Pond Maintenance

Being a company that gives advice about pond we use the phrase pond maintenance a lot, however the phrase is a bit vague.  What is pond maintenance anyways?  Pond maintenance is a term that technically includes any step you take to keep your pond looking the way you want it to look.  

We are going to break down the phrase “pond maintenance” a bit more so you can know exactly what we consider pond maintenance. 

The first list is preventative pond maintenance steps.  These are steps you should take at least one time a month before you ever have a problem with your pond.

1. Using a pond dye like Crystal Blue to color your water all year long.
2. Using beneficial pond bacteria such as Natural Pond Cleaner to maintain muck on the pond floor, fertilizer runoff, and excess nitrogen and phosphorous.
3. Monitor your pond closely.  Make it a habit to walk around your pond once a week to inspect any new growth, significant change in water color/clarity, do you have dead fish.

The next pond maintenance steps are considered curative.  This means you have a problem growth that your preventative pond maintenance steps cannot control so you have to find a cure for the problem.

1. Identify your growth.  Is the growth a weed that grows submerged under the water or is the weed an emerged weed growing up out of the water?  Is the growth large algae mats or chara algae that looks like a weed?
2. Once you have identified your growth get a product that is meant to control that type of weed or algae.  For example, use Crystal Plex algaecide to control/kill algae.  These are usually EPA regulated and will have specific treatment application instructions.
3. Monitor your pond closely.  Once you have treated your growth, keep an eye on the change it should be going through.  Your growth should change color; that is the first indicator that it is killing the growth.

The most neglected step in both preventative and curative pond maintenance is probably the third step.  Monitoring your pond is the best way to prevent a massive algae/weed bloom and prevent a fish kill.

For more information on pond maintenance contact Sanco.