Pond bacteria exists in all ponds, large or small. However, there is both good and bad pond bacteria. The good bacteria (aerobic bacteria) exists to efficiently keep organic waste such as fish waste, excess food, dead vegetation and even fertilizer run-off broken down before they can cause water quality problems. The bad bacteria (anaerobic bacteria) is the bacteria that produces the offensive odors and poor water quality. Under certain conditions the pond's ecosystem gets out of balance and the natural levels of beneficial pond bacteria is unable to keep up with the waste levels of the pond. This can be due to over population of fish, over feeding or maybe a hard rain that washed high levels of debris into the pond.

When the beneficial pond bacteria becomes unable to degrade the waste in a timely manner, oxygen levels can drop and anaerobic bacteria starts to become prevalent producing hydrogen sulfide (odors) and poor water quality. By adding back into the pond commercially available beneficial pond bacteria, you are creating a scenario where the beneficial bacteria is once again outnumbering the bad bacteria and creating an ecological balance with in the pond again.

Because you never know exactly when your pond could get out of balance, it is highly advisable that pond owners add beneficial pond bacteria on a regular basis as often as weekly, but no more than monthly, depending on the pond. Also, because the good bacteria are highly influenced by oxygen, their benefits are greatly increased with the presence of an aerator or fountain. However, many of the pond bacteria formulations on the market today are created with beneficial bacteria that can exist with oxygen or even in very low oxygen levels.

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Casey Coke is a Marketing Manager for Natural Environmental Systems, LLC, a global supplier of microbial solutions for pond and lake management. The company markets their own brand of pond supplies under the registered brand name of Pond Keeper.