Pond Wizard

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Oxygen Levels
It is important to have enough oxygen in the water when Pond Wizard is used as it contains aerobic micro-organisms. If it is used in a pond without sufficient oxygen, its effectiveness will be reduced. It could also deprive fish of oxygen. If there is any doubt about the oxygen levels then start with a reduced application and watch the fish carefully. Then continue to add the full amount over a few days. If the fish move to the surface, they are not receiving enough oxygen and aeration will be required immediately. Aeration equipment is widely available from aquatic retailers and on the internet.

What are the benefits of using Pond Wizard in ponds?
Pond Wizard will give three basic benefits to the pond keeper. It will reduce and remove nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in the pond water that feed algae. As a result, blanketweed (string algae) and algae bloom (green water) die of starvation. Secondly, Pond Wizard will digest waste organic matter in the pond. Thirdly, Pond Wizard will improve the health, growth and disease resistance of fish.Should I use Pond Wizard to remove blanketweed and algae bloom?For all general garden ponds in which organic waste arises from fish excrement, from surplus food or from wind carried leaves and grasses, we recommend Pond Wizard.

How is Pond Wizard applied?
Pond Wizard is a dry powder. We advise that the appropriate amount be mixed into water and allowed to stand for a few hours. The water should be taken from the pond. Ideally it should be mixed in the morning and applied to the pond in the evening. Also some air should be introduced into the solution via the use of an air stone or regular whisking. Never leave the solution for more than 24 hours before applying to the pond.

Should Pond Wizard be put into the pond or into the filter?
Most people put the solution of Pond Wizard directly into the pond although some put the concentrated solution directly into the filter.

How frequently should Pond Wizard be used and how long does it last in the pond?
Some of our customers make one application and then see no more blanketweed for over one full year. Others keep blanketweed at bay for a few months with one application. However, a minority of pondkeepers need more than one dose to suppress blanketweed. Remember, every pond is different but we recommend regular maintenance doses.

Should the pondkeeper apply maintenance doses of Pond Wizard?
Yes. It makes sense to consider the application of maintenance doses of Pond Wizard. However, unlike recommendations for some other products, we do not suggest what these should be. We advise that nitrate levels should be regularly checked and used as a guide as to when more Pond Wizard should be added.

How quickly does Pond Wizard work?
Many people see blanketweed dying back within 4 to 5 days. For others it does take longer. For most people it occurs within about 3 weeks. If, after this time, no noticeable change has taken place, then apply a second dose.

What happens as the Pond Wizard starts to work?
The colour of the blanketweed starts to change from green towards brown. It also becomes brittle and pieces break off. Some people have reported that pH levels in the pondwater increase as the blanketweed dies.

Should the blanketweed be removed before applying Pond Wizard?
We would advise that as much of the blanketweed as possible should be wound out before the Pond Wizard is applied. This will reduce the need to clean up weed debris after it has died. It will also keep better control over rising pH levels.

Is Pond Wizard safe for fish?
Yes, Pond Wizard is safe for fish. It was initially formulated for use in commercial fish farming to improve the growth, health and disease resistance of the fish. The fact that it suppressed algae growth by removing the nutrients on which algae feed turned out to be a bonus.

What effect has Pond Wizard on the health of fish?
Pond Wizard improves the health of fish. They eat better and grow quicker. They are less prone to fungal and bacterial diseases. Many of our customers have referred to their fish becoming 'more lively'.

How does Pond Wizard improve the health and disease resistance of the fish?
The reason why a fish succumbs to a bacterial or fungal disease is the bacteria or fungi that form the disease have become predominant. If the pond system were kept in better balance and the disease microbes had greater competition, then they would not become predominant and form the disease. The micro-organisms in Pond Wizard are present in huge numbers and in a number of different species. They do not remove the disease forming species but compete with them for food and space and keep their numbers down so they do not take over.

What does Pond Wizard do to aeromonas?
Aeromonas bacteria, which can cause severe problems to the health of fish, particularly in koi ponds, is kept at bay in the same way as other pathogenic microbes by the competitive action of the micro-organisms in Pond Wizard.

Is Pond Wizard safe for other wildlife?
Yes, there is no problem for other wildlife, eg newts and, frogs.

