Believe it or not, the below freezing days of winter are coming to an end! With warmer temperatures comes the ability to enjoy your pond. This Spring Pond Checklist is designed to help give you a head start preparing your pond for a beautiful growing season.

Spring is one of our favorite times of the year; birds are singing, flowers are sprouting and the sun is shinning – perfect conditions to enjoy your pond. But beware, without taking a few critical steps early, your pond enjoyment could be ruined by flooding, fish kills, and algae!

Here is our checklist for preparing your pond for an enjoyable spring and summer:

1) Check over your pond

With spring comes rain. Check your spillways for blockages – often trees can fall or beavers can dam-up spillways preventing the free flow of water. Any blockages can cause flooding that can kill surrounding plants, cause fish kills and damage electrical infrastructure near the pond among, other things.

Check the pond banks for signs of erosion – spring rain will exacerbate this. A short-term prevention method is laying sod on the bare banks. For the long term, consider planting native prairie grasses in the worst effected areas; they will not only help to prevent erosion, but will also act buffer to limit algae fueling nutrients getting into your pond.

2) Avoid Spring Fish Kills

If your fish are still alive, they’re lucky to have survived the arctic winter. Unfortunately, it only takes a spring without sufficient aeration for their luck to run out.

As temperatures increase, the different layers of the water column will begin to mix. As a result, the water at the bottom of pond then becomes warmer and, initially, the level of oxygen increases.

Bacteria at the bottom of the pond will then wake up from their cryogenic state and begin rapidly consuming the nutrients (leaves, waterfoul excrement etc.) that are present at the bottom of the pond. Before too long, oxygen levels plummet and a mass fish kill can occur.

By installing aeration early in the spring season, you will begin to mix the different layers of the water column while directly adding oxygen. We recommend the MARS 1500 Aeration System as the Patented Double Bubble Technology is specifically designed to Mix and Aerate (add oxygen to water).

3) Get Ahead of the Algae Game

As spring gives way to summer, the increase in temperatures coupled with the nutrient runoff of fertilizers, waterfowl excrement, leaves etc. from spring rains becomes a toxic combination. Inevitably algae blooms will occur that create pond odors, mosquito infestations and poor water clarity.

Give your pond a head start by boosting levels of beneficial bacteria, such as Triplepoint blend Pro-biotic. When used with proper aeration, bacteria will begin to consume nutrients and prevent them from fueling algae blooms when summer arrives.

For years, homeowners, H.O.A’s, and property managers believed that fountains were the answer to keeping ponds and lakes clean and algae-free.

Consumers are now slowly learning that fountains are not a viable solution, recognizing that they are relics of a time when people were less concerned about energy costs or detrimental environmental impact.

We have extensive experience with fountains, and can attest that they are a very poor method of abating algae and other pond problems.

Indeed, the Kentucky State Aquaculture Center States that, “Fountains will not typically provide an energy efficient or practical source of aeration/water destratification in most ponds.”

So, why are fountains impractical? The following is a list of reasons outlining the inadequacies of pond fountains:

1.    Fountains are Bad at Aerating Your Pond:

By spraying water into the air, fountains rely on air-water contact for oxygen transfer. Because the water droplets’ airtime is relatively short, and their surface area relatively small, only minimal quantities of oxygen are imparted into the water.

The MARS, on the other hand, is a pond management alternative emits many millions of bubbles daily, each with a longer rise time and comparably larger surface area/volume ratio—allowing it to add much more oxygen to the entire water column.

2.    Fountains Waste Your Money with Inefficient Operation:

Propelling water into the air is rather energy intensive. It is for the same reason that propeller-driven watercraft get terrible gas mileage—often below 4 miles per gallon—because moving water around requires loads of energy.

It is quite normal for a water fountain to consume more than twice the energy as a diffused air system, like the MARS.

3.    Fountains are Inadequate at Mixing Your Pond:

Fountains fail to mix the entire water column as they both draw water from and spray water over the pond’s surface. The deeper regions of the pond are typically the most nutrient (algae food) and oxygen deprived—therefore fountains fail to circulate the part of the pond that needs it most.

4.    Fountain Manufacturers Recommend That You Use Dangerous Chemicals:

Most fountain manufacturers will recommend the use of toxic chemicals like copper sulfate with their products to prevent algae growth and, therefore, minimize clogging. This recommendation alone indicates that fountains are inadequate for the treatment of pond algae.

Not only does this chemical recommendation add a significant cost to the use of fountains, but it is potentially dangerous for life both in and around the pond. Please refer to the article, “Protecting National Water Resources” for more information on dangerous pond chemicals like algaecides and herbicides.

5.    Fountain’s High Maintenance Requirements are a Burden:

In the Northern climates, fountains must be removed every fall and replaced every spring as they cannot operate in the freezing winter months. During this time, they must also be stored; many consumers pay thousands of dollars annually for these services on top of the high costs of electricity and toxic chemicals.

What’s more, fountains regularly clog with algae, plant debris, and waste (i.e. plastic bags), necessitating their removal and maintenance—often times by a professional.

6.    Fountains Don’t Allow You to Aerate in the Winter:

Because fountains utilized in Northern climates must be removed in the winter, there is no pond mixing during these months. This allows the surface of the water to freeze over and begin to trap accumulating noxious gasses that can lead to fish kills.

7.    Fountains Raise Safety Concerns Around Your Pond:

Fountains require electricity to be run into and across the pond, and this represents a large safety concern to life in and around the area if the integrity of the wire is compromised.

For an energy efficient, eco-friendly alternative to pond management, check out the MARS Aeration System. Its patented Double Bubble™ Technology both mixes and aerates your pond—keeping it healthy, clear, and algae and odor free.