ALGAE CONTROL

Information included :


ALGAE CONTROL

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

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ALGAE CONTROL

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 excess nutrients 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 Pond Bio-Solutions 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 (the bag disintegrates in the water).  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 including 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 Pond Bio-Solutions (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 Pond Bio-Solutions  (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 Pond Bio-Solutions 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.  For those of you who have very large ponds or lakes and raking it out isn't practical, then you will first need to determine what type of pond weeds you have and then use a herbicide to kill the weeds.  We have a comprehensive FAQ section of our website that discusses various pond weed eradication methods here.   Of course, adding the AquaShade at the beginning of the season will discourage plant growth for the season.  Be smart and get your AquaShade in your pond early!   :o)   The next thing you will 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 (Pond Bio-Solutions) and using an 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.

One important thing to note for pond owners who have any of the below conditions:

• an overflow from your pond that goes into a drain, creek, stream or another pond

• a flow that goes into your pond from any other body of water including a small creek, stream, drainage ditch, water basin, etc.

If your pond has any of the above conditions where water either flows into or from your pond into a drain, creek, stream or another pond, technically you cannot treat your pond even if the entire pond is on your property alone.  Due to the fact that the water flows in and out of your pond into neighboring waters whatever you do to your pond essentially affects our public water system.  You know, one small creek feeds into a larger creek and that turns into a river, etc.  The Department of Natural Resources (known as the DNR) has jurisdiction on what you can do, if anything, to your pond.  They control what goes on in our public water systems and bodies of water that affect it.  I know this may be frustrating to some of you who want this gorgeous backyard pond but if it has an inflow or outflow that goes into any other body of water, then the DNR has the right to tell you what you can and cannot do to your pond.  You could get a hefty fine and the company who sells you the product(s) could get fined as well.  In this case, there may be some other less invasive things you could do to control the algae which may include using the proper size of aerator and using our Pond Bio-Solutions which is an all-natural product and is not a 'chemical'.  The combination of the 2 will help to break down the organic nutrients in your pond that is feeding and causing the algae to bloom.  These nutrients also provide nutrition to the pond weeds and make them grow abundantly. 

If your pond has either an inflow or an outflow of water going into another body of water what you need to do is contact your local DNR to see what you can do.  They may allow you to pull some of the pond weeds with a lake rake or use a certain chemical, depending on the situation.  Each pond will have a case by case basis.  They may be able to let you do something to treat your pond and they may not.  Contact them to find out.  They should be in your local telephone book.

After you've found out what you can do and if you can use some herbicides or algaecides, you can find our selection here.  On that page there is an informational chart that lists different products and what pond weeds they treat. 

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.