Suggestion needed for smelly black muck

Question

Hello,

I recently began using your Pond Bacteria with Barley Extract and Concentrated Pond Dye and the pond is looking pretty good. It is a 2 acre, 4 foot deep pond (storm water retention basin) in my community that I am overseeing. However, I have noticed that there is one small area of the pond that has smelly black muck. According to my research that is a symptom of significantly low oxygen levels. We have 3 submerged diffusers and a surface fountain going so I'm not sure why just that area is problematic. Is there a product I can use to spot treat that particular area?

I would appreciate any assistance you have to offer,

Julie

Answer 1

Hi Julie,

We have had very good success rates with the Pond Bacteria with Barley Straw Extract for combatting issues such as algae and murky water. Combined with the pond dye the results are very good and we're glad you have been pleased with how things have turned out for your group. The Pond Keeper dry bacteria pouches are very effective as you have seen.

If you have one small area of smelly muck then it is likely a spot in the pond that has high stagnation and low oxygen levels. While you may have multiple botoom diffusers in the pond the circulation provided by the three diffusers might not be enough to effect all areas of the pond and this stinky zone might just be an area where nothing is moving and there is a build-up of organic materials that are decomposing and cuasing smells.

The surface fountain will assist in adding oxygen to the water but usually a fountain is only pumping a few hundred gallons per hour into the air so the total addition of dissolved oxygen might not be high. Depending on the spray pattern of the fountain you will have varying degrees of oxygen transfer. A wider spray pattern with thick spray will provide a higher transfer level while a taller stream through a nozzle might create a more majestic display but the thinner stream will lead to a lower atmospheric air to liquid transference.

If there is a build-up of organic muck then you could use a Muck Pellet which is a weighted capsule of natural bacteria that is tossed into an area in the style of feeding the chickens and the pellets will sink into the muck and working with the existing ocyegen levels will actually consume and reduce the muck in that area. This is why your use of diffusers and a floating fountain aerator are imp[ortant as they help these pellets eat up the muck. Without enough oxcygen these sorts of pond bacteria are less effective so if you want to target a specific area and reduce the muck then you can actually achieve a reduxction of from 6 to 18 inches per year with an agressive treatment using the pond muck pellets.