Beneficial Bacteria

[rubyduby]

Moved into house last summer so this is the first time I will be starting up my pond. I have a 16,000 gallon lined pond with two Aquascape biofalls and two skimmers. I have had them turned off all winter (with Koi 2 aerator on) When I put my bioballs and filter mats in to start up the falls do I need to add beneficial bacteria or will it naturally colonize? If I need to add it can anyone recommend a brand? Also, has anyone had any experience using MuckAway?

 

[barryian]

Moved into house last summer so this is the first time I will be starting up my pond. I have a 16,000 gallon lined pond with two Aquascape biofalls and two skimmers. I have had them turned off all winter (with Koi 2 aerator on) When I put my bioballs and filter mats in to start up the falls do I need to add beneficial bacteria or will it naturally colonize? If I need to add it can anyone recommend a brand? Also, has anyone had any experience using MuckAway?

Beneficial Bacteria is a snake oil. Does next to nothing though many might disagree. I bought a gallon of this when I rebuilt my pond in 2013. It comes packed in ice bags. This is the real deal and rather costly but it seeds the filter in a few days. It's truly Nitrosomonas and nitrobacter. One of the few companies that make this. Never used anything since.

FritzZyme® TurboStart® 700 Freshwater

Fritz Aquatics' FritzZyme® TurboStart® 700 Freshwater contains a highly concentrated level of our nitrifying bacteria to reduce fish loss due to toxicity.

fritzaquatics.com

 

[EricV]

Brand new pond vs. pond restart are different questions. For your restart, you will have plenty of bacteria on various surfaces in your pond to rather quickly colonize your filter. And the pond is doing fine now, right? Adding water movement is not going to change that.

For new ponds, most of us here advocate natural colonization with either a very slow introduction of fish load or adding commercial ammonia (and no fish) until a cycle is established. Personally, I did slow introduction of fish load along with rinsing out my old filter in the new pond. Never saw a bit of ammonia or nitrate, but then I had four 4" fish in 2500 gallons.

 

[mrsclem]

I bought a container of Muck Away several years ago. It is more for natural ponds and beach areas rather than ponds. I have tried using it in my holding tank that builds up sludge, did not do anything.

 

[barryian]

Brand new pond vs. pond restart are different questions. For your restart, you will have plenty of bacteria on various surfaces in your pond to rather quickly colonize your filter. And the pond is doing fine now, right? Adding water movement is not going to change that.

For new ponds, most of us here advocate natural colonization with either a very slow introduction of fish load or adding commercial ammonia (and no fish) until a cycle is established. Personally, I did slow introduction of fish load along with rinsing out my old filter in the new pond. Never saw a bit of ammonia or nitrate, but then I had four 4" fish in 2500 gallons.

Didn't realize it was a restart. Thought it was sitting there for years untouched. Busy morning ... I just started mine up, temps are 45-50F all winter. Loaded with BB ....

 

[rubyduby]

Beneficial Bacteria is a snake oil. Does next to nothing though many might disagree. I bought a gallon of this when I rebuilt my pond in 2013. It comes packed in ice bags. This is the real deal and rather costly but it seeds the filter in a few days. It's truly Nitrosomonas and nitrobacter. One of the few companies that make this. Never used anything since.

FritzZyme® TurboStart® 700 Freshwater

Fritz Aquatics' FritzZyme® TurboStart® 700 Freshwater contains a highly concentrated level of our nitrifying bacteria to reduce fish loss due to toxicity.

fritzaquatics.com

Thank you for the help. My pond is twenty years old and 35' by 17' (595 sq ft) so I am wondering if I need anything at all to start the system back up this Spring. Isn't this turbo start more for new ponds/systems?

 

[EricV]

Thank you for the help. My pond is twenty years old and 35' by 17' (595 sq ft) so I am wondering if I need anything at all to start the system back up this Spring. Isn't this turbo start more for new ponds/systems?

Save your money.

