How To Clean Pond Water

Clean pond water is a dream of every pond owner. But pond water gets dirty for numerous reasons and every pond owner tries his best to deal with this problem.

If you are one of them, who is struggling to get pond water clean, sit down and relax because, in this article, you will know how to clean pond water step by step.

So hop in.

Table of Contents

Stop Algae Growth

Pond water becomes green due to the excess growth of algae. Pond water may also turn brown if there is a growth of brown algae in your pond. The growth of algae in the pond is affected by some factors. Too much nutrients, excess sunlight and the lack of aeration of the sunlight are the basic reasons in this case.

Leaves that fall from the trees and plants stay on the water surface and rot. These leaves then decompose. They become food for the algae. Also, fertilizers near the pond banks help the algae growth of pond.

On top of that, the lack of aeration will help the algae to grow in abundance. Proper aeration is necessary for the clarity of the water.

There are two types of algae that affect pond water. These algae are helped in their growth by some factors.

The growth of the algae can be seen through the change in pond water color. Pond water turns into green or brown for the excess growth of algae in the pond.

For stopping the algae growth you should take necessary measures to keep the water nice and clean. For this, you can add shade to your pond as too much sunlight causes this problem.

You have to stop the circulation of extra nutrients in the pond. For this, you need to keep the pond clean. Adding household vinegar to the water may come to aid for this purpose.

Alternatively, you can also add algae-eating in fish your pond.

Oxygen levels also have their importance in this case. At lower oxygen levels plants and aquatic animals die and decompose. They become food for algae.

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To stop this you will need proper aeration of the pond. Make sure the pond gets enough oxygen. Try to choose a place where the water will get proper aeration naturally by the wind.

Again you can use some chemicals called algaecides to solve this problem and get your water cleaned quickly. API Pond ALGAEFIX is my number one recommendation for this.

Remove Mud and Clay Particle By Filtration

Excess clay and mud particles may enter the pond from the sides of the bank. This will make the pond water muddy. Quality of water can be at risk because of this.

Again it will not take a whole lot of clay or mud particles to make the water turbid.

In some cases particles that are far away from the pond get into it because of excess rainfall. The rainfall becomes a route for the dirt particles to the pond.

The bottom-feeding fishes also cause the pond water to go murky by suspending the suspended mud and clay of the pond bottom.

Use a good and efficient filter system to reduce the clay and mud particles in your pond, or else they will create turbidity and pollute the water.

For filtration, my first choice is the “CNZ pond filter system with UV sterilizer and pump”. This filtration kit is highly suggested by the experts and can work up to 900 gallons of water containing ponds.

Add Beneficial Bacteria

You can add beneficial bacteria to clean and keep the water clear naturally. In markets, there are two types of beneficial bacteria that you can depend on. The choice will depend on the condition of your pond.

Pond sludge removers have a high concentration of bacteria which breaks down all kinds of waste in your pond. They work just like natural bacteria and microorganisms present in your pond.

Try giving your bacteria population a healthy boost. As they will wipe out as much waste as possible?

For this, you can use natural waterscapes muck remover pellets.

For the wildlife in the pond, you might want to keep the majority of your sludge to provide nutrients to your plants and to feed insects and microorganisms.

For this reason, you can depend on beneficial bacteria for enhancing the natural nitrogen cycle.

Sludge related problems mainly occur in ponds that rockfish. Fish produce ammonia. Too much of it will cause imbalance to your pond.

If there is no fish in your pond just simply add complementary bacteria. Try not to vacuum your pond. This might be cost-effective. And the best solution to cleaning your pond.

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For this, I recommend using Aquascape beneficial bacteria for pond and water features.

This will help to clean the pond water effectively.

Don’t Overfeed Fishes

You should not overfeed the fishes in your pond. Because excess food will decompose and damage the water quality.

When you overfeed, the extra food will remain in the pond and they will decay.

Make sure to feed your fishes only once a day, not more than that. They only can eat 2-3 minutes.

Many pond owners don’t know this and feed their fish whenever they want. As a result, a lot of food is wasted and these excess food decomposes and becomes food for algae. The algae then downgrade the quality of pond water.

To get rid of this problem I recommend you use an automatic fish feeder to serve food in a proper amount on time.

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Properly Maintain Pond Plants

The improper balance of plants can make the pond water brown because of tannin and stain from their rotting leaves. You have to make sure that the leaves from the trees surrounding the pond aren’t falling in the pond. To have clean water you have to maintain the aquatic plants also.

To have a naturally good looking pond, enough number of trees is necessary. But having an extra amount of them will not help that much. Rather it can cause problems.

Don’t think that having extra plants will be very effective. With extra plants, you will have extra leaves. Eventually, these leaves will get into the pond and decompose.

After that these decomposed leaves will become food for algae. This will turn the water green.

Try and have a proper balance of plants for your pond. It is ideal to have two-thirds of the pond water surface covered with aquatic plants of different species.

