The Secret for a Clear Pond
Fellow pond and water gardeners around the world sometimes struggle to achieve water clarity. Their pools of water have turned into pea soup or has become infested with algae. The battle never seems to end and they can’t seem to find a light at the end of the tunnel. Chemicals are brought in and while they sometimes temporarily help, often times they make the situation worse. So what is the secret for having a clear pond? Well, its simply “patience, education, and nature.” Yes, that is correct! Think back of why you first desired a water garden. Perhaps it was a place to unwind after a long day of work or maybe it was a perfect addition to your backyard. The sound of water trickling–feeding fish–even the sights of nature: birds, bees, and butterflies. Lets not forget dragonflies and damselflies. Water gardens can be thought of as a micro ecosystem in your yard. They need a balance or they won’t be appealing. The path to correcting your troubles begins here…
The two most popular forms of algae that cause problems in ponds are pea soup (green water) and string algae. Rather than bore you with fine details, just understand that these particular types of algae feed off excess nutrients. These can come from your water source directly, excess feeding, an overstocked pond, etc… If your algae is a result of your habits such as overfeeding then you must immediately cut back food portions; if it is a result of an overstocked pond, you must either add significantly more filtration or keep your best fish and locate new homes for the others. If you have been using chemicals such as algaecides, you must immediately stop and set them aside.
Green water algae and string algae can be corrected in the same way. The only difference when following this guide is that you will need to remove the string algae daily until it is minimal or nonexistant. Green water can be corrected with 60-70% surface coverage. Ideal candidates for this job would be tropical water lilies. You’ll also need submerged plants. Some people refer to them as oxygenators but we find this misleading because while they do produce oxygen during the day, at night time they consume oxygen in the water! We also recommend marginal/bog plants that are planted in containers with holes at the bottom (the roots will eventually find their way out the bottom and they will filter your water biologically). You may also consider adding lily-like aquatics–these plants grow similarly to water lilies and they also have surface foliage that aids in providing shade. You will also need some floating plants as well. Floating plants: Duckweed, Water Hyacinth, Azolla (Fairy Moss), Water Lettuce
We recommend plants that are easily accessible to you. For example: we maintain a high plant stock of tropical water lilies as that is the business that we are in but we can acquire hornwort and anacharis from the local pet store. As for najas grass, it is traditionally used in aquariums but it is a native plant to Florida. We also use duckweed which doubles as fish food.
About Algae
The Solution
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Filed under: Ponds, Water Gardens
