Using Nutrient Reducers to Help Slow Down Algae Growth
If you are like most people with a pond, you may be in a constant battle with algae and pond weed growth during the warmer months of the year. This is because aquatic plants thrive in warm weather and the conditions that it brings to your pond.
Lack of water movement can create a buildup of gases in the water caused by decaying leaves and algae that don’t have a chance to be exchanged back into the air. Runoff from lawn fertilizer or farm fields could also cause an abundance of nutrients in the water that only fuels algae and weed growth.
So what are some things you can do to control and reduce the amount of built up organic matter and excess nutrients in your pond?
Nutrient Reducers:
Lake Restoration offers two nutrient reducers specific for ponds, SparKlear® and PhosControl®.
SparKlear contains bacteria and enzymes that work in your pond to break up organic matter (such as muck, grass, algae, and dead and decaying weeds and leaves). While reducing the amount of organic matter in your pond that algae feeds from, it also improves water clarity in you pond.
SparKlear comes in many sizes, both liquid and pellets. We recommend treating once a month with this product. Try applying liquid SparKlear with the TORMADA® remote control application boat!
PhosControl works by using aluminum sulfate to bind with phosphorus in your water. Phosphorus is another nutrient aquatic weeds and algae like (phosphorus can be from farm field or lawn fertilizer runoff). Without excess phosphorus in your water, weed and algae reproduction will slow down. Just one pound of phosphorus can produce 500 pounds of aquatic plant and algae growth, so making sure phosphorus isn’t in your water could be the key to successful aquatic weed and algae management.
1 pound of PhosControl will cover 2,000 square feet. Larger sizes are available. PhosControl comes in fine granules (nearly a powder) that can be broadcast across the pond twice a year: spring and fall, when plants and algae are dormant.
Keep Organic Debris from Getting in Your Pond:
You can reduce the amount of organic matter buildup in your pond by keeping things like weeds and grass clippings out of your pond. These grass clippings and weeds create food for algae.
Overall Solution:
If you are using an algaecide, you should also be using a nutrient reducer to help prevent prime algae conditions. We recommend using the following products to treat weeds and algae and reduce nutrients:
Dibrox® Herbicide: for submerged and floating weeds
Mizzen® Algaecide: for existing algae
SparKlear®: to reduce nutrients and clarify water
Sapphire Bay® Blue Pond Dye: for a pleasing blue color