Free Garden Catalogs

How to you keep algae and other yucky stuff from growing in your garden pond?

We have two ponds in our garden, they are not very big maybe 200 gallons, like a huge bathtub. They have plants and fish in them but they are always so dirty, how to keep them clean without using any harsh chemicals that would harm the fish and plants?

Public Comments

1. drop in a tablet of toilet bowl cleaner...
2. one way is to purchase marine snails, they clean it quite well plus are not preyed upon by the fish
3. There are fish and other creatures you can get that eat the algae. Also, there may be products you can buy to add to the water to prevent algae and is safe for plants and fish. Check out local places that sell pond equipment.
4. chemicals
5. A small solar powered pump would help. Water in motion is less likely to get "yucks" in it than water standing still. It need not shoot way up in the air like a decorative fountain or anything, just move the water around. Of course, then you have to clean and service the pump now and then :)
6. don't use any fertilizer on your lawn. my town had this problem, where people jacked the lawn's up with fertilizer, which drained into the ponds and lakes, causing an algae epidemic. I was so bad that the algae killed a dog that drank from the lakes
7. they have chemicals that are safe for fish and plants it will say it on the label i would also get a pond vac
8. They have specific products for this that will not harm the fish or plants. See your local pond dealer or seach Yahoo.
9. I use a tetra pond filter light. It's the only thing that really works
10. Snails are a good option. Also, keep the water circulating and if possible, plant some shady plants around it so that the pond has shadow. The sun always makes algae grow. There are certain type of submerged water plants that keep the water cleaner.
11. aqua shade this is the blue dye to diminish the sun light to the bottom then you have dye quat and copper sulfate a pond this size maybe a table spoon
12. Call A Garderner
13. There are many products on the market. Yet, I have a 350 gallon "pond" with a good filtering system and solar water fountain and the pond does need cleaning at times, i doubt you can avoid it. I had 17 nice fish in mine and then a raccoon had breakfast and they are all gone! So I switched to just cheap gold fish feeders. But use what is intended for cleaning your pond check in a nice garden shop or pet shop.
14. Well what you have is strong algae most likely, and it will grow and grow unless you get teh right plant balance in the pond. Too many animals or not enough plants might be the problem. check out my pond blog--has everything and anything you will need to build, and maintain your own backyard pond. Also you can follow along in the archived posts how I built mine, and there are well over a few hundred photos of the build and pond as it has grown over the years. Check it out and let me know what you think! gl