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What is the best way to keep a garden pond clean?

I have a small garden pond that has algae in it. How can I keep it clean with the least amount of chemical usage and cost? I have a few goldfish, plants and a waterfall to keep the water moving.

Public Comments

1. do you have green water? add more plants so that at least 75% of the water surface is covered and figure out someway to block the sunlight either with shrubs or small trees or even a gazebo type structure over the pond...we built a screened-in "room" around our large pond and the water stayed crystal clear, but sunlight is your enemy if you have a pond
2. My dad keeps a little string bag with hay/ straw in his pond to keep the water clearer.
3. You are already doing several things to help combat algae: fish, plants, and aeration. Fish eat algae; plants compete with algae; and algae don't like moving water. I use Pond Clear Zyme http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=PB200 in my pond. This is an enzyme that comes in tablet or powder form. Added to your pond weekly, it breaks down and prevents pond wastes, and can combat algae. I get mine from Lowe's, but most pond supply or home improvement stores should have this, or another similar, brand. (And it doesn't smell bad.) Some algae on the sides of the pond is normal, but sometimes despite all your efforts you will have string algae or pea-soup algae. This can happen after rains or in humid weather. I sometimes have to manually remove string algae from my pond, and twice I have had to empty my 700-gallon pond and refill it when the water became totally sludgy after several downpours.