Adding Beneficial Bacteria to Ponds to Reduce Ammonia

Al from Plain Township asks,’ my koi pond, it’s just a little under 1,000 gallons, and I have four beautiful koi. They’re a foot long, and I’m testing a little bit of ammonia now because of the fish waste. Are those fish too big for that pond? Can I leave them in that pond? They’re so beautiful in there, but they are big.’

So that’s okay. You’ve got enough space for those fish. I would say, how often are you feeding them? If you’re feeding every day, slow down to every other day, and then you’re going to add some beneficial bacteria on a weekly basis.

I highly suggest the liquid. The liquid is alive in the bottle. When you use a powder or a pellet bacteria, it is a dormant spore. It takes seven to 10 days to start reproduction. So if you’re adding that liquid bacteria, you’re going to break down that fish waste and turn it to nitrate, which is just nitrogen in the water.

Give the bacteria takes a little bit of time to reproduce, and because we were so cold in May, colder than normal, rainier than normal, more overcast than normal, that bacteria growth has been slowed. And so if you normally start feeding every day in June, this year you may have to slow that down a little bit.

Go back to feeding every other day, just until we warm up and until you get enough beneficial bacteria in the water column that it breaks that waste down. It’s a Rohr’s All Season Pond Bacteria. I actually have it packaged locally, and it’s made fresh every 30 days.

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