Pond sludge is something a lot of people tend to ignore UNTIL there’s a problem. I think we can all relate to that. In the pond business, the sludge accumulates in the pond’s bottom and does not get adequate treatment until the situation becomes serious. It can also be caused by excess nitrification and bacteria, which is ever-growing as your bio-load increases.

Pond sludge will never go away if you don’t take steps to eradicate it or bring it under control. Your only other option is to replace the water every few weeks. That can get costly over time, so it makes sense to take action now because you’ll end up saving money in the long run.

WHAT IS SLUDGE?

Sludge is more than water with little magnitudes of solid material extracted from sewages, ponds, and lakes. Primary sludge includes settleable solids removed during primary treatment in primary clarifiers. Secondary sludge detached in secondary clarifiers includes treated pond sludge from secondary treatment bioreactors.

Treatment of Sludge

Sludge treatment is mainly about reducing sludge weight and quantity and reducing possible health risks of disposal options. Water removal is the primary means of weight and quantity reduction, while micro-organism termination is possible through heating during thermophilic digestion, composting, or combustion.

The choice of the sludge treatment process depends on the quantity of sludge produced and the comparison of treatment costs needed for available disposal options. Air-drying and composting may be attractive to rural communities. Simultaneously, finite land availability may make aerobic digestion and mechanical dewatering desirable for cities, and economies of scale may support municipality areas’ energy recovery options.

Causes Of Sludge

It may get energy from sludge through methane gas. During anaerobic digestion or through the combustion of sludge, it comes into existence but scant to vaporize sludge water content or power blowers, pumps, or centrifuges needed for dewatering.

Uncouth primary solids and secondary pond sludge may include toxic chemicals removed from ponds by adsorption onto solid particles in processed sludge. Reducing sludge quantity may up the level of concentration of some of these toxic chemicals in the sludge.

Sludge is also famous as Bio-solids. Bio-solid is a term frequently used in wastewater engineering publications and public relations. The water environment federation introduced the term bio-solid in the U.S. in 1998.

POND SLUDGE

Pond sludge is also known as; mulm, mucks, sediment, and a few more many-sided terms. It is simply an accretion of organic debris that settles in the pond bottom. For the most part, the pond sludge will be a combination of leaves, fish waste, decomposing plant debris, dead algae, and detritus washed into the pond with rain runoff.

This pond sludge is normal and under most circumstances will not constitute any portentous problems unless severe. A tenuous buildup is to be expected but if left unattended this will inspissate and start to cause some issues. The putrefaction process of the organic matter will reduce oxygen levels in the pond.

The debris will create anaerobic conditions. This oxygen-free zone can shelter harmful bacteria as well as produce hydrogen sulfide. The hydrogen sulfide will set about causing harm to other living things in the pond environment, starting with the beneficial bacteria. It can also create unpleasant odors in the pond.

PREVENTING POND SLUDGE

Pond sludge is a known problem in ponds, most especially during autumn and winter. In many ponds, sludge should not pose any portentous problems and a tenuous buildup is to be expected. Withal, if it is leftover for a longer period to accrue, it can start to form a crust over the top and become active in the absence of free oxygen.

Underneath this crust, a toxic degree of hydrogen sulfide can start to accumulate. If this crust is broken by a falling branch or passing fish, hydrogen sulfide percolates out into the pond water creating a perilous and smelly environment. If you ever smell rotten eggs in your pond, this is why.

You are not going to prevent pond sludge but there are for sure some steps that can be taken to lower the degree of buildup and thence palliate the potential harmful effects. Such steps are:

NUMBER OF FISH

An overpopulated pond is one of the most common causes of pond sludge. Fish produce a stupendous measure of organic waste (feces) that sinks to the bottom of the pond and starts to decay. Not only does this waste add to the stratum of sludge, but it will also start to permeate nutrients out into the water that can contribute to green water and algae in spring.

An overpopulated pond means less oxygen to assist in the disintegration of fish waste. Do your best to ensure you keep a fit number of fish relative to the size of your pond. We typically advise between 4 and 5 fish no bigger than 5” per 1,000 liters of water.

FEEDING FISH

As well as an overpopulated pond; the timing and kind of food you feed your fish can add to the sludge levels in your pond. Fish consume little during winter as their bodies call for less energy. If continually you feed your fish the same measure of food and as regularly during winter as autumn, they may not eat it.

This can break down, adding up to sludge levels. When temperatures start to drop below 10oC, consider changing to wheat-germ fish food. Due to its low protein content, wheat germ is easier for fish to digest. Uneaten food in real-time adds to the buildup of debris at the bottom of the pond.

FILTRATION

The user-friendly way to prevent the sludge in ponds is by installing and maintaining a good mechanical and biological pump and filtration system. A pump and filtration system will ensure that a queen-size quantity of organic waste is removed from the pond mechanically and gathered in the filters before it starts breaking down into sludge.

To conserve your filter, clean the channels weekly, lavation of any debris or sludge using a hosepipe. Add a beneficial bacteria product to your filter to biologically break down the organic waste.