 

[rubyduby]

I bought a container of Muck Away several years ago. It is more for natural ponds and beach areas rather than ponds. I have tried using it in my holding tank that builds up sludge, did not do anything.

That's what I have been hearing so thank you for saving me some money which considering how much all of this pond stuff is costing me is really appreciated

 

[rubyduby]

Brand new pond vs. pond restart are different questions. For your restart, you will have plenty of bacteria on various surfaces in your pond to rather quickly colonize your filter. And the pond is doing fine now, right? Adding water movement is not going to change that.

For new ponds, most of us here advocate natural colonization with either a very slow introduction of fish load or adding commercial ammonia (and no fish) until a cycle is established. Personally, I did slow introduction of fish load along with rinsing out my old filter in the new pond. Never saw a bit of ammonia or nitrate, but then I had four 4" fish in 2500 gallons.

thank you...yes, my pond is doing fine now so I will just start everything up (65 here today in Charlottesville, VA) and let nature do it's thing

 

[poconojoe]

Agree...don't waste your money. Just start it up and let it do it's own thing. Especially if your pond is already doing good. Don't mess with it.
In my opinion, it seems the less you tinker with, the better. It will all work out naturally. Don't add any chemicals or other snake oils that claim to be miracle cures either. There have been many cases here where people have an abundance of algae. They pour in so-called "fish friendly " algaecide resulting in a kill-off of fish and plants.
Theres always a natural way to set things right.
Now nature doesn't work overnight. It's a slow process sometimes. Give it time.
Happy ponding!

 

[rubyduby]

Agree...don't waste your money. Just start it up and let it do it's own thing. Especially if your pond is already doing good. Don't mess with it.
In my opinion, it seems the less you tinker with, the better. It will all work out naturally. Don't add any chemicals or other snake oils that claim to be miracle cures either. There have been many cases here where people have an abundance of algae. They pour in so-called "fish friendly " algaecide resulting in a kill-off of fish and plants.
Theres always a natural way to set things right.
Now nature doesn't work overnight. It's a slow process sometimes. Give it time.
Happy ponding!

Ahhh, the Poconos! I just moved here (Charlottesville, VA) from the Adirondacks and I am missing my giant pines (however the shortened, mild winters are really nice) I will be really missing the mountains come July! Thank you for the advice...I don't like tampering with nature either...

 

[poconojoe]

Ahhh, the Poconos! I just moved here (Charlottesville, VA) from the Adirondacks and I am missing my giant pines (however the shortened, mild winters are really nice) I will be really missing the mountains come July! Thank you for the advice...I don't like tampering with nature either...

Adirondacks...been there many times and the Catskills as well. Beautiful areas. I envy your milder winters in VA. Sometimes we get so tired of the long winters here in the northeast. Enjoy!

 

[barryian]

Thank you for the help. My pond is twenty years old and 35' by 17' (595 sq ft) so I am wondering if I need anything at all to start the system back up this Spring. Isn't this turbo start more for new ponds/systems?

Yes, Tubo Start would be for new ponds or in my case, when I rebuilt, I used it. Each year even when shutting down the pond, the BB remains and re-seeds rather quickly.

 

[addy1]

Mine is shut off for 4 to 5 months, once turned on within a few days all is in great shape. No stink from the bog just sitting full of water all winter. The fish are happy it is running again.

 

[GBBUDD]

Any water that just sits if it has organics in the water will start to regress over the winter months. When i go to restart my pond and bogs i disconnect the out feed to the bog i shut down the returns to the pond and i discharge the first several gallons probably around 50 or so as the water will smell and smell bad it's hydrogen sulfide smells like rotten eggs. This is the water that was sitting in the lines all winter . Now i am on a flat lot and i am in New England so the return lines were installed with icing in mind more then they were built with draining out so they wouldn't go stagnant. I could blow out the lines in the fall but it is A LOT easier to simply blow the line in the spring with the ponds pump.