A pond can be an excellent water source for anyone with a farm or a large property, and if you learn a few simple pond care strategies, your pond maintenance tasks won’t take up a substantial portion of your time.

 

Do You Need A Farm Pond?

If your property doesn’t currently include a farm pond, it can be a great idea to consider installing a pond. Did you know that a one-acre farm pond can irrigate 10 acres of land? Adding a farm pond provides water for irrigation and a source of water for any livestock you may have, and this water source can be far less expensive than purchasing water directly from your local municipality.

 

If you already have a pond or are considering having one installed, here are five pond care tips that can help keep your farm pond (or any pond) in great shape throughout the year.

 

  1. Use Monthly Beneficial Bacteria Treatments

When your pond has too many nutrients, especially nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, this can cause oxygen levels to drop and create the ideal breeding ground for floating green organic matter. One of the best ways to ensure water quality and clarity is through the use of beneficial bacteria. Beneficial bacteria for ponds work by consuming these excess nutrients in your pond.

 

At Healthy Ponds, we have all-natural pond care products that utilize the power of beneficial bacteria. Our AquaSpherePRO® is a monthly treatment option for any type of pond or small lake, including farm ponds, koi ponds, decorative ponds, garden ponds, community ponds and golf course ponds.

 

The AquaSpherePRO® is a biodegradable sphere that you simply toss into your pond. The sphere immediately begins releasing beneficial bacteria and continues to release bacteria for 30 days. After the 30 days are up, you simply toss in new spheres.

 

  1. Install A Source Of Aeration

Standing or non-agitated water can become stagnant water, and then it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests, and stagnant water also has low oxygen levels, which can result in the buildup of floating green organic matter and create toxic conditions for any fish in your pond water, leading to fish kills.

 

By installing an aeration system, you can prevent many common pond problems. Circulating the water in your pond can reduce the water temperature, which is crucial during the warmest months of the year. Aeration also better circulates any beneficial bacteria you put into your pond, ensuring that the bacteria reach all areas of your pond.

 

Proper aeration combined with beneficial bacteria treatments can be your most powerful pond care tools, and they reduce the amount of physical work you need to do to keep your pond healthy.

 

  1. Treat With Additional Beneficial Bacteria As Needed

While the AquaSpherePRO® monthly treatments provide a steady supply of beneficial bacteria to your pond, there are times when additional bacteria treatments are necessary. Our Natural Blast® pond care product can provide you with an easy pond care solution for those times when your pond needs a bacteria boost.

 

For instance, we recommend adding Natural Blast® along with AquaSpherePRO® at the beginning of your warm season to ensure that your pond has a healthy dose of beneficial bacteria to counter the effects of rising water temperatures.

 

Natural Blast® also can be added any time that temperatures suddenly spike or after a large rain event. We also recommend adding Natural Blast® any time you begin to see signs of floating green organic matter in your pond.

 

Our Natural Blast® product is just as easy to use as our AquaSpherePRO®. You simply toss the water-soluble bags into your pond, near aeration if possible, and they will begin releasing beneficial bacteria.

 

As a side note, both the AquaSpherePRO® and Natural Blast® can be good water treatments for any pond with a sludge layer. Sludge is comprised of decaying matter including leaves, animal waste, grass cuttings and other debris and our pond care products consume these excess nutrients, reducing your sludge layer. Using beneficial bacteria also can help prevent a sludge layer from forming.

 

  1. Find Ways To Restrict Runoff & Debris

One of the reasons why ponds develop issues such as the formation of sludge and the buildup of floating green organic matter or pond weeds is that the pond owners have allowed runoff and debris to accumulate in their pond.

 

Runoff from gardens, fields and lawns often contains nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and pesticides. While these chemicals might help your crops or lawn, the excess nutrients they introduce to your pond can upset the balance in your pond ecosystem.

 

Switching to more natural fertilizers and pesticides can be a good option. Our Dr. Connie’s Lawn treatment can improve the root development of your lawn and is suitable for ornamental laws as well as sports and playing fields. With better root development and healthy soil, your lawn cans soak up irrigation water and rainwater, which also prevents runoff into your pond.

 

Bagging up leaves and grass cuttings should be part of your pond management routine, as these bits of debris will sink to the bottom of your pond and create a sludge layer. You can transform the cut grass and leaves into rich compost using a compost accelerator product, such as our Dr. Connie’s Compost.

 

Adding a border with beneficial plants or decorative stone not only enhances the look of your pond, but also reduces the amount of runoff that can enter the pond. These plants or a stone barrier also can prevent shoreline erosion.

 

  1. Mind Your Fish Population

Fish can be a wonderful addition to any pond, but they do require some extra care and you will have to be mindful of the daily water temperature. Oxygen levels drop as the water temperature increases, and this quickly can lead to fish kills.

 

If your fish population is too large, this also can be a problem, as they will produce an excessive amount of waste, leading to the buildup of a sludge layer. A heavy sludge layer also can cause oxygen levels to drop.

 

It’s also important to not overfeed your fish as it can be harmful to the fish, but any food they don’t eat will just end up adding to that sludge layer. We recommend talking with a fishpond expert before stocking your farm pond, koi pond or decorative pond.

 

At Healthy Ponds, we’ve been helping pond owners improve water quality for more than 20 years, and our natural pond care products make pond maintenance as easy as possible. If you have any questions about our products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team. We also offer free, personalized pond treatment plans for any size water feature at https://healthyponds.com/free-pond-plan/.

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Why Choose to Autoship?
  • Automatically re-order your favorite products on your schedule.
  • Easily change the products or shipping date for your upcoming Scheduled Orders.
  • Pause or cancel any time.