Green pond: this is how you fight algae with milk

To rid the pond of old people, you do not need to resort to chemical means. An old home remedy for fighting algae is cow's milk. This is an effective alternative to chemicals, especially in natural ponds.

Causes of Algae

Algae form in the pond when the balance is no longer correct. As a rule, there are microorganisms that are responsible for the self-cleaning of the pond, including lactic acid bacteria. However, if the nutrient content in the water increases, combined with heat, these organisms will eventually be overwhelmed and the water will tip over.
If the nutrient content in the water is too high, algae start to multiply suddenly. Stagnant waters in particular are often affected and thread algae and floating algae multiply in them. A small amount of different types of algae does not harm the inhabitants in the pond, but it is the burden of algae too high, this can lead to cloudiness of the water, including not only the pond inhabitants, but also aquatic plants To suffer.

Note: The cloudiness in the water reduces the incidence of light. As a result, aquatic plants can photosynthesize less and die in the long term.

Use lactic acid bacteria

Lactic acid in concentrated form is already available in specialist shops as a means of combating algae. However, commercially available cow's milk contains only a few lactic acid bacteria and is therefore only effective to a limited extent. Occasionally milk even exacerbates the problem because the protein and fats it contains can be additional food for algae species.
Raw milk has a slightly higher content of lactic acid bacteria. The lactic acid bacteria content can also be increased if you leave the cow's milk in the warm for a few days.

Apply milk

The use of cow's milk as a means of combating algae is controversial in terms of its mode of action. You should therefore always proceed with caution when using cow's milk.
Preferably use raw milk, which you use as follows:

• Let raw milk stand in the warm for a day
• Skim off the fat on the surface of the raw milk
• Pour raw milk into the water in a ratio of 1: 2500
• Mix the raw milk gently

For a small basin one liter is usually more than enough. If you only use a water barrel or an even smaller vessel as a mini pond, you should add a maximum of a small glass of raw milk to the water. With such small water vessels, it is sometimes even more useful if you approach the ideal content with very small amounts. This also applies if you do not know exactly how much water your pond will hold.

Alternative dairy products

Instead of using cow's milk to combat algae, it is more advisable to use dairy products with a higher concentration of lactic acid. An alternative is sour whey, which is created when the milk coagulates with the help of lactic acid bacteria. The advantage is that there is practically no fat left in the whey and the milk sugar is also significantly lower. Instead, the acid content is higher, which may have a negative impact on the pH value in the pond.
When using whey, follow these steps:

• Check pH value
• add whey when the pH is above 8
• Mix the whey in a ratio of 1: 2000
• Check the pH again
• should not fall below 7.5
• check again after 2 days

The algae bloom is favored, among other things, by a very high pH value. With the acidic whey you can not only fight the water algae, but also lower the pH value at the same time. This can also reduce the growth of the algae. Often this is even enough to combat the algae bloom.

Note: One advantage of whey is that it is not cloudy like cow's milk, but almost clear. This does not additionally reduce the incidence of light in the water.

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