algae
problems but there are things that your pond absolutely needs in order to
have
a healthy, clear pond as well. The one thing that you absolutely need in your pond
is beneficial bacteria. I know some of you are cringing in your chair
right now thinking that I am asking you to add some nasty bacteria to your pond and we
envision rotting food or something else that is dreadful and we can't fathom the thought
of "our pond" having a nasty bacteria in it. Well it's true, you gotta have it!
Beneficial bacteria provides a very important function in your pond. It actually eats the same nutrients in the water that's provided from decaying leaves,
uneaten fish food, etc. that algae does. When you increase the amount of
beneficial (note that I'm saying "beneficial" ie; "good") bacteria to
your pond, you're actually starving the algae from growing and creating a clearer pond at
the same time! Beneficial bacteria also provides many other functions: it helps break
down the sludge on the bottom of the pond (you know, that black mucky, stinky
stuff that gets all over your feet or your dog's feet when going into the pond), eliminates
pond odors (from the stinky sludge), reduces oxygen demand, improves
water clarity, eliminates excessnutrients and controls
algae. It also is vital to breaking down fish wastes into harmless nitrates
(referred to as the Nitrogen Cycle) so your fish don't die of ammonia poisoning (ammonia
is produced from the fish's gills and their by-products). So, you can see that beneficial
bacteria is imperative for a healthy pond.
So how do you get this "beneficial bacteria"? Believe it or not, you can
buy
it! We have a proprietary blend of beneficial bacteria in our BioClean product. It's
all natural, safe for fish, swimming, etc. and it's very easy to use. You just add
12 lbs. per surface acre of water for the initial dose (when water temperatures are 55°F
or above throughout the year) and 6 lbs. every 2 weeks after that. It comes in
either 8 oz. bags (or 25 lbs. container) which you just toss into the pond. You can
find it here.
When you toss it into the water it disperses through the water and
"attaches" itself to any surface area in the pond such as our AquaMats, pond weeds, rocks, etc. and
starts to grow. By adding it on a regular basis you are providing an
increase in the beneficial bacteria colonization to meet the demands of the hot summer
months, the decaying organic matter in the pond and the continual fish wastes that are
being excreted.
Don't fall for the "algae destroyer" type of products when it
comes to clearing up your pond. I know, we sell them including Cutrine Plus
(we have to because there's still some of you who will insist that they want to use it)
but let me tell why this is not a great idea. Remember when I talked about the
nutrients that feed algae? Well, what do you think happens to that "dead"
algae after you kill it with Cutrine or another algaecide? It falls to the bottom of
the pond and adds to the compost pile (sludge) that's already there and feeding your
algae! So, you're just adding more nutrients to the water from the dead algae.
What you want to do is starve out the algae with the BioClean (and
do it naturally) in addition to adding the AquaShade to block out the sunshine to the
algae. It would be best to treat it with BioClean (and proper aeration) but if
your pond is in bad shape with a lot of algae and pond weeds you may have to be more
aggressive and use other algaecides or herbicides.
For those of you who have ponds with a lot of pond weeds this is what I
would suggest you doing: First of all, rake out as many dead weeds as possible.
We have a 1 and 2 man (or woman) lake rake. It's a messy job
but it will take years off your pond's recovery. Try to make it
into something "fun"...get the kids involved or have some friends over or family
to help you. You can have a little picnic or bonfire afterwards and make the day's
event enjoyable and can share stories about it later. Like I said and I will stress
it, it will take YEARS (and a lot of money) off your pond's recovery so do what you have
to do to get as many weeds and debris out of there.
After you get out as many weeds & debris out of your pond as possible,
then treat the pond with the BioClean and add it faithfully throughout the warm months of
the year (when water temperatures are above 55°F). It wouldn't hurt to add the
AquaShade too, to help prevent weeds from growing back again. The next thing
you need to do is buy an aerator for your pond.
An aerator is also
vital to having a healthy pond and there are many reasons for having one. First of
all, they provide oxygen to your pond, to the fish and to the beneficial
bacteria (it actually increases the benefits of the beneficial bacteria because it
provides oxygen to the beneficial bacteria so it can be healthy and multiply and do it's
function better). For those of you who have deep ponds (deeper than 6 or 7' or so),
you can get one of our air compressor kits (diffused aerators) that lie on the bottom of
the pond and diffuse oxygen throughout the entire pond (naturally, you have to have the
right size aeration system for this. For those of you with shallower ponds less than
6' deep, you can use our high volume
surface aerator). You see, at the bottom of the pond is that nasty sludge and
decaying organic "compost pile" of dead weeds and debris and sludge. This is
where anaerobic bacteria live besides other nasty stuff. This type of bacteria does
not need oxygen to grow and can be very harmful to your fish and your pond's overall
health. So, you don't want this anaerobic (bad type of bacteria) to grow in the
bottom of the pond. You want the pond oxygenated and by placing the diffusers on the
bottom it will oxygenate the entire pond from the bottom on up. You want to place
the diffuser (the thing where the bubbles comes out at) where it's somewhat deep but
not the deepest part of the pond. If your pond is 10' deep, then place it around an
area that may be centrally located that is around 8' deep. The deepest end should be
left undisturbed for the fish. Don't worry, it'll still get oxygenated but not all
disturbed from the air pressure from the diffusers. Placement of a diffuser is
pretty important so if you have questions about where to place them or which kind to get,
just contact us and we'll be happy to help
you. Provide to us the dimensions of your pond and inform us if it has any
peninsulas or islands, etc. in it that would reduce water flow, it's depth and any other
pertinent information.
Aerators also provide oxygen to your fish and this is important for those
of you who like to go fishing in your pond or who just like to enjoy watching your fish.
As a newly stocked pond ages, the fish begin to multiply and algae and weeds start
to grow. The multitude of fish (besides the growth of each fish) require more oxygen
and so do the weeds. The weeds provide oxygen to the pond during the day but at
night time (or in the winter in cold climates) consume, or take in oxygen. So,
during the night the plants are robbing the pond of a lot of necessary oxygen.
Unfortunately if this ratio of fish to pond weeds is bad enough, a fish kill will
result. Often this will happen in the Spring when the ice is melting and the
pond didn't have any source of oxygen during the winter other than what was beneath the
ice. It could also happen in the morning during hot summer months when the
plants are growing rapidly. The organic matter from decaying leaves, etc. still
require oxygen (and so do your fish) and continue to rob the pond of oxygen during the
winter. The organic matter also produces a toxic gas (hydrogen sulfide) while it
decomposes and the combination of the increase in toxic gas besides a decrease
in available oxygen is what kills the fish. This can be prevented with the use
of an aerator during the winter (you an use it 365 days a year) and keeping pond weeds
controlled. You can find our aeration systems here.
If your pond is in pretty bad shape and is thick with algae and weeds you
may have to go through an aggressive treatment plan besides the things mentioned above.
This may consist of raking out as much debris as possible, treating it with an
herbicide (chemicals to kill the weeds) as well as the beneficial bacteria (BioClean) and
aeration system. Let us know what your situation is and we'll be happy to advise you
of what you need to do. Naturally, we have products for aggressive treatment as well
including herbicides for duckweed, milfoil, chara, water lilies, surface algae, coontail,
bladder wort, etc. You can find our herbicides here and information
regarding their use here.
I hope this information has been helpful to you. Let us know
if we can be of assistance so you can have the right solution for your pond.
