Emerald Isle Turf Product Answers

Aquatics Management

The role of bioremediation in aquatics management

The goal of a bioremediation program is to use natural bacterial management to provide clearer, cleaner water without harmful side effects. Sooner or later, your ponds will be affected by an overabundance of nutrients resulting from fertilizer run-off and organic decay. Algae is a natural outgrowth of this condition. Frequently, aquatics managers will control this problem with algaecides. Algaecides can create a negative cycle upon repeated use. The dead algae release nutrients that become a food source for additional algae growth. Algaecides also kill the beneficial microorganisms which keep the pond in balance and can negatively impact fish and other wildlife.

An effective alternative to algaecides may be a bioaugmentation material, containing both aerobic and facultative bacteria. Facultative bacteria are important because they do not need free oxygen, but instead use compounds such as nitrates as a substitute for oxygen in their metabolic processes.

Scientifically selected bacteria are designed to digest excess nutrients in the water column, particularly nitrogen.

They also bind phosphorous.

They ingest floating or suspended organic matter in the water,visibly improving water clarity and quality.

They metabolize organic matter in the sludge layer, reducing sludge content.

Because it's all part of a natural cycle, when algae cycles drop, equilibrium returns to the pond and microbe levels also drop. Continuing to add these bioaugmentation materials on a regular basis will keep your ponds in natural balance.

What is an acre-foot?

When measuring for aquatics applications, a typical unit of measure is one acre-foot. This unit of measure encompasses one acre of surface area, in water averaging one foot deep.

As an example, a pond that had two acres of surface area, and was on average four feet deep, would be eight acre-feet.

One acre/ft equals 326,000 gallons of water and is 1,234 square meters.

Typically, pond colors have a rate of one gallon per four acre/ft, or one packet per acre/ft.

What if your pond is choked with algae?

If your pond is choked with algae, you may want to treat with an algaecide first, wait 10-12 days, and then begin to treat with Bac Man. Bac Man will restore favorable bacteria and balance to the pond.

Is Bac Man effective in every pond?

About 75% of the time, these materials are effective in algae control. If you are not sure whether these products will work for your problem, we offer a simple and effective test that will tell you if Bac Man will work for your ponds, BEFORE YOU BUY THE PRODUCT. This is exclusive to Bac Man, and is available from your Bac Man distributor, or e-mail us for more details.

The test kit contains fast effective tests that can be performed on site to determine the range of variables and whether your pond will effectively use Bac Man. These include pH, Nitrogen level, Phosphate level and water temperature. the test kit tells you the ranges in which Bac Man is effective.