How Beneficial Bacteria Treatment Can Improve Lake Health
The presence of bacteria can improve lake health by breaking down dead organic matter and reducing the nutrient buildup. This helps to maintain water clarity and keep aquatic plants healthy and thriving.
A beneficial bacteria treatment also prevents algae from growing by depriving them of their nutrient sources, such as nitrates and phosphorus. This is called denitrification.
They Break Down Dead Organic Matter
When plants and animals die, they break into simple organic molecules like carbon dioxide, water, sugars, and inorganic ions. These are then eaten by decomposers such as bacteria, fungi, and earthworms.
These organisms are heterotrophic – they derive the energy to survive from dead matter. They can use the dead material for building new biomass or exhaling the waste as carbon dioxide.
The decay rate depends on factors such as temperature and oxygen availability in the environment. In cooler environments, decomposers are less active, and decay is slower.
Adding beneficial bacteria to your pond will help speed up decomposition and remove nutrients from the lake or pond. It will also keep the pond’s water healthy and prevent problems from happening in the future.
They Remove Nitrogen and Phosphorus from the Water
If there’s too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the water, it can create a problem known as eutrophication. This can cause harmful algal blooms, sometimes turning the water green and releasing toxins.
Beneficial bacteria can help reduce these nutrient levels. They break down these compounds and convert them into forms unavailable for algae, like nitrogen gas or calcium phosphate.
The process also reduces the amount of phosphorus that is deposited in sediments. These muddy deposits can accumulate up to 8 feet deep in lakes and represent a major source of phosphorus.
When the bacteria work properly, they can quickly remove excess nutrients causing poor water quality and clarity. This will improve the pond ecosystem and prevent nuisance algae blooms from occurring.
They Break Down Ammonia
Ammonia is a poison to fish and can cause serious damage to their gills. If ammonia levels become very high, they can even kill the fish.
Beneficial bacteria help a pond convert harmful ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates, helping keep ammonia levels low in ponds. Without this process, ammonia can easily build up in ponds and cause serious problems.
New ponds or filters can take time to build natural beneficial bacteria levels, so adding concentrated beneficial bacteria supplements can accelerate the conversion rate and increase population size.
They Break Down Algae
In lakes and ponds, beneficial bacteria break down dead organic matter into needed nutrients, like nitrates and phosphates. These nutrients are essential for pond plants to grow and help maintain healthy water quality in your lake or pond.
This helps keep the balance between phosphorus and nitrogen in the water and prevents nuisance algae blooms from occurring. Bacteria also help reduce the growth of harmful filamentous and blue-green algae, often resulting from excess phosphorus.
Beneficial bacteria can also treat and control muck and sludge in lakes and ponds. This is done by adding bottom-diffused aeration and sludge remover pellets that sink to the lower layer of your pond and deliver the bacteria treatment directly to the sludge.
These beneficial bacteria naturally occur in the lake and pond and are an important part of its ecosystem. They convert dead organic material into needed nutrients and are part of your pond’s food web for zooplankton, benthos, and other organisms.
