Is BIO SI's 'Water Doctor' recommended ?

[Zayde]

The claim on their website www.biositechnology.com is:

"Bio S.I. Technology’s scientifically proven Water Doctor uses a unique blend of all-natural microbes that make water features clear, beautiful, and free of odors and algae.......the formula is safe for humans, animals, fish, plants, and the environment."

Does anyone have any experience with this product ? My 1500 gallon pond of Koi and goldfish has lots of accumulated muck and algae and needs a cleaning.

 

[sissy]

never heard of it and never even heard of water doctor .Nothing has ever been the miracle they say it is ,they seem to always come up with one so called miracle after another

 

[sissy]

The only thing I found was to treat drinking water for water doctor

 

[Zayde]

Did you look at the website I quoted ? www.biositechnology.com

 

[sissy]

getting things on holland and ireland but not much else and usda .gov

 

[Waterbug]

LOL, at least they're partly truthful...

Water Doctor is a blend of naturally occurring microbes

Translation...the exact same bacteria you already have. I love the before and after picture...you add it to your pond and your lawn goes from brown to green.

Let's go thru their bullets because it just so much fun...

Helps clarify lake or pond water.

Hey, we didn't say it clears water, only helps.

Breaks down organic in the water.

Gee, I thought all organic decomposed? Actually, how would someone stop decomposition from happening? Freezer? Vacuum of space? So I can pay you how much to get exactly what I get for free and zero effort? Sweet deal.

Removes nitrogen and phosphorous compounds from pond water.

Ditto.

Reduces accumulated organic bottom sludge.

Yes, but not any more than the same "naturally occurring microbes" you already have.

Improves the aquatic environment for fish and wildlife.

Proof? Dumping a quart of dead organic matter into a pond is not a good thing.

Reduces ammonia and organic odors.

Wow, only reduces? By how much? 0.000001%? BTW, the "naturally occurring microbes" I already have will eliminate ammonia, not just reduce it.

Adds beneficial microbes to the water.

Yeah, same ones I already have, thanks.

But my environment can only support so many microbes. Add more and they're just going to die (as if they ever were alive) and add to the organic waste load.

My take on bacteria products if it isn't already clear.

 

[crsublette]

Zayde, I would skeptical of the product. There are many pond products like that in pond stores. They're mostly just scams that are betting on the "wishful thinking, quick fix" customer to buy it. WB points it out quite well except one difference... You might actually might be adding heterotrophic bacteria species to your pond water that was never there.

Heterotrophic bacteria are what consumes the excess organics, which is the muck, at the cost of consuming some of your pond water's oxygen and they reproduce incredibily fast and are extremely efficient at hibernating so to be sold at pond store shelves. Eventually, these type of bacteria will crowd out your "good guy" nitrifying bacteria, that is autotrophic bacteria, potentially creating byproducts that could cause bad things to happen to your water quality and to your fish. The best solution to your muck is to get a muck pond vacuum, either retail or DIY, to clean up the muck and other debris. Although, I would do it when the water temperature is warmer and when your fish are less stressed due to the cold water. To know more about what is going on in your pond, then you can read the story on your pond ecosystem thread.

Myself and other pond maintenance professionals also use the Oase4 pond vac, although it is quite expensive around ~$300~$400 on depending where you buy it. You can build your own vacuum, but be mindful about how much cost you put into building it. You can try the cheaper pond vacuums that use a water siphon to pickup the muck although these vacuums will generally lack high suction power of the more expensive vacuums.