Here is a novice opinion because I have been interested in the bacteria route for some time. In Short I would not spend the money to put bacteria in a pond, mine or any other for that matter until I knew that it would help. I did ask my fish supplier, Todd Overton at Overton fisheries who happens to be a biologist to boot and he said he had heard little positive in the way of sludge removal/ algae control of any kind.

The second reason I would not do it is a bit more abstract in that I want to utilize pond water to supply feed water for a dirt-less aquaphonic garden system. In my research, the current systems, many today utilize bacteria to convert nitrites into nitrates and it requires aeration/ bacteria/ and time(days to months) to establish the proper bacteria conditions in the water recycle process. I will not get into it any more than to say it takes time and certain condition to make the bacteria do what it is suppose to do and the ammonia cycle I did not even get into.

I would say with what limited knowledge I have that you can put the product in your pond but it may or may not work. If it does work you will just be lucky.I defer back again to Mr. Overton, who has forgotten more than I will ever know and he was skeptical at best.

I may know more from experience in the future of how and what conditions it takes for bacteria to work in ponds, the way you and I wish they would.

My caveat here is I think and have read that there are, if not millions, at least thousands of different bacteria and some may work in open pond water conditions,but I have NO idea what those specific bacteria are. I have not been able to read any specific tests(fact based) that have indicated any success and maybe others have.

If you try it, let us know how it goes I would be interested in the results or the lack of.

Life is more fun with a pole in your hand.