How to use bacteria in a pond? When should it be added?

Just like in an aquarium, bacteria play an essential role in balancing your garden pond. These bacteria break down the nutrients and organic matter in your pond. They allow the nitrogen cycle to work well :-)

The bacteria will attach themselves to your walls, to your filtration foams and will accumulate in the filter. These bacteria keep your pond in balance.

Benefits of Bacteria in a Pond

These bacteria have several advantages:

• Improve the degradation of organic matter.
• Reduce the silt in the pond
• Improve water quality
• Algae Reduction

On the market, you will find two types of bacteria, maintenance bacteria and starter bacteria (nitrifying). Bacteria are present everywhere: in water, in the air, on and in living organisms.

How the Nitrogen Cycle Works

“ In clearer terms, this minimum of thirty days of waiting is necessary for the nitrogen cycle to take place. This setting is therefore a prerequisite before putting fish in a new tank. This particular cycle is of paramount importance for the fauna and aquatic fauna of your basin.

It is a process composed of different phases. It will therefore take place in relation to the plants present in the basin. The nitrogen cycle is a natural phenomenon. It arises from the transformation of chemical substances, and takes place in the basin itself .

Find our complete guide on the time needed before putting fish in a new tank by clicking here.

Nitrifying bacteria:

These are nitrifying bacteria (nitrosomonas and nitrobacter) so essential for the purification of ammonia or toxic nitrites for fish. They are fixed on the well-oxygenated substrates that constitute the filter or the lagoon. They are very fragile. They can only survive and develop under strict conditions (which we try to respect in our ponds) and therefore cannot be kept artificially for long periods.

They do not need any organic nutrient source to grow. They draw the ambient carbon from which they are able to synthesize all the molecules necessary for their needs (they are called autotrophs).

The energy essential to these syntheses they find it in oxidation reactions: Nitrosomonas will use (oxidize) ammonia (ammonium ion: NH3 <-> NH4+), transform it into nitrites (NO2) using the energy as well released for its small personal needs (see stage 2 of the nitrogen cycle).

These nitrites once present will satisfy nitrobacter which can then proceed to another oxidation (step 3) transforming the nitrites into nitrates (NO3) better tolerated by the fish. The activity of our filters is therefore a large consumer of oxygen.

Maintenance bacteria (detrivore).

The detritivorous maintenance bacteria allow the good balance of your pond. Unlike nitrifying bacteria, these bacteria are heterotrophic: they need an external source of nutrients (waste) which they will degrade for their survival. It is for this reason that this type of bacteria is applied in the pond during maintenance.

How to use pond bacteria?

1) Checking the water quality

2) We treat from 10°C (below, it is not useless but less effective).

3) We turn off the UV lamp before adding the bacteria and turn it on again only 2-3 days later.

4) Bacteria are added over the entire surface of the pond and not just in the filter (otherwise the flocculants will have no effect).

5) At the beginning we treat several days in a row then we reapply regularly (variable frequency according to the products, often 1 to 4 times / month) for the maintenance of the flora (the natural bacteria tend to take over and reduce the quantity interesting germs).

6) For a faster development of bacteria, you can place them in a bucket or basin (clean, plastic food) containing pond water and strongly aerated by an aquarium pump. They are left for 6 to 24 hours (no more) depending on the temperature. The "soup" is then poured into the pond, ensuring that there is no temperature variation between the basin and the pond.

How can bacteria limit algae?

Algae often appear when nutrient levels are too high in your pond. This is also the case if the water is not oxygenated. Bacteria treatments reduce nitrogen and organic matter. These bacteria will also act on the transparency of the water in your pond.

FAQs:

I received a pot of biokick with the purchase of my OASE filter, how do I apply them? Do I have to put everything?

Biokick are bacteria that shorten the biological break-in period of your pool. You can put a part in the filter, and a part in the basin after 48H (evaporation of the chlorine in a new basin).

When commissioning a new filter, BioKick is ideal for quickly bringing the biology of the filter to life and establishing biological balance. Within a few weeks, or even just a few days, the pond filter regains its full capacity.

When should I put my bacteria in a new basin? Can I put my bacteria in a brand new pond?

You can put bacteria in a brand new pond provided you have waited 48 hours. If you filled with tap water, this water contains a little chlorine. You have to wait 48 hours for these products to evaporate. We also recommend that you turn off your UV before putting bacteria in a pond.