Thanks for your question. It looks like your pond holds a little less than 90,000 gallons (that’s a big pond, congratulations!). Perfectly clear water can be hard to achieve in a pond that size — you’re dealing with a large system with many sources of nutrients. Large ponds will also naturally cycle in the spring, passing through a stage of thick green water before clearing up a bit. This is completely normal. Still, there are a few things you can do to help reduce the algae in the water.

Barley extract is a natural water clarifier, and will definitely help reduce your algae load. However, you will need quite a bit for your pond. Our 16 oz size barley straw extract treats 12,000 gallons. You would need 8 containers of this to treat your entire pond.

Plants are another solution. Some plants — such as submerged oxygenating plants — are extremely good at absorbing extra nutrients from the water (thus reducing your algae load). A good rule of thumb is 1 bunch of submerged plants for every 1 or 2 square feet of surface area (your pond is about 3000 square feet, which makes this pretty hard to achieve). But, the plants will grow, so you could start with less. Also, any plant will help remove excess nutrients, so you can always combine the oxygenators with a range of other water plants.

For a pond as large as yours, the best results might be achieved through a blend of these options. The clarifier works faster, but will probably be most expensive. The plants take a little longer to have an effect, but most will return year after year, and will look wonderful in the process.

Best of luck, and enjoy your pond. It sounds wonderful.