Does Pond Wizard harm plants?
No, Pond Wizard does no harm to plants. However, because Pond Wizard reduces nitrate levels in the water, plants may grow less strongly. For example, leaves of, say, water lilies grow less vigorously but the bonus is that they should flower better.

Does the Pond Wizard include chemicals?
No. The Pond Wizard products are micro-organism based and the method of operation is biological and not chemical. Pond Wizard contains a number of species of micro-organism. In addition there are support nutrients which are included in the mixes. These include humic and fulvic acids formed in nature from vegetation and amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins.What about the use of salt in koi ponds?There is some evidence that using salt can inhibit the effect of Pond Wizard. We have had reported by one customer that salt levels of over half an ounce per gallon can affect Pond Wizard. We remain unsure about this.What about magnets?Magnetic blanketweed control gadgets do not affect the microbes in Pond Wizard.

Can I use Pond Wizard with chemicals?
Any fungicidal chemical that knocks back the microbes in a filter system will also knock back the microbes in our Pond Wizard products. Wait until these chemicals have dissipated. An example of such a chemical is potassium permanganate. However, other chemicals that are known not to affect microbes can be used at the same time as Pond Wizard. Many people use branded herbicides to remove blanketweed and these types of products would not normally lower the efficacy of Pond Wizard. However, it still would be best to leave a gap of a few days between using any injurious chemical and using Pond Wizard.

How do water changes affect the effectiveness of Pond Wizard?
Obviously as water is removed from a pond, the microbes in that water will be lost. However, because micro-organisms are always growing and multiplying as long as there is food and space available, those that remain in the pond will increase in numbers until a microbial balance is reached. One customer told us that he lost approximately 85% of his water shortly after applying Pond Wizard. Our product went on to clear his blanketweed.

What does Pond Wizard do to the micro-organisms in the filter?
Pond Wizard helps to maintain an efficient biological filter as it contains microbes that are used in the nitrifying process in the filter.

Is Pond Wizard temperature dependent?
Yes, Pond Wizard works best in water temperatures above about 10°C (50°F). However, it will work in lower temperatures but more sluggishly.

Can Pond Wizard be overdosed?
There is no problem with overdosing Pond Wizard. Many people put in increased amounts to speed things up. It is organic and not a chemical.

What effect does Pond Wizard have on nitrate and phosphate?
Pond Wizard removes the nitrate arising from the biological filter. Nitrate is formed from the conversion of nitrite that in turn has be oxidised from ammonia. Nitrate can be reduced to zero within a few days and kept at zero by the action of the microbes in Pond Wizard. Phosphate is also reduced but usually much more slowly. When the nitrate level in the pondwater is zero or very, very low there is no food available for the algae - either blanketweed or algae bloom.

Do pH levels affect Pond Wizard?
We are finding that, in high pH water, Pond Wizard seems to take longer to work.

What is the effect of UV light and UV filters of Pond Wizard?
It is widely accepted that ultra violet light from the sky does destroy bacteria. In order to protect the bacteria in Pond Wizard, we recommend that the solution of the product be applied to the pond in the evening, during low daylight levels followed by a period of darkness. We also recommended that UV filters be turned off as the UV light from them again could affect the efficacy of the product. However, we now believe that UV filters can be left on as the intensity of the emitted light is generally not enough to kill bacteria. UV lights are primarily used to agglomerate algae bloom, the clumps of which are caught up in the physical filter. Pond Wizard removes the nutrients on which both blanketweed and algae bloom live, so there should be no need to use a UV filter once the nitrate levels have been taken to zero. It is still advisable to apply the product to the pond in the evening as the intensity of UV from daylight, even on bright cloudy is considerably greater than the UV from pond filters.

What is the shelf life of Pond Wizard?
The Pond Wizard microbial products are purposely put out as soluble powders. The Pond Wizard range, unlike microbial products in liquid form, have unlimited shelf lives if kept dry. There is a tendency for the powder to solidify over time. There is no problem with this. Liquid microbial products deteriorate over time. The end user of a liquid product is usually uncertain of its shelf life. Also, the end user might not know how long it has been in the supply chain since manufacture.

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