There are days I can probably sound like a broken record. If you’ve watched any of our videos or read through my articles here, you’ll no doubt remember that I have often said that pond aeration can help with algae problems. In fact, aeration is the first place we often look when we’re trying to improve a pond’s condition.
The other main point I often make is that chemicals, and particularly algaecides should be reserved as a last resort sort of thing. They are often not needed or required to turn a pond around and end an algae bloom.
And the story I’m about to share is a good case in point.
One of our customers, Rod Abbott, lives in Kansas. He ordered an aerator for his pond after watching algae finally cover the surface from end to end. Rod had never treated the pond with any kind of chemical and so there was a hope that by adding aeration, some naturally occurring bacteria might be stimulated and start to lower nutrients that are feeding this algae bloom.
As I’ve noted before, one of the problems with using a copper based algaecide in a pond is that copper not only kills algae, but it also destroys a lot of good bacteria in the process too. These little microbes can be the key to keeping a pond in great shape, and they need to be abundant and healthy. Since they’re mostly aerobic, they need good dissolved oxygen levels to function well.
And sometimes, when oxygen levels rise, these tiny little things can do some miraculous work.
Rod was kind enough to keep track of his pond’s progress and below you’ll see how bad the pond was to begin with. It’s covered with some pretty dense and heavy filamentous algae. Keep scrolling down the page and you’ll see what happened within 10 days of adding the aerator.
Before The Aerator Installation
10 Days After Adding The Aerator
Nice huh? But this shouldn’t come has a huge surprise. Of course this may not happen in every pond right away, but biologically it makes sense. Give the microbes what they need and if they are present in enough volume, they can begin working to clean up a pond almost immediately.
This is why we always start with pond aeration. If it’s present already, that’s great. But if it’s not, it’s usually one of the main tools that will help turn a pond around. It will help with water quality and pond health, as well as fish health and vitality. And there are few things that can do so much for a pond so quickly!
Thank you Rod for sending along the pictures and sharing your experience! Keep up the great work!