Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Fertilization How to Grow your own Beneficial Bacteria?

I have about a 1/4 acre pond and have spent about $300 on the Beneficial Bacteria packets the past several years. And it seems just crazy that bacteria packed in barley bags costs so much...

So, I was wondering if anyone has tried to grow their own bacteria???

I have two packets left from last year. And I was thinking that I could take them and use them to grow more bacteria on petrie dishes! I asked this question on a Biology forum and only got 2 replies, but one said to just use a bucket with warm water and sugar. I was going to try both ways and see how it works.

It seems like someone must have tried to grow their own bacteria before. Do any of you have any opinions or ideas about this? Am I a bit crazy??

The good news is that your not crazy .... but you don't need to grow or even purchase bacteria to have it in your pond.

You're pond is already home to bacteria including any you may have added that were not established already (you may not have expanded the list). As long as there is enough oxygen near the bottom where they are needed to decompose organics ... they will thrive and do their job.

The main reason you lose bacteria in your pond is by using harsh algaecides to kill algae. Those chemicals also kill bacteria that are even more delicate than the algae. Beneficial bacteria can help in decomposition of organics after using algae and weed control. Generally Beneficial Bacteria is sold and strongly promoted by pond management places because it is a profitable item for them. Notice those sellers do not guarantee the product - ever wonder why? What they are selling generally does not contain strains of bacterial that are not already present naturally in most non-chemicalized ponds. There has been quite a bit of discussion in past forum post discussions about this topic. A search should produce some of those results.

Nanobubble tech might help address this. Good article in May/June PB magazine about it.

Thanks for your replies!

My pond is surrounded 80% by pine and deciduous trees on 3 sides within 10 feet of the edge, and fed by a runoff from my woods. I think that ponds that do not have trees like this or runoff pouring in probably have a different eco balance. I put black dye in 4 days ago. And now we've had so much rain the past 2 days that my pond looks like a Starbucks Caramel Latte.

I have a friend who is retired Ohio DNR Fish & Game who has 7 fish ponds and sells fish for his business (FinFarm.com), who visited several years ago and recommended the bacteria that I use. My pond was cloudy most of the time and you couldn't see down past 2-3 feet usually. But after using the bacteria twice a week for about 6 weeks I started to see a difference and after that it was very clear. I don't think it was a coincidence. I do have a bottom bubble aerator and wonder if during these heavy rains if it's just too much for the natural bacteria to handle? And maybe some of it washes out?

I do currently have some matt algae along the edge for about a foot in some places, and also on the bottom going out about 4 feet. I think I will need to use some Cutrine Plus on it when this rain stops and we get some nice days. And as you said, that will not help the bacteria...