Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Microbes

hello, 4 month lurker here. I have greatly benifited from the knowledge that has been presented here on this forum. I thank you and will subscribe to the magazine.
One of the questions I have is about the microbes i see advertised on all the sites for pond care. What is the science behind adding bacteria to a aerated pond?
Would not the aeration itself cause the already presant bacteria to,, say bloom?They can after all double in less than 30 minutes.
I can find very little info on the strains of bacterium that are suppose to be included in these products. I think I could find most in my compost pile or the plumbing section at Lowes.
Is it becuase of the diversity of many strains of areobic bacteria that help to break down the detris at the bottom of the pond faster, or is it a new seceret gentically altered magic bacterium? Patent pending?
How does adding these products to a pond benifit more than the already excisting microbes with the help of aeration to give them a boost??.
I thank you for any insight you may give me, Kevin

Yes aeration helps but not without needed assistance. Enzyme producing bacteria act as a catalytic agent and speeds up the degradation rate of organic waste. When added to water a biological chain reaction is created, producing GREATER quantities of natural bacteria and enzymes. It eliminates the pea soup green water, fish waste, ammonia and the sludge layer. It will also reduce BOD (biological oxygen demand.) Here is what the Enzymes do!

Lipase-digestion of fats and oils
Amylase-Digestion of starch
Cellulase-Digestion of cellulosic particles-(Plants)
Protease-digestion of protein
Pectinase-digestion of fruit containing waste
Beta-Glucanose-digestion of vegetable gums
Hemicellulase-digestion of plant polysaccharides

And of course you also add Beneficial Bacteria such as Lactobacillus. There are too many to list but believe me you cannot buy these natural ingredients at Walmart. I waited about one month to late to add mine this year and it got ugly. Once i did everything turned arround. Once you treat the pond at the reccomended rate you can add just one half of the rate each year there after. One pound of Agua 5 treats 140,000 gallons of water. You can see the formulation on the Web site.

I just received the pond pucks from thepondguy.com. They seem to clear up the water in the first few days but I can't attest to the long term results. What has everyone else had luck with.

Thanks for your reply Jdmcalf. I had a 3 pound box of Rid-x septic cleaner and on the front of the box it stated it had the basically the same bacteria that you listed. Don't know about that Lacto one though, isn't that the one that makes yogurt? I did dump it in when I installed my aeration system. 1/4 acre pond 10 ft deep. I did this about a month ago. I do see some improvement, especially in the fil algae. From what I understand a lot of these septic tank products contain falcutive and aerobic strains of bacteria. They supposedly work not so much in the tank itself but actually in the leech field were it is more of an aerobic environment.
I also have been experimenting with compost tea. If you have not heard of it before it is a simple process to grow beneficial aerobic microbes and fungi to be used in organic gardening.5 gallon bucket, aquarium airpump and stone, rainwater and a bit of molasses. Add some healthy compost in a filter bag. Brew it for up to 24 hours with plenty of aeration and you have a bunch of microbes. I have dumped in 20 gallons of this brew 2 weeks ago. Water seems to be clearing up even with all the rain we have had. But this all could be attributed to the aeration I put in. Like I said it is just an experiment.
Questions 1. Can one add to many microbes? 2 do fungi play any part in decomposing plant debri in ponds?
3 Would specific strains of bacterium that accumulate phosphate help control my duckweed and watermeal?

Kevin

Kevin-intresting! I can only intelligently answer one question. By added more bacteria than you need for your pond will hurt nothing other than you pocket book. I work in the animal health business and have a decent knowledge of benefical bacteria. I use rid x as well in my septic system but wouldn't add it to the pond water if it were free. Many of the bacteria are not stable in certain situations, i do know that if the label is approved for pond treatment such as agua 5 that it has been researched for such application. The reason i wouldn't use rid x is how do we know it will replicate in the pond water enviroment and how stable is it? Money aside i cannot answer if it works or not. I would love to here what the experts say about this approach.

jd

I would be careful adding bacteria that is not proported to be for ponds. Reason is bacteria can compete with each other and you may not get the results you want. That said I can not with certainty say they do what they are supposed to.

I too use bacteria in my trout pond (Aquatron from Keeton Industries) It seems it does, but there are too many other factors as aeration etc.
If I had two ponds that were identical one with bacteria added, one not, both not aerated, then two more with aeration, one bacteria and one not, then I could tell you if it works. The ponds would have to be identical in all respects i.e soil type, nutrient levels, fish population, etc.But as we all know that is beyond our realm and should be left up to a scientific study.

Bottom line is: I think it works but can't be sure.