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Healthy pond with trees and mountains in background.

How to Keep Your Pond Healthy

Overview

Knowing the right time to begin treating your pond is half the battle to having a balanced pond ecosystem. Of course, each situation is unique, but there are guidelines as to what should be done and when. Having the knowledge to properly care for your pond will make the treatment process streamlined and simple.

Pond Health: 3 Components

There are three categories to keep in mind when thinking about how to keep a pond healthy: physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Physical characteristics of a pond ecosystem include the size, depth, appearance, turbidity (murkiness), color, and density, among others. The amount of dissolved oxygen, pH, nutrient concentration, hardness, alkalinity, and salinity are all chemical features of a pond. Finally, the biological characteristics of water are comprised of the number of bacteria, protozoa, viruses, worms, and fungi present.

Like a three-legged stool, if all these parts balance out, it will be a very strong and successful environment. If one aspect is off slightly, the stool will wobble but not tip over. If one category is quite off balance, it will throw the other categories off balance as well and the stool will tip over completely. While you don’t need to know exact numbers within each category, it is important to know what a healthy balance of physical, chemical, and biological characteristics looks like in your pond. This way, you can take action as soon as one category goes slightly off balance.

Variables

There are a few variables that factor into water care decisions, including physical characteristics, potential problems, and your goals.

Physical Characteristics

  • What features are around your body of water? Trees? Which types? Buildings/homes? Bushes? Fields? What kind?
  • What is in the water? Fish, turtles, weeds?
  • Is the water clear or murky?
  • Is it fresh, brackish, or salt water?
  • What is at the bottom of the water? Silt, muck, sand, weeds?
  • What is the surface area of the water? How big is the area you are focused on?
  • How deep is the water on average?

Potential Problems

  • Pond weeds: native, non-native, submerged, floating, emergent. What’s in the neighboring areas?
  • Algae: is the water nutrient-rich to support algae growth?
  • Runoff containing excess nutrients

Goals

  • For the water body (short and long term)
  • Management time commitment
  • Budget

Ask the Right Questions

Before jumping into a pond balance treatment, it is important to create a realistic plan with parameters to ensure success. Below are some key questions to ask yourself. It’s a good idea to write the answers down so that you remember and stick to them once you begin discussing options. It is okay for plans and goals to change, but having a strong starting point will make you feel more comfortable and confident in future plans.

  • What are your pond goals? Short term and long term?
  • What are your realistic expectations? In what timeframe?
  • What is your budget?
  • How often do you plan to work on maintaining the area (time commitment)?
  • What limitations are in place (physical, financial, environmental, regulatory)?
  • What concerns do you have about use restrictions on products (swimming, fish consumption, irrigation)?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’re ready to begin formulating a treatment plan. Call our product specialists at 763-428-9777 (option 2) to help you get going.

Nutrient Reducers

Many pond owners wish they could prevent algae growth in the first place. Algae is a natural part of pond ecosystems; using nutrient reducers can improve the chemical characteristics of your pond for more balanced plant growth. Here are some quick notes about our products that can help:

  • PhosControl: Reduces phosphorus and clarifies water. Bonds with phosphorus, making it unavailable to aquatic plants and algae. Apply in any water temperatures, twice per year – spring and fall. Best applied when plants are dormant.
  • SparKlear: Bacteria and enzymes that will digest organic sediment and nutrients in the water column. Results ongoing. Apply every two to four weeks when air temperature is between 50˚  F and 90° F.
  • MuckMaid: Bacteria and enzymes that will eat one to three inches of muck per treatment. Apply every two to four weeks when air temperature is between 50˚ F and 90° F.
  • Pond dye: Highly concentrated, food-grade, natural dye that filters sunlight. Apply early in the spring then as needed throughout the season, usually every 30-60 days.

Algaecides

Algae will always be a part of your pond. Small amounts of it help balance the ecosystem, but too much can throw it off and cause problems. The key is to treat early and often when dealing with algae to ensure that overgrowth of algae doesn’t throw the pond out of balance. Most algae species begin to grow as the water temperature reaches 60°F, which is also when you may begin using an algaecide for ponds.  Typically, it is recommended to use a copper based algaecide such as Mizzen to treat any types of algae growth. However, if you have trout, koi, or channel catfish, you may consider using Cape Furl instead, as these fish are copper-sensitive.

Herbicides

Floating or submerged, aquatic plants grow in just about every water body on our planet. Herbicides such as Dibrox can be used to kill pond weeds. It is typically best to treat aquatic weeds when the water reaches 60°F or warmer and the weeds are actively growing. Treating when the weeds have barely begun to sprout is not ideal because herbicides need to be absorbed through the parts of the plants they come in contact with. More plant material present will result in more herbicide absorbed. Retreatment is recommended as the weeds grow back, which is typically about 4-6 weeks after dying off for submerged weeds and may be as soon as 7-10 days for floating weeds.

Balancing Pond Water

pH levels in ponds can directly affect the effectiveness of herbicides used for treatment. For example, flumioxazin works best when there is a low pH level in pond water. Water hardness is also closely associated with pH. Typically, harder water has a higher pH, which can lower herbicide effectiveness.

When weed growth is excessive, aquatic herbicides may be used to control plants. Aquatic plants are healthy for water quality and microorganism habitats. However, too much plant growth can be detrimental to the health, aesthetics, and recreational use of your pond. Specifically, floating plants can be good for the pond when covering up to 15% of the pond but are harmful when covering 50% or more.

High Ammonia Levels

Fish can also throw a pond out of balance. Ammonia is a by-product of fish waste, which plants use to grow, so high levels of ammonia support high levels of plant growth. Each pond has a fish holding capacity; always work with your hatchery if you are making a fish pond to ensure you do not exceed your water body’s capacity. Be sure to contact professionals for more help with how to keep a fish pond healthy.

Conclusion

Treating a pond will always be an undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be a hassle. Knowing the characteristics of your pond as well as your goals and potential problems will aid in your pond treatment. It’s important to know your water body and care for it routinely to maintain a safe, healthy environment for the water, yourself and others, and surrounding wildlife. Asking questions and consulting experts can help you achieve healthy pond water balance and smooth out the process of treatment. Stop by, give us a call, or send us an email and we’d be happy to create a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to your pond.