As winter fades and spring arrives, the challenge of pesky pond algae resurfaces. Keeping your pond healthy year-round and using nature-friendly methods to restore balance is the best way to greatly reduce algae outbreaks in your lakes, ponds, and stormwater basins and dams. Here are some easy and effective ways to control algae, ensuring beautiful and thriving water bodies in your community:
Watch Nutrient Levels: A successful plan to control algae is about reducing the nutrients in the water that cause unwanted growth. Avoid letting nutrient-rich materials like grass clippings, leaves, and fertilizers enter your water. Limit mowing near the pond and plant helpful vegetation along the edges. Plants like gasses, flaxes or shrubs not only look good but also help absorb nutrients.
Go Natural: Boost pond health with natural helpers. Using natural microbes and enzymes can really improve water quality. By adding these tiny organisms, you can reduce nutrient buildup and take away the main food source for algae.
Lock Up Phosphorus: Phosphorus is a key nutrient for algae. To stop algae from taking over, use a special product called REGEN-Clarify. It traps phosphorus in the pond’s sediment, making it hard for algae to use it as food.
Pond Aeration: One of the best practices for helping to maintain your water and prevent the accumulation of nutrients that could lead to excessive algae is to install and continuously run a submersed air diffuser or floating surface pond aeration system. Aerators increase dissolved oxygen in the water, which in turn supports and encourages the growth of beneficial aerobic bacteria. These beneficial bacteria break down organic matter and consume excess nutrients which helps to balance and improve water quality and reduce algae blooms. The benefits of aeration to a lake or pond are higher at night, so running your aeration continuously is highly recommended.
Remember, all these ideas use natural methods and products that won’t hurt the water or its inhabitants. If you still see too much algae, you can use special treatments to clear it up. But after that, make sure to stick to a yearly plan to keep things in balance. Otherwise, you might end up with algae trouble again, and that’s a cycle we want to break!