Pond Chenicals

Doug, what pond chemicals do I really need?

Doug says

I'm not sure you really need any with the possible exception of a bacterial pick-me-up in the early spring to jump-start your pond's natural ecosystem. I note the pond will start anyway all by itself but the bacteria gets it going faster.

Other pond chemicals are simply band-aids for eco-system or structural problems in the pond.

My preference would be to solve the underlying problem - rather than applying a chemical bandaid that's might have other consequences.

But that's not what the chemical companies would have you do. They're selling "magic bullets" and that's the business they're in.

I'm a gardener and suggest you can solve any problem in the pond without the use of chemicals.

To head off a "fish-related" question - my sense of fish diseases after nearly 30 years of keeping fish is that most of the problems are stress related. Remove the stress and the problems don't start. It may be necessary to treat fish to remove the effect of the stress but if you don't remove the cause, you're just getting on a treadmill. Remove the stress on your fish and you won't see problems there. But yes, sick fish should be treated with the appropriate pond chemicals.

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