Admit it, the idea of having bacteria in your pond sends a chill in your spine. You don't need to worry though. Having bacteria in your pond is inevitable. It just depends on which bacteria are you willing to take care of. It might be a surprise, but we also have good bacteria. These bacteria are beneficial to our ponds. So what you really have to do is to minimize the amount of bad bacteria and to maximize the good bacteria in your pond, so your pond can just take care of its own ecosystem. It will be easier to maintain if your ponds are inhabited with good bacteria.

Two of the most distinct bacteria in our ponds are anaerobic bacteria and aerobic bacteria. You can easily notice if these bacteria are present in your pond. Once you notice that your pond smells a bit rancid, it means that anaerobic bacteria is in action. They are currently processing stuff in your pond. Especially when your pond is a big stagnant, you can already tell that a lot of anaerobic bacteria lives in it. Anaerobic bacteria likes inhabiting stagnant water or poorly oxygenated water. Anaerobic bacteria do the opposite of what aerobic bacteria can do. Anaerobic bacteria will slowly break down the waste products that will result to more hydrogen sulfide in our water, and worse, more ammonia. We all know that too much ammonia in water is not good for the ecosystem in our pond. When anaerobic bacteria is actively dominating your pond, it will be very easy to notice because of the rotten egg odor and the quality of the pond will decline dramatically. You will now notice algae forming in the water, and that is not good for the fish. It increases the mortality rates of the fish in our pond.

Aerobic bacteria, on the other hand, needs oxygen to efficiently and naturally keep our pond clean. It will act on the fish waster, excessive feeds, dead leaves, fertilizers run off in our ponds. If you have a stable level or aerobic bacteria in your pond, you will have a better chance of having a healthy pond as well. This is the bacteria that we should not be worried of in our pond because they are referred to as pond beneficial bacteria. In fact, we should do things to maintain its balanced level in our pond. We have to ensure that we have good aeration or circulation to keep the oxygen level stable in our pond. Also, once in a while, we have to apply some prepackaged beneficial pond bacteria to maintain a good level of bacteria in our pond. Aerobic bacteria will quickly work on maintaining the balance in our pond and it does not produce pungent odors or toxic byproducts.

So you have to be really wise with what you do with your ponds. As much as possible, avoid doing things that will invite more unwanted bacteria in your pond. Keep your pond properly oxygenated, do not over feed your fish and eliminate debris in your pond so it will not be hard for your aerobic bacteria to maintain the cleanliness of your pond.