The more I look at the pond it looks almost like iron. The rocks on the edge of the pond have a red coating on them. I had a bucket in the pond and when I pulled it out, it had a red coating or slim on it.

Hey there, Lynn. Twelve feet deep is very deep. My first thought is circulation but how about more information? Do you have a pump and filtration system? What kind of rocks do you have? Do you have a liner? Do you test the water? Is there any iron in the water like a rusty decoration? Is there any debris on the bottom? Do you have any runoff entering the pond? Is there a bad odor? Anything could be the right clue. A photo might help.

I forgot to mention that rotting peat moss in flower pots can be a problem.

We have a little run off coming in, a few large boulders in the bottom, and I put some pebbles on the edge of one side last summer for my kids. I am thinking after doing lots of research that it is iron bacteria. We do not have filter or pump, or a liner. It is a large man made pond. My husband did just put a pump in today to recirculate the water b/c what I read about iron bacteria is that it needs aeration. The pebbles around the edge seem to have red/brown sediment that you might find in a shower with iron in the water. It has a slight smell. It also has almost an oil slick to it that was my clue of the iron bacteria. Any suggestions on iron bacteria?

Lynn, Did you run across the article (link below) during your research?
I would tend to think that there is a natural source of iron in the ground, surrounding the pond ( the bog?) and the run-off into the pond is causing the problem. It sounds as if the bacteria has built up over the winter months.

I don't know if the normal filtration methods, we use in our garden ponds, would be enough to combat this problem.
The control methods mentioned in the article, to combat the problem of iron bacteria, are not feasible, if there are fish and amphibians using the pond.
Maybe our old buddy DRH could post his thoughts on this subject? I'll try and awaken him from his hibernation!
"Horton"

Here is a link that might be useful: Iron bacteria

That is an interesting article, Horton. Thank you for posting the link. I have seen water filled debris like tin cans that were colored with this bacteria. I always thought the brittle oily coating on the surface was from automobile exhaust. You can learn something new every day!

I suspect the only thing that will work for this pond is aeration. It seems certain that the iron is a natural part of this environment and the problem is going to happen again and again without a fountain or two keeping enough oxygen in the water.

Good observation about the discarded tin cans Sandy, that is the very bacteria, on a much larger scale obviously, that is affecting Lynn's pond. I believe you are right,aggressive aeration would help control it, if not eliminate the problem completely.

I think the "Prof" must be in a really deep sleep, as I note the lack of response from him. Maybe he isn't an Iron Man after all?????
More Titanium, I should think!LOL
"Horton"

Not asleep....thinking, or contemplating my navel. Will reply soonish.
---David

Prof, that must account for the whirring sound and the lint flitting through the air!!
Should have known you would be on the case!
"H"

Hi Lynn,
First of all: Congratulations! As best I can remember this is a first for this question!!! Maybe others can recall questions about iron bacteria but I cannot. Sandy has put her finger on part of the problem: we need additional information in order to provide advice. I will confess that I dont think I have any answers but I have a few half-baked ideas that might indicate what is going on. At this point it would appear that you are pretty convinced that you have iron bacteria and not something like Didymo, more commonly known as "Rock Snot" - IÂve listed a website below to provide further information. The characteristic oily sheen and orange deposits on surfaces is probably the best diagnostic although, as they say, a picture would be worth a thousand words! You didnÂt indicate what your water source is for you pond. Is this a municipal water source or a well or is it naturally fed by spring or stream? The reason for this question: municipal sources are very unlikely to provide any iron in the water. Other sources: older houses sometimes have an iron nipple connecting copper pipes to faucets - it was a "code thing" many years ago but leads to iron release in the water, staining of fixtures in the bathroom, etc. If you are on well water (and that is what you are using to fill your pond) then your most recent water analysis should indicate the presence of any iron - if you havenÂt had one run recently it might not be a bad idea (donÂt bother if itÂs municipal). Check the pH and also the alkalinity of your pond water. You can always dump in 4-6 cups of sodium bicarbonate - baking soda - to lock the pH and improve the alkalinity. The only reason I mention this is to keep any a potential for pH crashes happening - something that can sometimes be tied in with sulfur and iron utilization by bacteria. Unlikely, but why not prevent it anyway?
YouÂve not indicated whether your bog area is tied directly into you pond or if it is just physically nearby. Did you construct the bog area? If so what did you use. I have a bog area that is directly tied into the pond (through diffusion, no direct flow). It was filled with a 50-50 mix of sand and peat moss. No iron problems. Since you apparently have no liner what is the clay/soil like? Your personal page information doesnÂt indicate where you live but if you have "red clay" or similar soil structure that could potentially be the source of the iron. Alternatively spring-fed systems can also be high in iron.
IÂm assuming youÂve checked for any rocks or decorative iron "things" that might be in or around your pond. WeÂve got a couple of frog sculptures that appear to be greenish-copper color but are really made of cast iron and coated to look as if it was aged copper.

