“I’m pond scum. Well, lower actually. I’m like the fungus that feeds on pond.”
I’m confident every woman knows where that line is from. Julian Potter, played by Movie star Julia Roberts, uttered this in My Best Friend’s Wedding. She was sorry for trying to halt the wedding ceremony of her best friend, whom she developed emotions for.
But if women are familiar with the line and may have heard it again and again after continuously enjoying the romantic flick, are they even aware of what pond scum is?
From the line, it seems apparent that pond scum is among the lowest tiers of the world. Makes you not want to be what it is. Well, you don’t strive to be pond scum. It is a type of algae that forms a green blanket on a stagnant pond.
You don’t desire to be pond scum and you surely don’t want pond scum in your fish pond. So part of knowing how to build a pond is to learn how to stop fish pond scum from forming.
Fish pond scum is a kind of problem in both garden ponds and lakes and like the cliché, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure,” it’s always best to stop the fish pond scum from developing rather than having to treat it.
Stopping pond scum from forming is fairly easy. Just be certain that sunlight doesn’t get to the bottom part of the bed because that is where fish pond scum starts. Only, you don’t notice pond scum until it is floating on the surface but it actually builds up at the bottom. You don’t necessarily have to stop sunlight from getting into the fish pond. Sunlight continues to be helpful if you’re farming fish and other seafood in the fish pond. Just don’t make the light reach the bed.
This is one of the things to consider when you study how to build a pond. A partial shade that only permits sunlight in the surface should be integrated in making ponds.
If the pond scum is already there, it is possible to take it out with a pool net. But by then, it has already started its population. So you have to place treatment in the water to destroy the scum.
Among the more popular remedies are copper substance and contact weed killer. Here’s a tip, don’t try to treat the entire pond scum. Just treat about a third because it will have an effect on the available oxygen for the water animals.
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