Orb-3 Sludge Pellets

We used half a cup of pellets in our pond. Our decorative pond is very small and raised, and has fancy tail goldfish and water hyacinths in it. It's about 2.5 feet deep. It is oxygenated by a small pump/fountain. We had just cleaned it out prior to using this product, about a month, so it wasn't that dirty. Using these pellets has kept it looking clean and nice. Usually it is a huge mess in the fall with falling leaves and debris. WE are well into October and it's still fairly clean. All we've done is scoop leaves off the top about daily. I was pleasantly surprised that I can still see the bottom of the pond! The product did not hurt our fish or plants in any way. The water still looks rather green but it is a clear green and the pond is not gunky. The product is very easy to use and doesn't take much if you have a small pond. It was fine for our plants and fish, they didn't have any problems with it. I also use some water from the pond sometimes in watering the plants. That's been no problem either. The plants still really like the pond water.

This product is formulated to break down sludge, not clarify the water. Clearer water is a byproduct of a healthier, sludge-free pond - but this is not the product to purchase if you're looking to clear up the water. There are plenty of products available for water clarification. That said, I have a 10,000 pond with great circulation, three 6" side drains and a 6" bottom drain. This keeps the pond sludge free. The water feeds into my mechanical filter area. This is 5 feet deep, with three feet beneath the water input. This is where leaves, debris, excess food and sludge settles. I have a 2.5" drain in the bottom that opens a few feet away - gravity pushes the water out when the valve is opened. The first few minutes it's not water that drains. It's noxious, nauseating sludge. Yes, I do occasionally forget to open this valve, or I'm on vacation, whatever. Often I just don't feel like it. This stuff actually helps quite a bit. I add it to the sludge collection pit weekly and have noticed a definite reduction in the sludge build up. My pond is already crystal clear, so I can't attest to the clarity effect. But for sludge reduction, this stuff is great.

The ORB-3 really does seem to work, but even though is seems rather pricey, it's better than hiring someone to clean up the sludge in a pond or beach area. I tried it in a small area on our property and it's working nicely. I'm hoping to try it on a larger area in the water near our camp, but how it will work in a larger area remains to be seen. So far, I definitely like what I'm seeing. The sludge pellets, which look exactly like rabbit feed, will treat an area up to 3,333 square feet (309.646 square meters). This is .07 of an acre. If you have a pond, especially a small man-made one you you'd like to clean up, the ORB-3 is most certainly a good way to clean it up.