Also, try to clear the leaves that fall from the plants before they decompose. Also, try to have those types of plants that will be healthy for the pond and the aquatic life within it.

You can plant creeping jenny, pickerel, horsetail, taro, cardinal, water lettuce, mosaic, blue iris, sweet flag, water lilies, etc. in your pond. These plants will help to keep the pond water balanced and clear. But don’t overdo it.

Prevent Wildlife From Entering Pond

Wildlife can be a potential reason for pond water to get murky.

If you want to keep the pond ecologically balanced, you have to make sure that the wildlife doesn’t interfere with the pond water.

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To stop the wildlife from interfering with your pond and making it murky and muddy, you can make a strong barrier around the banks of the pond. For birds like herons, you can use pond nettings.

Properly Clean And Maintain Your Pond

Without proper cleaning and maintenance, you cannot have clean pond water.

You should try to keep a routine for cleaning your pond regularly. Sludge and debris gather and stay at the bottom of the pond. Sometimes, it might be necessary to drain the total water of the pond for cleaning sludge and debris.

These sludge and debris also discolor the pond water and create chemical imbalance.

They are also responsible for algae growth. Because of not cleaning routinely, these things rot in the pond and become food the algae that stay in the pond.

Keeping the pond clean is important for the fishes and the plants in the pond. If not cleaned properly, you may see soon the fishes and the aquatic plants dying in the pond.

For cleaning the pond, you can take different measures. Like –

You can use hydrogen peroxide or barley straw to clean out the pond water.
You can also use a pond vacuum or pump to get the plant debris out of the pond.
Use biofilters to clean the pond water.
Gypsum, pond treatments, and ultraviolet clarifiers can also be used.

Make sure to empty the pond once a year by removing all plants, water, and fish before refilling it again.

Have the Right Proportion of Fish

You should never overpopulate your pond with fish. If you have a koi pond, you can keep one koi fish for every one hundred gallons of water.

For other fish, you can stock up to one inch of fish for each gallon of water.

It is better to have fish of different kinds to maintain a good environment in the pond. Try to stock fish that feed on different levels of the pond water. As a result, they will take natural food from all the levels of the pond and will assist in keeping the water clear. You can also add some algae eating fish to keep the algae growth in control.

Improve Water Characteristics

Knowing the characteristics of the water of your pond is important to keep it clean.

You will have to check pond water quality for different parameters. These parameters are

pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Salinity
Hardness
Dissolved oxygen
Chlorine

For this, you will need to perform different tests.

Unless you know the quality of your water, you will not be able to take the necessary measures to treat it because different water characteristics will need different cleaning measures.

By testing your pond water you will be getting to know what you should do to make it is quality normal again.

Your pond water has to be both clean and chemically sound for the proper life cycle of nature in it.

Don’t have fishes that don’t go with the type of pond you are having. This will destroy the ecology of the pond and water will lose its clarity also.

For the tests, there are lots of renowned kits available in markets. You can have the following kits for testing the quality of pond water –

Pond pH kit
API pond master water test
Dissolved oxygen kit
All-in-1 checker tester

So for the overall betterment and the clarity of pond water performing, different tests are necessary because through these tests you will know what is good and what is bad for the water.

Properly Maintain The Filtration Unit

Filtration is a must for any ponds except the large farm ponds. This unit throws away all the problematic excess particles.

So proper maintenance of the filtration unit is a must. If you find a problem in the filter and can’t solve it yourself, try talking to a professional. If it is necessary, replace the filter.

The filter may be surrounded by excess plants of your pond. These excess plants will not let the filter perform its job efficiently.

As a result, there will be excess mud and muck in the pond bottom. These things will rot and degrade the pond water quality.

Therefore, use a good filtration unit to capture the dirt and muck from the water and keep it clean. It is highly recommended to have an efficient filtration unit for your pond as the wastes can grow frequently throughout a pond.

Take Steps Against Soil Erosion

One of the most common reasons for pond water getting murky is soil erosion. These soil along the banks of the pond can cause the water to lose its color and also make it cloudy.

This can be very difficult to deal with if you are not giving proper attention to it.

Clay particles are the main threat to clear pond water.

These particles erode into the water. Then they mix up with water and makes suspension instead of clumping and settling. Finally, this gives the water a soupy color.

Necessary steps must be taken to deal with the soil erosion problem. Planting shrubs and grasses near the banks of the pond will make the soil hold. Also, we can use bentonite to seal the pond. If you have a small garden pond, you can line the bank of it by concreating

How Often Should I Clean My Pond

It is highly recommended that you do a major cleaning of your backyard pond at the end of autumn.

Small cleaning should be done at the beginning of the spring season.

If you don’t have a filtration unit for any reason, in that case, you will need to perform frequent cleaning activity in the pond.

A deep clean at the end of autumn will greatly reduce water degrading agents like muck, sludge, and debris.

As a starter, the spring cleaning is not as big as the autumn cleaning. But by removing the aging debris and sludge will ensure the best start as they will be more and more active in the summer period.