This question has two very good answers:
Q. This is the second year in which my water garden is experiencing foam on its surface. There is no foam in the waterfalls area nor the stream that runs down to the main pond. The foam is only in the main pond. I have tried anti-foam products, but they are short-lived and the foam returns. Why am I getting the foam? How can I get rid of it?
-South Windsor, Connecticut
A. There are multiple factors that could be playing a role with the foam in your pond.
This is a common problem in ponds that have excess organic matter building up in the water. This excess organic matter can be caused by breakdown of debris in the bottom of the pond or an excess amount of fish in the pond.
Things that you should look for would be excess debris such as leaves, sludge, fish waste, or algae building up in the bottom of the pond. If this is the case you can use a product called Sludge Away, which is made by Microbe-Lift. This product will break down the debris at the bottom of the pond, and eliminate the problem that you are having with the foam.
The other thing that you should check is the amount of fish that you have in the pond. Excess fish means excess fish waste, which can also be a cause of foam forming in the pond. In order to figure out if you have too many fish you need to know how many gallons of pond water that you have. The equation that you need to use is:
Avg. Length x Avg. Width x Avg. Depth x 7.5 = Gallons
You should have no more than one inch of fish size per ten gallons of water. So if you have a one hundred gallon pond that means you can have ten inch of fish in the pond. Adding dechlorinator to the pond will resolve the foaming issue due to too many fish in the pond; however, this is only a temporary solution to the problem.
These are typically the two most common causes of foam on the waters surface. The only other possibility is that your filter is undersized for the pond volume. If this is the case you are going to want to either add an additional filter, or replace the one that you have with a larger one.
-Brian Beenes, Sid’s Home & Garden Showplace
Palos Hills & Bolingbrook, Illinois
And another answer!
A. Do you have fish? If yes, the foam could be created by the fish mating. The male fish release proteins when they mate and undissolved protein in your pond will cause foaming. If this is the case, the problem should be short-lived. Also, after you apply an anti-foam product such as Aquascape’s EcoFoam Away, follow it up with a heavy dose of a liquid bacteria like AquaClearer Extreme Liquid bacteria.
Jennifer Zuri
Aquascape, Inc.
www.aquascapeinc.com