So now what. Horton has pulled a very nice website that gives a description of iron water chemistry. Basically what I THINK you are dealing with is referred to as pore-water chemistry. If you had the apparatus and instruments to examine the first inch or two of the soil layer in your pond (or, for that matter, any deposits accumulated in the bottom of the pond) youÂd find that they are probably anaerobic (no oxygen) after youÂve penetrated the surface just a few millimeters - say a 1/4 to ½ inch. Yep, it gets depleted that fast! In that environment, as indicated in HortonÂs Wikipedia reference, iron is "solublized" and is able to diffuse to the surface. Right at the surface of this mix bacteria and oxygen increase in concentration with the result the iron is oxidized to the ferric (+3) state and subsequently precipitates. IF the iron source is in the soil lining your pond then I suspect there is very little you can do about it other than install a liner. Increasing the oxygen levels in your water will help since higher dissolved oxygen levels will cause the iron precipitation to occur deeper in the surface of the pore water/mud layer. Having increased flow through the pond will help in that it will also help promote higher concentrations of oxygen at the mud/water interface. The conventional methods for control listed for wells (typically using bleach) - probably something youÂve already come across - wonÂt really work with your pond since it is very likely to become rapidly repopulated with the iron bacteria. Plus it would mean cleaning everything out of the pond, etc.
The aquasphere ball that you purchased from GardenerÂs Supply has nothing to do with your problem. If this is similar to what they were selling a few years ago - back then it was a plastic model - it was nothing more than a way of holding barley straw in your water. Back then you could pry it apart, refill with barley straw and re-use it! Now, of course, theyÂve supposedly made it more eco-friendly by making it out of a corn-based product which ...."naturally" ..... means you can only use it once then have to buy a new one! I probably ought to drive up there and double check (their website fails to really tell you much of anything) but IÂm pretty sure it is just a fancy container for barley straw.
I wish I could think of something that would be more helpful. IÂd consult a book on alchemy if I thought itÂd help. I even thought of having Horton run around naked in his backyard at midnight baying at the moon for three nights in a row (itÂs the strongest incantation I could possibly imagine!!!) but doubt anything would really help other than what has already been discussed. But thank you for bringing a new question to the table!
ÂDavid

I am sorry I don't have anything to back this up, and my geology is pretty thin. A lot of that debris and rubbish I saw was located down a rough hollar, where worn out stuff was hauled before there was a local dump. There were a number of natural mineral springs that came up through layers of shattered shale. There were also places where water cascaded out of the mountain face which was also shale. Lots of the shale was covered in what looked like wet rust and an oil that was deep in the surface of the shale. Fascinating colors!! It wasn't a place my mother wanted to find me but I was curious at that age. Some of that stuff came from before the civil war. One thing that was very noticeable was the smell. It was sort of like the odor from an iron skillet that had gotten too hot. The stuff that floated on the top of the water in the cans reminded me of mica. If you stirred it around, it shattered into iridescent flakes. Does any of that sound familiar, Lynn?

