A completely green pond is a common phenomenon in the warmer half of the year, to the chagrin of many pond owners. This is usually due to excessive algae formation. However, it can be limited by certain preventive measures.
Algae make pond water appear green
Causes of green pond water
A green pond is the result of good algae management. The fine water plants inevitably form in every garden pond and are initially nothing bad. A moderate amount of algae regulates itself naturally and hardly affects the appearance of the pond. However, it becomes problematic when there is excessive proliferation, the so-called algal bloom, and the pond "tips over". What algae need for their development is:
- water
- Sun
- nutrient
It is difficult to switch off the water factor in a garden pond. On the other hand, you can at least limit the solar radiation that heats up the water - simply by choosing the location of the pond and by shading plants in the vicinity.
However, these also bring algae-promoting nutrients into the pond. About by:
- Blown leaves
- pollen
- Flooded bed soil
If you keep fish in your garden pond, their droppings and any excess feed can also unfavorably increase the content of nutrients, especially phosphate and nitrogen.
countermeasures
In order to avoid green water in the pond, you should regularly remove organic material that has been blown in and washed in from the water with the skimmer. You should remove the layer of sludge that collects at the bottom of the pond, consumes oxygen and releases nutrients from time to time with a pond sludge vacuum cleaner, especially after an algal bloom with thread algae.
Algae killers and UVC lamps, which clump together the algae material and make it easier to remove, bring acute help, but only in the short term.
You can also replace the entire pond water, but you must ensure that the new water is of good quality and avoid introducing new impurities.