The Importance of Oxygenating your Pond
- Post created by: Victoria S.
- 29 Jun 2022
When designing and garden pond, it is important to consider how you will keep the water well aerated and ensure it has enough oxygen in it. This post will explore how you can keep your pond well oxygenated.
Whilst a wildlife pond can survive well without interference, as a certain amount of oxygen will naturally diffuse on its surface, well stocked fish ponds will need aerating/oxygenating, whether by air pump, fountain, or airstones. Well oxygenated water is not only needed to keep fish alive, but also other wildlife in the pond, helping to maintain a happy eco-system so that everything thrives alongside each other.
Aeration and oxygenation
Your pond will benefit from being aerated and oxygenated, which have different benefits. Aerators, such as fountains and waterfalls, move the water around, helping spread oxygen and nutrients around the pond and encouraging gas exchange on the surface. Oxygenators, meanwhile, provide a big oxygen boost to the pond, with plants being natural oxygenators. Electric air pumps are a great addition to ponds as they provide both aeration and oxygenation.
Add plants
The simplest, cheapest and most natural way to add oxygen to your pond is by introducing submerged plants, such as hornwort, which are place into pond plant baskets. These will release oxygen into the water as they photosynthesize. However, there are downsides to only using plants for oxygenation: when the sun goes down the plants will not produce oxygen, causing oxygenation issues at night. They could also cover the pond surface too much in summer and will die back in winter. It is therefore best to use plants as a supplementary means of oxygenating your pond.
The issues with plants
If you decide to use plants then maintaining your pond is an important task. Once plants die they start to release toxic chemicals into the water, poisoning fish and stopping pond oxygenation. Using a pond net or picker can help remove the dead plants.
Hose the surface
Hosing the surface will also introduce oxygen to your pond, breaking the surface so that oxygen can get in and CO2 gets out of the pond. This is only a short-term solution, though, great during high summer when the temperature is high and pond oxygen levels low, or in a power cut.
Control overgrown plants and weeds
Plants and weeds, such as duckweed and blanketweed, can soon get out of hand and become overgrown in a pond. This can hinder oxygen levels, preventing fish from getting the oxygen they need to breathe. Plant and weed growth therefore need to be managed, especially in spring and summer when growth levels will reach their highest, by chopping vegetation back and through water treatments.
Blanketweed and green water treatments
Blanket weed controls will kill duckweed, a fast growing 3 lobed leaf with a thread like root, or blanketweed, green algae that looks that cottonwool. They work either with a traditional, natural remedy of barley straw, or through solutions that reduce the mineral and enzyme levels. You can also get treatments that prevent a pea soup water created by algae growth. Green water control sticks green water algae cells together, so they either sink or are trapped in a filter, quickly leaving a clear pond.
Install fountains and waterfalls
Water fountains and waterfalls in ponds are not only aesthetically pleasing to look at, they also provide aeration of your pond. The fountain will be constantly breaking the surface of the water, introducing oxygen to the pond. A fountain pump will also bring water from the bottom of the pond to the top, helping to aerate the pond. Waterfalls will have a similar effect, bringing oxygen to the water as the water falls down the slope.
Use Air Pumps
The most effective way to oxygenate/aerate your garden pond is through an air pump. Air Pumps are mainly electrically motored, pumping oxygen into the pond via a diffuser which creates an even spread of oxygen across the water, aerating and oxygenating your pond. It benefits from working as effectively day and night and throughout the year, as long as it is kept switched on.
Solar powered air pumps
Solar powered air pumps are an eco-friendly alternative to electric varieties, saving energy whilst keeping up oxygen levels in the pond. They benefit from not needing to be plugged in, so are great if the pond is far away from a mains supply. The Hozelock Solar Powered Air Pump, for example, is smart and sleek looking solar panel that will keep your pond oxygenated in style. The downsides to solar powered pumps is that they will not work as effectively in low sun levels, or at night.
Emergency oxygen treatment
If you find that your pond is dangerously low in oxygen and the fish are gasping for air, then an emergency treatment, like the Oase AquaActiv OxyPlus, is advisable. This contains active oxygen with deposit effect, which allows oxygen to penetrate deep into the pond, whilst preventing the formation of harmful fermentation gases.
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