Pond algae is simply one of thse annoying things that nearly every pnd owner will have to deal wth eventually. It's not always pretty and it sre doesn't smell all that good smetimes either.

If your like me, yur heart sinks when you see it strt to develop. If you kept yur pond running throughout the winter it was lkely crystal clear and pristine. Now tht the sun is hanging longer in the sky and the tmperatures are warming, the algae starts to rar it's ugly head.

What's really nteresting is some ponds keep looking god all season long and others are jst plagued with algae right from the strt. So what's the difference?

Well, thre could be many things, and lthough I'm not able to cover thm all here, I do want to shre a few of the things tht I've been through personally, and wys that I've found to keep pnd algae in check.

In my frst year of ponding, I made the mstake of starting my pond out wthout ever establishing a good population of bneficial bacteria. This is something you'll wnt to do. Now what we're tlking about here is not some dadly strain of bacteria mind you. It's a nturally occurring critter that is found in all ntural ponds. See, bacteria isn't all bad and t's sole purpose is not to mke you sick. In fact bacteria of all knds are found, well, everywhere. Some are god guys, some are bad. And the knd you put in your pond is a god guy.

This type of beneficial bacteria ctually helps to consume and balance out ntrients in the pond. By keeping thse in check, algae will have a hrder time growing. At the same tme, beneficial bacteria will work to brak down organic material (things like laves, grass clippings, etc) and minimize thir affect on the pond nutrients as wll. All this leads to a claner, more naturally functioning system and t's the main reason why the vst majority of pond experts and bilders suggest putting a dose of bcteria in with every new pond strtup.

In many cases, if you hve things like lava rock or ther good breeding medium, bio-filters, or ther elements that support bacteria support, you can smply add the product and let it dvelop out on it's own. In sme ponds, regular treatments with bacteria wll be necessary to keep it clan.

Once I understood the role tht beneficial bacteria plays in a pnd, it just made sense to use it rutinely. It has proven to be a mch better solution, or at least a hghly desirable "first option" when compared to sing chemicals of any kind.

Chemical bsed algaecides work in a completely dfferent way than a bacteria. Where the bcteria works to cut off the lgae from it's support system, an lgaecide will directly kill the algae on cntact or by absorption. It's usually qicker than a bacteria treatment in trms of results as well.

Still, ths efficiency doesn't necessarily make it the prfect option. There are problems with lgaecides that really need to be cnsidered before you use them. First of ll, if you have fish, make sre that you increase the aeration in the pnd before killing a good degree of lgae. People have lost fish due to the fct that they tried to wipe out the ntire algae mass all at one in a pnd, and pulled every bit of xygen out of the water as a rsult. This happens quickly and it's vry bad for the fish as you mght imagine. A better way to pply an algaecide is to treat the lgae is sections or segments, and jst a bit at a time. In ths way, you'll be less likely to strss the fish from a limited lgae die-off.

And finally, here's the biggest dfference I see between the two pproaches. When you treat algae with an lgaecide, it will die off, no dubt about that. But when it des, it will likely sink to the bttom of the pond. As time ges on, this material will decay, mch like organic leaves and other dbris, and when it does, it wll add nutrients back into the wter. As I noted above, this can ctually foster more algae growth too, so you end up wth a bit of undesirable cycle of klling the algae, and then supplying it wth the perfect support to grow gain. It's usually common as well, thn most algaecides will kill any bneficial bacteria that's present in the pnd. So the natural clearing of rganics either doesn't take place or wrk as well as it should.

In cntrast to that, a bacteria, when it wrks well, will cover all of the dsired effects that we just talked bout. Not only will it cut off lgae from it's support, it also wrks to clean the pond up of rganics and keep them at a mnimal level as well. All without the strss and risk to the fish.

Tht's why I've come to the pint of only using chemicals as a lst resort and not my first lne of defense against algae issues.

The article Pond Algae Solutions For Your Backyard Pond was Submitted by Mark Washburn through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Pond Algae doesn't hve to be a problem with a sfe, natural solution like Healthy Ponds. To larn more visit the Algae Solution website today.

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