Along with the everyday things you can do to keep algal matter in your pond to a minimum, there are a few more steps you can take to ensure that your pond stays clear and clean all throughout those pivotal summer days when algae tries its hardest to make a comeback.
Easy Long Term Solutions
- Clear Debris—every day when you walk out to your pond to enjoy its ambience, take a rake and clear the surface of organic and inorganic debris. Debris can easily turn into a food source for algae to feast upon. Take care of big debris yourself so your pond can take care of the little stuff you can’t see, like excess fish food and fish excrement.
- Plant some lotus and marginal plants—lotus plants have big lily pads that block out the sun, which algae has to have in order to thrive. Marginal plants help stop bigger debris from rolling into your pond and causing a bigger problem later. Both plants out-compete algae for food sources within the pond, thereby starving algae and making it harder for it to thrive.
Other Options
Along with products like Pond Keeper Beneficial Bacteria, there are other ways to control the three factors—sunlight, nutrient/food supply, limited oxygen—that helps algal matter thrive.
Sunlight Reduction
Consider pond dyes to control the amount of sunlight your pond sees. Inert pond dyes change your pond to various shades of blue and block out the sun. Natural Environmental Systems’ “Pond Keeper Blue Pond Dye” is a water colorant that gives water an aesthetically pleasing blue tint, and helps filter out sunlight at the same time. Pond Keeper Blue Pond Dye has a natural blue appearance, is non-staining after application, is compatible with other water treatments and is safe for fish, animals and plants.
And, as always, planting some lotus and bog plants never hurt anybody!
Nutrient Reduction
While plants can out-compete algae for nutrients, they provide a more long-term solution for your pond. If you already have a bit of an algae problem, biological filtration could help. By introducing beneficial bacteria to your pond, microbes take advantage of the decaying matter and dissolve it so that algae won’t have a chance to eat. Bio filtration isn’t a quick fix, but it does help place into cycle a system that will not allow algal problems to fester and bloom. Natural Environmental Systems’ “Pond Keeper Beneficial Bacteria with Barley Straw” Packets is a powder formulation that combines multi-strain bacteria blend with pulverized barley straw to form a 2-in-1 product ideal for exceptional pond clarity and health. This Pond Keeper product provides an all-natural solution that breaks down excess fish food, dead vegetation and organic waste, is safe for fish and plants and is easy to apply. It also combines a great product with barley straw, which has been used to control algae for decades simply because it creates an environment for tiny insects and microbes that eat algae to thrive.
Aeration
Algae typically enjoy stagnant, oxygen-less water in which to bloom. In order to prevent stratification—a process that occurs when warm, oxygen-rich water stacks and layers on top of cold, oxygen-less water—aeration is necessary to ensure that that colder water warms up and gets its share of oxygen and beneficial bacteria to stop algae blooms from blossoming below the surface. Plants naturally aerate waters, especially long-rooted plants like some lotus and bogs plants that are planted near the water’s edge. Aeration pumps are also a good idea, as these take in water and circulate it so that it is always moving. Fountains are always a good idea, as well as they are aesthetically pleasing. However, fountains only work best in small, shallow ponds and should not be used for larger areas. Aeration is a simple and cost-effective way to make sure the water in your pond is always moving so that algae can’t form blooms in stagnation.
