Picture of Gas Being Released from the Pond.
Pond & Lake Q & A
Q: I have an awful smell around my pond. What is causing it and is there anything I can do to get rid of it? – Hailey of Nebraska
A: I think we’ve all experienced this at one time or another. We’re outside, enjoying the spring breeze and decide to go wandering around the pond to maybe spot some frogs or to feed the fish. All of sudden you go to breathe in the fresh air and you quickly realize that it’s not so fresh after all. Your nostrils are engulfed with a distinct musky odor as you retreat away from the pond. Is it gas? Do you call the fire department? No. Call The Pond Guy. That sulfurous smell that finds its way around ponds is a common byproduct of a pond that is not aerated.
Non-aerated ponds stratify (layers in the pond have distinguished temperature differences) in the summer and winter, locking the bottom layer of water away for months. With no circulation, the oxygen is quickly used up down there, resulting in an anaerobic (functioning without oxygen) digestion process that is loosely equivalent to that of a cow’s stomach. Slow-moving anaerobic bacteria on the bottom use enzymes to ferment and digest the muck on the bottom. These bacteria produce waste products including carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell).
Most of the year, an un-aerated pond will smell fine because this buildup of nasty gasses stays locked away on the bottom. It is when the pond turns over (Spring/Fall temperature shift, strong weather event, etc.) that the foul-smelling gasses are released. Surprisingly, the foul smell is the least of the pond’s problems at this point. The release of this gas also signals that the inhospitable water that was stuck underneath has now mixed into the upper part where your fish are living. Wacky pH shifts, dissolved oxygen crashes, and algae blooms are a few of the byproducts of turnover, all of which have fish-kill potential.
The solution? Aerate like it’s your job! An Airmax Aeration System will keep the pond in a permanent state of motion, continuously venting gasses and providing oxygen to the bottom sediments. This allows the aerobic (good, oxygen loving) bacteria in the pond to inhabit the bottom sediments and work away at that ugly muck layer. Aerobic bacteria work similarly to plants in that that they use up the bad gasses and muck, and give off a little oxygen in return while working much more quickly than their anaerobic (cow’s stomach) counterparts. Supplement these bacteria with MuckAway or PondClear bacteria that will accelerate the decomposition process. Remember, keep that pond moving to keep that pond healthy and odor free.
POND TALK: Have you ever run into this odor problem? Tell us about it. What are you doing or have already done to get rid of it?
Filed under: Aeration, Pond & Lake | Tagged: Aeration, aeration system, awful smell, odor, odor around pond, pond aeration
Do you know an good dock suppliers?
Jeff,
Try Connect-A-Dock
http://www.connectadock.com
I don’t known a whole lot about them, but you may be able to start there.
I have an odor around my pond sometime and my pond is aerated. What could my problem be?
Richard,
Another possible reason for the odor smell with be from a form an algae called chara. Chara has a musky smell to it and at times can be pretty smelly. I would walk around the edges of your pond and look for something that looks like this: Chara
Hope this helps!
Sure, aeration helps a lot; but unless you fix what’s causing the problem, you’re probably wasting your effort. Think about why there’s stink in the first place. Most probably your pond is overfed with N and P leaching from the fertilizers that makes your lawns green. I aerated, added beneficial bacteria, and stopped using fertilizers. Did this for 2 years. My pond has been stink free and the water clear for at least 3-4 years since. Now, I don’t even aerate. Just don’t feed the pond!
Tony,
Great comment, my only thought is to keep aerating for the overall health of the pond and more importantly the fish. Other than that you are absolutely right, don’t feed the pond or keep it at least to a minimum.
What do you mean by “don’t feed the pond”?
Julie,
What I mean by feeding a pond is simply limiting the amount of organics that go into the pond in the first place. For instance grass fertilizers for your lawn, grass clippings from cutting the grass, leaves & twigs that fall from the trees. These organics, once they get into the pond, begin to breakdown into “muck”, which is what we were referring to above.
Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks for the comment!
i bought my house 2 years ago and the people before didnt take any care of the pond at all.at the worst spots there is about 2 ft of muck the pond is about 3/4 of acre i am trying to do what i can with a fountain and chemicals but its so mucky i cant tell the results should i keep in one area? we would like to use this pond to swim what are your sugestions? thanks
As for the muck, I would start by raking out as much as you can first using a Pond & Beach Rake. After that you can use MuckAway to continue to breakdown muck and other organics in the pond to help prevent future buildup.
As for the fountain, they are usually best placed in the center most part of the pond if you are trying to use it to aerate, however, fountains are not the best aerators when the depths of your pond are deeper than 6′. If this is the case I would utilize the fountain for more of a decoration and use an Airmax Aeration System to aeration and circulate the pond.
Hopefully this helps.