Clear turbid pond water ☘ Tips for clear water ✓

In turbid pond water there can be big differences, although the water looks the same at first sight. When refilling the pond water, a distinction is made between ground water, spring water, drinking water known as tap water or rainwater.

Garden ponds, swimming ponds & natural pools have many inhabitants. The interaction of water quality, temperatures, nutrients, animals, plants and microorganisms play a decisive role for the turbid pond water.

At first sight it is difficult to identify the reason for algae growth. Therefore it is all the more important to know the processes of natural ponds in order to identify the cause of algae growth.

Depending on the type of algae, the pond water turns green or brown. Algae growth is favoured by nutrient inputs into the pond, e.g. by rainwater from the lawn with fertiliser (containing phosphates), fish food, pergola input, pollen, underwater plants that rot or by birds. Even from unwashed stones, gravel or substrate, nutrients can leak out long-term.

Plankton, animal or plant single-cell or multicellular organisms are the first living creatures to develop in the pond. These float on the water surface. A distinction is made between phytoplankton (floating algae) and zooplankton (animal organisms). Phytoplankton or floating algae are microscopically small algae. Due to their explosive growth they turn the pond water green.

Zooplankton are animal organisms which float freely in the water, such as paramecium, water fleas, small crabs, larvae, dragonfly larvae. These in turn are eaten as food by fish, mosquito larvae, yellow blight beetles, furrow swimmers, jugglers, bouncing beetles, mosquito larvae, tadpoles, piston water beetles, back swimmers, whirligig beetles, water beetles, water striders, water fleas (Daphnia), and many more.

If algae group together in tufts or filaments, these are multicellular green algae or thread algae. The algae bundle nutrients, mainly phosphates from the pond water.

Preventive measures for clear pond water

•    Pond maintenance: suction removal of mud and sediments
•    Reduce the phosphate content in the water by removing leaves, algae, nets or sucking them in with a mud vacuum
•    Reduce nutrient inputs, such as dust, pollen, rain, nutrient-poor refill water, too many bathing guests
•    Use refill water below 0.03 mg / per litre phosphorus content (PO4)*
•    Natural click tones against algae formation with G-Sonic algae destroyer
•    EM Effective microorganisms, filter bacteria, starter bacteria and water fleas feed on algae, available in garden centres
•    Newts and water snails eat the algae from the stones or tadpoles find many nutrients in the algae and clean the pond really well
•    Large areas of nutrient-drawing waterplants, such as Indian calamus, cattail, pikeweed, also take food from the algae
•    Further tips to successfully combat algae in the pond

* In case of high phosphate values (PO4) in the refill water (e.g. well water, ground water, tap water) phosphates can be bundled with a chemical phosphatbinder and is only recommended when refilling or replenishing, not for the duration.

Chemicals destroy the biological household in the pond, as well as UV lamps destroy the vital microorganisms, especially if the UV-C lamps, disinfection is too strong for the pond.

Sediments at the bottom of the pond are created by the many dead algae, leaves, branches, which sink to the bottom of the pond as organic material. These are slowly decomposed by micro-organisms, whereby oxygen is withdrawn from the pond, until eutrophication, tipping over of the pond. This is called the death of many living organisms, which causes a long lasting disturbance of the ecological balance.

Conclusion: In order to break the vicious circle it is important to understand the ecosystem in the garden pond, the natural structure and the preservation of ecology in the pond. Algae agents, algae destroying chemicals often have a fatal effect and only make the pond look beautiful for a short period of time. When cleaning the pond, special attention should be paid to the type of water that is refilled.