A plant that blooms in May will eat a different kind than one that blooms in September. A blue flower will chow down on one, and a pink flower yet another. An iris will suck up one kind, and a lily will consume another. While some amount of string algae is normal for a healthy pond, you can keep it controlled by adding a wider variety of plants to your water. Different types of plants will eat different kinds of nitrates. These nitrates feed a different kind of algae: that stringy, fuzzy stuff that clings on to your rocks. Remember, when bacteria eat algae-enabling nitrites, they produce nitrates. “It sounds like this bacteria stuff will solve all my water woes!” If you must give your rocks a bath, remove debris and gunk as gently as possible and rinse them with water from the pond instead of a hose. This ecosystem is so complicated that we can never replicate it with chemicals, so we never want to scrub or pressure wash rocks or anything else in the pond to the point where we get rid of that ecosystem entirely. Washing your rocks will remove pieces of the ecosystem that your pond has spent so long building up. There’s a big difference, however, between pulling up a few handfuls of gunk and dragging out a pressure washer. You can give your pond a head start on algae control by physically removing string algae from your rocks. More bacteria means happier fish and clear water. Gravel, in addition to looking nice and adding traction on top of slippery liner, gives bacteria even more nooks and crannies where it can grow. We also recommend building your pond with gravel on the bottom. Having a large-enough biofilter will help those all-important bacteria to thrive. And anything that makes your bacteria happy will make your pond happy.īiofilters/Biofalls are essentially tanks filled with nooks and crannies – in the form of Bioballs, lava rock or anything else with lots of surface area – where bacteria can reproduce. Add plenty of beneficial bacteriaīiofilters are a kind of party spot for those algae-starving bacteria. Once algae sets up residence in your pond, you have two options: kill it with chemicals or starve it by removing the nitrites and nitrates. Other bacteria break down these nitrites into something called nitrates, which feed string algae. Single-cell algae lives off of the nitrites that build up in your pond when bacteria break down harmful ammonia.
Pond owners typically worry about two types of algae: the single-cell kind that turns your water green, and the stringy stuff that hangs off your rocks. So let’s start with a primer on how exactly algae ends up in your pond in the first place.
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It’s a living, breathing ecosystem full of fish, plants, bacteria and other life that you probably can’t even see.Įducating yourself about how all of these elements interact can go a long way toward achieving the crystal-clear water you need. Your pond isn’t just a a beautiful relaxing place to hang out with friends.
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The good news is you can keep your water clear relatively easily – and without using harsh chemicals.Īt a Glance: How to Keep Pond Water Clear The bad news is there are many possible disruptions to your pond’s ecosystem that can tint that beautiful water an unsightly green or brown. Most American pond owners, however, prefer the aesthetics of crystal-clear water so they can see and enjoy their beautiful fish. sometimes even embrace the natural beauty of an emerald-colored pond. Every pond can and should have at least a little algae in it- it is an ecosystem, after all, not a swimming pool. It usually won’t hurt your fish unless it grows to extreme volumes. It’s only there because it’s nature’s way of dealing with excess nutrients.
The first thing to understand is that it’s not really your water that is green … what you’re actually looking at is millions of single-cell algae swimming in the water. You see only vague outlines of your fish through the haze … sort of. Suddenly your pond is a massacre of green water and stringy gunk hanging off your rocks. Now, you just want to put up your feet and watch the koi flit around their crystal-clear water.But the water isn’t clear. You’ve put a lot of time into building your backyard pond.
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