Beneficial bacteria in the pond
There are bacteria which cause diseases and there are beneficial bacteria which decompose pollutants, producing clear and clean water. This makes bacteria a very important subject for pond owners!
Beneficial bacteria in the filter
(Unfortunately) not every pond owner uses a filter, but once you have one it’s worth giving it a bit of attention. Filters not only remove clouding substances from the water, they also provide a settlement area for bacteria which break pollutants down. A new or a cleaned filter is clinically dead. The bacteria have not yet had a chance to settle in the filter media and will not have done so completely for several weeks. In the meantime it’s best to give your filter a little boost of bacteria.
JBL FilterStart Pond contains enough bacteria to activate your filter within a few days and to make it fully operational. The use of JBL FilterStart Pond is not only advisable for the initail set-up, but also after the use of remedies, after disinfection measures and after the cleaning of the filter.
What your bacteria really don’t like
There are some situations which your beneficial bacteria in your pond filter or pond bottom don’t like at all: First and foremost this is the addition of salt. Some pond enthusiasts add salt to the water as disease prevention. Bacteria don’t tolerate large changes in salt content and die. Adding bactericidal remedies, such as JBL Ektol bac Pond Plus , for example, will badly damage the bacterial fauna since the medication can’t distinguish between “good” and “bad” bacteria. We can’t do anything about the high summer water temperatures proving a problem for the pollutant-destroying bacteria. But high water temperatures also mean low oxygen concentrations, and here we can do something. Aerate your pond in summer not only to create enough oxygen for your fish, but also for the bacteria at the bottom to degrade the leaves and the pollutants.
