Large annual amounts of tree leaves are a pond's worst natural enemy and very difficult to adequately & timely process.Some leaf packs become buried by more leaves and it take many years for the buried now anaerobic leaves to recycle back to basic nutrients. This topic is worthy of an entire in-depth article.
There is quite a bit of discussion in past threads about adding different types of bacteria to ponds for improved decomposition of organic materials. Some of the threads are below. Some like it, some consider it a waste of money. I get numerous mixed opinions when people who I advise try the bacterial additions. The main problem as I see it is, there are very few if any good scientific based studies on the topic - mostly just opinions and sales promotions. As I mentioned earlier proper application and aeration helps a lot to improve all bacterial decomposition. IMO bacteria additions are best used when the water quality and bacterial community of the pond habitat has be compromised by treatments, sometimes overused, herbicide and algae treatments. Bacterial additions can often help the pond recover.
Septic systems do receive frequent inoculations of bacteria and enzymes. However most septic systems are primarily anaerobic and very inadequate of the necessary dissolved oxygen and features for the bacteria to survive-function. Thus many of the commercial septic bacteria brands fail in the home septic anaerobic environment. Sewage treatment plants, who often utilize bacterial - microbial additions, are designed for strong agitation, mixing and adequate oxygenation of the waste soup; thus they see benefits of bacterial additions.
I think the in-house tested and produced products by Aquafix (Madison WI) are some of the better microbe additions available.
Others may be willing to help with opinions and PB Forum links.
Bacteria Discussions
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=290502Thread in 2006 with Lusk�s opinion. Some opinions may have changed since then.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...0&site_id=12010 discussion
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2171842012 Discussion
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=290502More threads on this topic can be found by searching the forum. I don�t have time right now to do the searching. The guru expert 'Bugman' at Aquafix has agreed to provide comment in this thread.