AERATION

Raising the degree of dissolved oxygen in pond water will meliorate the ability of beneficial bacteria colonies to break down pond sludge. Along with helping to prevent sludge, this will among other things help your fish should the sludge levels increase and become more harmful.

The increased oxygen level in the pond should minify the negative effect hydrogen sulfide will have if sludge levels become too dangerous. Add an oxygen stone or fountain to the pond to improve aeration and oxygen levels.

MANICURING AQUATIC PLANTS

As the temperature drops and the growth of aquatic plants are on a decline, they start to drop foliage into the pond water which can ultimately lead to sludge. Ensure to trim back plants when they start to die and remove any floating debris.

LEAF AND TWIG NETTING

One of the biggest contributing factor to pond sludge are fallen leaves and twigs during autumn. Within a matter of days, the dead leaves will start to decompose, immediately increasing the level of pond sludge. Depending on the species of tree that these leaves have fallen from, they may contain tannins which can leach out into your water, turning it brown.

To minimize the volume of leaves entering your pond during autumn and winter, install a fine net to catch any debris. If you don’t want a net restricting your fish’s view, we would recommend collecting debris from the surface once a day with a net.

BENEFICIAL BACTERIA

Finally, if debris, fish food, or fish waste do start to decay in your pond and add up to sludge levels, it is essential to have beneficial bacteria in the pond to break down these materials. Adding beneficial bacteria to your pond will keep bacterial colonies healthy and create a thriving ecosystem within the water.

CLEANING POND SLUDGE

These days, a complete pond drain is not usually necessary and should only be your last resort. A public misconception is that you need to drain old pond water before it can be soundly clean. But not all mature water is bad quality water; the opposite is often true with the water containing micro-organisms which help to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.

Tips To Clean The Pond Sludge

  • Whenever possible, it is best to keep as much mature pond water as you can to maintain the population of micro-organisms. Topping up with tap water after draining without first dechlorinating will cause more disturbance to the balance.
  • Chlorine, whilst making tap water safe for us to drink, is toxic to aquatic life. Small water changes – or small top-ups where evaporation has occurred – may be healthful at times. You should consider using rainwater (collected in water butts) or tap water that has been dechlorinated in such an instance.

Best Time to Clean Pond Sludge

The best times for cleaning pond sludge are at the start of spring or during autumn. It is advantageous to run a small spring clean when the water temperature rises, and the fish become more active. You should implement a quick check on the filter, removing any floating debris, trimming aquatic plants, and adding pond supplements to give things a boost.

Then, mid-late autumn is a perfect time for intensive cleaning. By then, the breeding period would be over, and insects such as dragonflies and water beetle will have mature and can safely leave for other ponds. Also, most trees and shrubs would have dropped most of their leaves, and they can be netted off the pond.

Things To Keep In Mind While Cleaning Pond Sludge

During the intensive pond cleaning, you should consider netting off floating debris such as leaves, twigs, dead insects, e.t.c. If the pond is sited in a region where it receives a lot of waste, you should invest in a pond skimmer, collecting the debris regularly. For little ponds, floating or submerged skimmers are perfect. And for more extensive ponds, box skimmers are the most effective.

For small ponds, aqua pond care sludge control substance or tonic can be used to eliminate pond sludge. This product brings in specific types of bacteria to the pond, which ingests sludge without reducing the pond oxygen levels and is not toxic to fish, plants, or other living things.

Pond Vacuums

Larger ponds, however, need a heavy-duty approach. In years gone by, pond vacuums have made this job less strenuous, less unpleasant, and nowhere near as time-consuming. Pond vacuums function in almost the same way as a household vacuum cleaner; except that they work with water and pond debris rather than air and household dirt.

Lastly, don’t vacuum during the summer when amphibians and insects are reproducing. After removing sludge from the bottom of the pond, it is advisable to wait a couple of weeks before conducting maintenance on the pond filter.

This is because no careful pond cleaning has been conducted; some beneficial bacteria may have been lost. So rather than risk losing more beneficial bacteria by cleaning the filter simultaneously, it is more reasonable to wait a short while, allowing the bacteria to build back up its population before cleaning the filter on a different day.

OTHER WAYS TO REMOVE POND SLUDGE
  1. SIPHON

If your budget does not allow for pond vacuum and you have an area near the pond that is lower than the pond level, then you can start a siphon with a section of the hose; once the siphon has started, run the hose along the pond bottom where the debris’ bulk is located. This will involve removing a significant amount of water, so you will need a de-chlorinator for topping the pond off.

2.    COMPLETE POND DRAIN

If the sludge and debris buildup have gotten a few inches thick or you cannot solve the issue with the other methods, you may need to resort to complete cleaning of the pond. We typically try to avoid this as it destroys the balance in place and restarts the pond ecosystem from scratch. If this is the step you take, you will need temporary housing for the fish during this process. You can use your existing pump or sump pump to remove the bulk of the water and then a wet/dry vacuum to remove the sludge and remaining water from the bottom.

A water garden is a functioning ecosystem that requires some oversight from us as pond keepers. Taking the steps to maintain the water feature helps ensure a beautiful and healthy pond and in the long run, maximizes our enjoyment of our pond.