Bottom Sludge and clogging Pond Filters

Every Pond Filter needs to be cleaned and
most of them might clog at some point or another,
but Pond Filter maintenance can be kept to a minimum.

Every Pond develops bottom sludge and many Pond Owners, unfortunately,
feel they have to completely drain and clean out the Pond each year.

These two items are related, both clogging Pond Filters and a lot of bottom sludge indicate lots of decomposing organic waste.

This waste is produced by a myriad of sources, among them fish waste,
leaves, grass and debris that blows into the pond,
uneated fish food, dying algae and many other things.

Reducing these contributing factors to a minimum
will reduce both Pond and Filter maintenance.

How to do that?

Think of Beneficial Bacteria as your best friends!

Assuming the Pond has an adequately sized Pond Filter,
using Beneficial Bacteria religiously and the right kind of Bacteria for the job
and the time of year goes a long way toward keeping these problems in check!

Use Beneficial Bacteria formulated for Spring to digest dead leaves and small twigs (use a net to fish out bigger quantities first),
an all-purpose or Summer formula to deal with the increase in fish waste and
Pond Plant debris and a cold weather formula in Autumn and warmer periods in the Winter to keep cleaning up things as they blow in the Pond.

Make sure the pH of the Pond Water is in acceptable range.
Beneficial Bacteria colonies grow much faster and digest waste much more efficiently if the pH is within the 7.0 - 8.0 range.