I see different people talking about their pond bloom. I searched on here but still not sure exactly what it. Im sure its sounds like a stupid question since I see it on here alot. Also dont understand if its something you want or not.

I think they are referring to either algae or plankton. "Bloom" is just used to describe a rapid increase in population (I think).

planktonic bloom consists of tiny organisms that reproduce. They are consumed by larger organisms and on up the food chain. They are actually the food base for whales. That must take a lot of them. They reproduce rapidly and can be a problem when they die in great numbers. Dying/rotting can suck up O2 and can become a problem but only when there is an infestation. This is an incomplete answer because it can be fairly complex.

A bloom is when your water goes from clear to green to olive green with a brown tent is where you want it to be.

So you do want a bloom for sure. You just need the small fish in there to eat it right? It also sounds like you need the water to be clear 1st. Thank you 4 the replies hopefully it helps other understand it better also.

Research zooplankton and phytoplankton.

RS, I'm not sure that small fish eat the bits that make up a bloom (maybe freshly hatched fry), but other very small creatures that get eaten by other not-as-small creatures, and, then, eventually small fish.

My pond is pretty muddy most of the time, but still has blooms (pretty much consistently). So, you don't need clear water first for a bloom to happen.

QA I get wht your saying basically it is the start of the food chain for a pond. How can you tell if you have one (bloom) with water murky like mine and yours.

My water will turn more green with a good bloom rather than mostly brown. Although some blooms can be brown and/or reddish. My blooms have always been green. When my blooms go nuts, the water will be a wild green, kinda nuclear looking...



And if it gets completely out of hand it caused a surface funk...





All of the above photos are extreme events and not typical. The difference between a no-bloom-muddy-water day and a good-bloom day is rather insignificant, just a few shades of green beyond yesterday's more brownish water.

Thanks for the photos. It seems my pond is always in bloom but it definitely goes through many various shades of green and occasionally brown - brown doesn't last long. My pond was a stock tank before I bought the place and I have always wondered if the years of cows, horses, and manure have made it so nutrient rich it just isn't going to get very clear. I am going to build a secchi disk and see what that tells me. I have always backburnered it because I am just not sure what can be done if the problem is decades of nutrient build up - a bit of head in the sand syndrome. Aeration seems to have helped some but I may just be seeing that because I want to see it. I have some BG with fish eye fluke but beyond that the fish seem healthy and are visibly getting healthier and the pond looks nice and definitely adds (instead of subtracts) from the aesthetics of our place. But, the budding pondmeister in me worries about the mysterious plankton bloom. I am glad this thread came up.

An alum/hydrated lime treatment, or Phoslock will help bind up excess Phosphorous and carry it to the bottom of the pond, helping nutrient rich ponds get back in balance.

I have read some threads on here regarding application of alum/lime and quite frankly makes me a bit nervous. I know a Secchi disk will qualitatively give me an idea if there is a problem but I suppose an actual water analysis should be done before putting something in the pond. I am only 55 miles from A&M so it should be easy enough. I think this thread has motivated me to take some action or at least determine if action needs to be taken - my wife will be so thrilled.......................

You are going to be looking for levels of the following:

Soluble Reactive Phosphorous
Total Phosphorous 0.01 - 0.075 mg/l
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen 2-6 mg/l

and for a "normal" pond, they should be in that range.

Ask whoever is going to do the water test if they can test for those, and at that measurement. If not, keep looking for a test facility.

I want 2 do the alum / lime someday. Before I do that I need my banks to all be grown with vegetation. Since I'm color blind it makes it really hard to see or understand the green hue. I can tell it changes colors somewhat. Thank you for everyone's replys. I feel like iv learned something from this thread.

Did you manage to do the alum / lime?

No I havnt. Just recently had it dug out some more with a trackhoe. It made things really dirty. Now I have to start over on my pond bank vegetation. Before I did this last dig it was clearing up somewhat. Don't remember for sure how much but somewhere like 12" of clarity which is good for mine.