Green Pond Water: Causes and Countermeasures
Pond water turning green in spring is almost inevitable. The clouding of the water in the pond is caused by floating algae. This is no cause for alarm as such. Nevertheless, pond owners should counteract the excessive growth of algae, as otherwise the sensitive ecosystem in the pond can become imbalanced. In the following, we explain how you should best proceed.
Green pond water – the main points at a glance
- The culprits for pond water turning green in spring are floating algae.
- Pond owners should take countermeasures promptly, as the algae problem will otherwise continue to worsen.
- In addition to eliminating floating algae that are already present, reducing the nutrient content in the water is particularly important to prevent further algae growth.
- In the Aquaris range you will find suitable pond care products with which you can counteract green pond water.
Where does the green pond water come from?
It is quite normal for the water in the garden pond to turn green in spring. When the temperatures rise, the algae in the pond absorb the nutrients in the water and start to grow. The inevitable consequence is the pond water turning green.
However, it does generally not take long for the regular aquatic plants to start growing again after the winter break. These reduce the amount of nutrients in the water. With a bit of luck, this will prevent excessive growth of floating algae and the pond water won't become too cloudy.
Dangers of excessive algae growth
Unfortunately, there is a risk that the floating algae will increase and thus the green discolouration of the pond water will intensify over time. This is the case when there are too many nutrients in the pond water, which leads to the algae growing excessively.
The nutrients can enter the pond from an external source, but they can also originate from dead aquatic plants and algae at the bottom of the tank.
The more floating algae that form, the more dead algae can accumulate on the bottom of the pond and become available as nutrients for further algae growth in the following spring. Without suitable countermeasures, the problem with green pond water caused by floating algae will continue to worsen.
Clarifying green pond water
If your pond is experiencing excessive algae growth, it is important that you treat the water as soon as possible. Otherwise there is the risk of the sensitive ecosystem becoming imbalanced, which ultimately also harms the fish in the garden pond.
Ideally, pond owners should use a combination of a suitably equipped filter system and suitable pond care products. A UVC clarifier integrated into the pond filter can kill the floating algae so that they can then be absorbed by the filter material.
Chemical-free algae removers also kill the algae in the pond, so that they can be filtered out of the water by the pond filter. In addition, the phosphate content in the pond can be reduced with a phosphate binder. In this way, the algae lack nutrients, causing them to starve and die.
Please bear in mind that algae removers as well as phosphate binders only counteract already existing problems with floating algae and green pond water. However, they do not help to eliminate the underlying cause.
Preventing green pond water
In order to avoid the excessive growth of floating algae and the associated green pond water, it is necessary to prevent an oversupply of nutrients in the garden pond.
One factor that many pond owners fail to consider in this context is nutrients that enter the pond from the surrounding environment. Above all, fertilizers from flowerbeds or vegetable patches cause considerable problems. Even small amounts can contribute to the excessive proliferation of floating algae. To prevent this, it is important to effectively isolate the garden pond from lawns and beds.
In addition, it is beneficial to provide shade to prevent the pond water from heating up too much. For this purpose, an awning could be stretched over the pond or floating leaf plants could be placed in the water.
Apart from that, it makes sense to remove already existing nutrients from the garden pond. To this end, pond owners should regularly remove the pond sludge. By doing this every year, it is possible to avoid an oversupply of nutrients being available for the unhindered growth of floating algae.
Acquiring certain aquatic plants is another way to reduce algae growth and thus prevent the pond water from turning green. Pond plants, such as waterweed and hornbill, grow very quickly, which means that they remove nutrients from the pond water so that they are not available to the floating algae.
Aquaris pond care products to eliminate green pond water
In the Aquaris range you will find chemical-free solutions for pond care, with which you can effectively counteract algae and green pond water.
For example, use Aquaris POND Mud EX to remove pond sludge from your garden pond and Aquaris POND Algo Stop to reliably eliminate algae.
Green pond water – our conclusion
As you can see, green pond water can be managed relatively easily with the right measures. The pond care products from Aquaris can help you effectively and make a decisive contribution to ensuring that you can enjoy your lovingly designed garden pond for a long time to come.