Thanks Prof, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to Lynn's post.
So when science cannot come up with a definitive answer......the naked truth and bare facts could come into play eh!!??
Now I'll have to go around the neighbourhood putting the signs up AGAIN, requesting people to keep their dogs inside for three nights.
Let's hope it warms up!!
"H"

Ok, where to start. I live in central New Hampshire. I will try to post a photo this weekend. The red color is not as bright as it used to, but it is very brown and cloudy. Last year, we could see almost to the bottom, this year, I can hardly see to the bottom at the edge. We made the pond last year, and it is in an area that used to be wet. It is close to a bog area about 100 feet away. And no we didn't make it. What else, I tested the ph about a month ago and it was 6.5. But I will do that again. The soil around the pond when I did into it is gray/blackish and smells awful. We have an artesian well for drinking and i should mention that is smells like rotten eggs sometimes, so my guess is that we also have high sulfur as well. We don't have any debris in the water but the sediment on the rocks is still apparent. We have gotten rain for 2 days so I am noticing the oil appearance seems gone. I will read the two articles as well. Do you think I should still put the baking soda in? When the pond was made, there was no liner put in or or any other filler. The overflow from the well fills the pond, and it is a wet area as I stated. As far as the rock snot, what could I do for that? Do you think a waterpump with a filter would be better than a fountain to aerate?

After looking at the pond again tonight. The oil sheen is still there, just not as prominent with the rain. The water is still brown with a red tint. It is just really hard to see in the water. It is almost cloudy. Around the edges on the rocks you can see the red sediment. After researching rock snot, it doesn't look like that, more like the images of iron bacteria. I will retake the ph and take a photo this weekend. Thanks for all of your help.

Hi Lynn,
I didnt mean to mislead you on the Didymo but thought it important to cover the bases. From everything youve described I believe youve got iron bacteria and dissolved iron in your system/pond. A pH of 6.5 is low (unless youre raising some types of African fish!) so adding a bit of baking soda "might" help. If you have continuous flow from your well into the pond it will only wash out whatever you do in terms of pH adjustment or adding other "stuff" which is why I said it "might" help. Check the pH of your well water while youre at it. Yes, the rotten egg smell in your well is from hydrogen sulfide dissolved in the water. The fact that you have sulfides would also lead me to believe that the oxygen levels are fairly low or non-existent in your well water which would in turn help solubilize any iron in the aquifer. The point being I wouldnt be surprised if you find significant iron in your water as well as the surrounding soil. So what to do? This is where it gets a bit "iffy". If your well water pH is higher, say 8 or so you may be okay continuing to use it in the pond. But continually having water running through the pond means that the pH, alkalinity, etc. will always be controlled by the water flowing through it and I suspect you may have difficulty trying to bring about any long term changes. Even if you divert the flow and recycle the water in the pond you may have problems with the impact of the soil sides of the pond and how it interacts with the water chemistry. This should stabilize over a long period of time but....
If you do decide to recirculate the water you will definitely want to add sodium bicarbonate (it may take 5-10 pounds to fully adjust the alkalinity as well as the pH). Definitely add aeration to your system - it will help strip out the sulfides if nothing else.
I suspect others will want to comment on the new information. But please continue to give us more data.
David
P.S. Sort of suspected Northern tier - zone 4-5 - but thats below the Mason-Dixon line for us REAL Northern folk! :-)))

We live in the heart of the Green Mountains and have the same problem with our pond. It is spring fed and full of frogs, gold fish and salamanders, all appearing healthy, but the red-orange scum floating on top, coating water plants, and the oily sheen are truly unsightly. The water itself is clear. My husband installed 2 aerators 2 years ago but the problem persists. Our well water is treated for iron bacteria so I'm sure this is the problem. What else can I do to get rid of the mess?!

Lynn 2010, did you get your pond clear up? I live in Alabama an have had my pond for at least 10 years. I had to have the cattials removed with a very large front hole machine. After that my pond has continuely developed a red color in the summer. So I'm trying to clear it up. Right before I had the cattails removed I had an alge bloom that killed my fish.

I too have the problem of a red pond. I had it dug last year and it has no liner. Last year it was relatively clear with lots of frogs. This year it is really not healthy looking and no frogs. What has anyone effectively done to resolve this problem?