Balanced Pond Eco System

Author: Pets Parade Team

Algae control methods: Plants: Plants are probably the most important addition to your pond, since they directly compete with algae for nutrients and light. Add a wide variety of plants to your pond. This not only creates a natural look, but also helps reduce the algae in different areas of your pond. Place water byacinth and water lettuce in your BIOFALLS®. These floating plants reproduce rapidly using up enormous amounts of nutrients. Remove the older floaters when they start to over-run your BIOFALLS®. The discarded floaters make great nutrient rich compost for your garden. Plenty of bog and marginal plants should be added to the pond. Plants such as cattails and iris take up large quantities of nutrients. They are hardy and will be back each spring to help you balance your pond. Cover the surface of the pond by planting lilies. Lily pads float on the top of the pond, soaking up the warm sunlight. The lily pads will reduce algae by preventing sunlight from reaching the deeper portions of the pond.

Don't overfeed fish and have some larger Koi: Fish food that is not eaten by fish eill decompose in the pond and increase nutrient levels. Only feed the fish amounts that they consume within a few minutes. Koi greater than 10" eat string algae.

Green water pond algae: Algae, a single celled plant requires nutrients and light to survive. Reducing algae's requirements will result in less algae. How doyou reduce algae's requirements? It's simple. Follow the recipe for a well-balanced pond. A well-balanced pond includes the following: BIOFALLS - supports large colonies of bacteria and enzmes. The bacteria and enzymes use up nutrients and help break down fish waste (nutrients) and organic debris (nutrients). Skimmer - the skimmer removes and collects leaves (nutrients) from the top of the pond. Rocks & Gravel - Provides surface area for bacteria to colonize. Turning your entire pond into a biological filter that will break down fish waste (nutrients) and organic debris (nutrients). Plants - Plants have the same requrements as algae. They directly compete with algae for nutrients and light. Fish - Larger Koi (greater than 10") will eat a tremendous amount of string algae. Bacteria - using bacteria in your pond to boost mother nature's ability to balance your pond.

Our large pond has a lot of "muck" and sludge build up on the bottom and has a lot of pond weeds. We'd really like to clear it up but don't know where to start. Can you help? Yes, we can help! First of all, the "muck" and sludge on the bottom of the pond is from decaying weeds and algae taking it's sweet o'l time decomposing. This is like a huge "compost pile" on the bottom of the pond which is not only nasty to step in and stinks when you walk in it and stir it up, but it's providing MORE nutrients to feed all the pond weeds and algae that's growing. What you need to do is get rid of that "compost pile". How you can do that is either have the pond dredged (which can be costly, effective and very messy), get a Oase Pondovac and vacuum out the debris, and/or add beneficial bacteria and an aerator to break it down and decompose it faster. Beneficial bacteria is absolutely vital in a pond and is naturally found in every pond and lake. Some ponds don't have a properly balanced ecological system that is, a balance in the number of fish, the quantity and types of plant, the amount of exposure to sunlight, volume of water, chemicals in the water, etc. which is why you have to add more beneficial bacteria.

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Balanced Pond Eco System

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