Ponds are a great way to make the most of
your garden and add a great feature to it. It is well known that
water, especially running water, has a relaxing and therapeutic effect
but with all these wonderful benefits ponds can also have some
problems.
We won't try to address all the problems you might run into with a
pond but we will try to help with your problems specific to water. |
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Symptom: Dirty/Cloudy pond water from dropped leafs and algae
Diagnosis:
The biggest problems for most ponds are leaf debris and a
proliferation of algae. If vegetation falls into the pond water and
decays the process of decay uses the oxygen in the water and releases
carbon dioxide. This means that if large quantities of vegetation
enter your pond then enough oxygen can be removed to cause the pond's
wildlife to suffocate.
Algae is also caused by decaying vegetation, the reason for this is
the nitrogen which is released during the decay process is soluble in
the pond water. Nitrogen is a nutrient that is essential for plant
growth and if there is a lot of it the water then it will normally
result in algal bloom.
Cure:
To combat these problems you can take a number of steps. One of the
first things you should do is consider fitting a net if there are a
lot of leaves getting in to your pond water and take care to remove
the leaves at regular intervals especially during autumn. You should
also consider fitting a fountain to your pond this will help to put
oxygen back into the water. Be careful to ensure the pump is not
clogged up by the debris in the pond if it is in a bad state when you
fit the fountain.
You may also like to look into more natural methods of increasing the
oxygen content of your pond and introducing plants like Elodea
Canadensis and Potamogeton Crispus during April or early May which can
help to compensate for the oxygen lost during decomposition of the
debris in to pond water.
For combating the proliferation of algae you can either look in to a
UV filter solution which is good for the long term but if you have
time to spend on your pond you could also remove some of the decaying
vegetation from the base of the pond, taking care not to accidentally
discard any good organisms like frogs and snails.
Symptom: Green pond water and blanketweed
Diagnosis:
As with algae green pond water and blanket weed can occur in new
ponds when most of the water has come from the tap and is high in
nutrients like phosphates and nitrates.
Cure:
To combat these problems you can take mainly the same methods as
above; biological filter can also be used to combat blanket weed and a
UV filter can be used to combat green water effectively. Of course
applying netting to the pond's water and clearing debris will also
help to reduce the nitrogen content. It is also important not to put
too much tap water in the pond's water system. |
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