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I don’t think it will come as any great surprise to those of you reading this, but the truth is, most people wait until pond algae is well underway before they do anything about it. I’m not being critical, I’m just sharing an observation. And I understand.
First of all, algae can grow quickly when conditions are ripe for it. Warm and sunny days are what you want when you’re growing something green. Then too, algae in a pond comes on as an unwanted annoyance and it’s a pain in the behind to deal with sometimes. And people generally, to their credit I think, tend to put off or resist the temptation to use a chemical in their pond.
Not everyone feels this way of course as some folks will use algaecides liberally, but many pond owners aren’t as comfortable with them as they used to be. I kind of hang more with the second crowd. And the longer I do this algae control thing (going on almost a decade now) the more I’ve learned that chemicals just aren’t the answer to everything.
There is no question in my mind, that most ponds will do fine without them for the most part. The key though is to be proactive in managing the pond. And I’m talking about both large and small one’s here…all of them deserve some degree of attention.
Since most of our “anti-algae” work is done using tools like aeration and beneficial bacteria supplementation, it’s normally a good idea to get these things going early in the season before algae shows up or get’s way out of hand. It just makes sense that the sooner you start lowering excess nutrients in the water, the more likely it will be that you’ll hinder any new algae growth.
If muck and sludge build up is heavy in a pond, there’s no way this stuff is doing anything good for the pond. Opportunistic weeds take root, and algae feeds off the release of nutrients from this “compost”. So ideally a plan that starts early in the season, and includes muck degrading bacteria, will go along way to cleaning up a pond over time.
In a smaller pond, part of our work against green growth may involve fish loading and population management. Or adding desired plants as soon as you can in the spring. Or doing a few partial water changes in the spring just to see if you can clear up a little bit of green water before it turns to soup.
Take note of the fact that all these things are proactive and not so much reactive. In some things, it’s been said that prevention is a lot easier than a cure and to an extent I guess you could say that about algae. By the same token, if algae does get a jump on your this season, don’t fret too much yet. You don’t have to follow the old and outdated plan of using a chemical to kill it.
You see, the same, good, wholistic processes of managing a pond that we teach here, will help to create an environment where algae can’t thrive and it will often regress. By “regress” I mean it goes away, often completely.
People sometimes find this hard to believe until they see it. But it happens quite naturally I’m thankful to say.
For additional information on bullet proofing your pond against algae, listen in, or download my anti-algae audio seminar.
And if you’ve had success in preventing algae without using chemicals, please feel free to share your experiences below!
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Large pond, approximately 1/2 acre diameter. What mixture of fertilizer do you suggest for grass around pond? There is a slope down to the pond, so how far back from the slope do you recommending applying this formula? I’m exhausted every year hauling loads of algae out of the pond!!
I have a pond that was built 6 years ago, bounded on one long side with trees. After a couple years, I have had algae problems that got each year worse. The chemical kill frequency kept getting higher to try and control the algae. Last year I switched completely to bacteria, aeration, etc. and by the end of last year saw a significant improvement. Had quite a bit of muck build-up from the trees so used the muck eliminator pellets last year, again my pond late last summer looked the best in water clarity and significantly reduced green algae and bottom algae. I have already started the polar bacteria as soon as the the pond temperature was appropriate with aeration. Though very early, we have had a week or so of 70-80 F weather, my pond looks so much better than in years past. I am really excited to see how it looks through this summer with the bacteria control. I am sold on this approach even just after a year…..
Bob Fallon
Bob…thank you for your comments. You are doing many things right and turning the pond around…good for you and well done!
Hi…may I be perfectly honest? I wouldn’t put fertilizer around the pond that may wash into it, unless you absolutely feel you have to. I’m not aware of any fertilizer that’s intending to help grass grow, that won’t help algae grow too if it get’s in the water, and this is a common problem on golf courses that are fertilized heavily, then a rain comes in and you have an algae bloom pop up. It’s all related.
In a sense, if you’re dead set on fertilization, there’s only one way to offset it and that’s with beneficial bacteria which we talk alot about on this site. As Bob mentioned above, when you combine aeration and good bacteria, you naturally reduce nutrients that algae feeds on and it often will regress.
To me though, you’re spending money to make the grass look good and then spending money to stop the algae…my first thought is to reduce the grass treatments and see how things work out first.