Featured Product: Sludge Klear

What is Pond Sludge?

Pond sludge is the thick brown layer of muck and grime found at the bottom of your pond.

This grime gives off the smell of rotten eggs or hydrogen sulphide when disturbed. It is formed from a build-up of sediment that sinks to the bottom of the pond and begins to rot. This build-up can be made up of things like excess fish food, fish waste & debris such as leaves and twigs.

For the most part, pond sludge is impenetrable to oxygen and as a result, this sludge will begin smothering the good, aerobic bacteria and algae whilst producing bad, anaerobic bacteria.

Do Pond Sludge Removers Work?

There is regular debate around whether sludge removers work. This depends on the type of sludge remover in question.

If you are looking at chemical sludge removers then yes, they may work, but your pond has millions of living organisms in there; whilst the chemicals might not be strong enough to harm your fish, they will certainly be harming the good bacteria and algae that your pond needs.

On the other hand, natural, bacterial pond sludge removers are completely safe for all living organisms found in your pond and produce safer, better results than chemicals.

Bacterial sludge removers penetrate the sludge and break down the anaerobic bacteria which allows the sludge to pass through to your filters. When using Sludge Klear, please be prepared to have to clean your filters every couple of days!

What Eats Pond Sludge?

With sludge being a natural part of their diet, bottom feeding fish are a great addition to your pond. You could try adding a couple of Tench or a few Gudgeon as these are both bottom feeders, but they don’t feed on the sludge itself. They might disturb the sludge when looking for food, but they won’t intentionally eat the sludge.

The best thing for eating pond sludge is bacteria and enzymes. The bacteria found in Sludge Klear is designed to break down the sludge at the bottom of your pond and enable it to pass through your filter.

You could always attack it from both angles by introducing bottom-feeding fish and bacteria. The fish will disturb the sludge, making it easier for the enzymes and bacteria to digest.

Is Pond Sludge Good for The Garden?

We have been asked on a couple of occasions if the sludge found at the bottom of your pond can be used as compost in your garden. Short answer, yes it can.

The sludge in your pond has absorbed many of the excess, useful nutrients in your pond and can be used to pass these on to your garden plants. Ideally, there shouldn’t be a thick enough layer of sludge in your pond to need to use it in the garden, so keep your sludge down with Sludge Klear.

Add it to your compost bin

If you only have a thin layer of sludge, we would advise you to just use Sludge Klear and keep the layer thin. If your layer of sludge is thick, remove some by hand and place it in your compost bin.

After removing some of the sludge by hand, we recommend using Sludge Klear to digest any of the remaining sludge and improve the condition of your pond.  Be careful when removing the sludge if you have a pond liner as they can be very costly to replace or repair if you rip them.