Anybody have experience with using alum to tie up the phosphorus to address heavy FA infestation?
I understand the concerns with too much copper in your BOW but, when you have so much FA that you can't fish the pond....IMHO trade offs must be considered. My preference is to never have to resort to chemicals for any purpose in our pond but, in the absence of a viable alternative, we may have no choice. To those folks that have offered opinions about the undesirable effects of copper sulfate, I salute you and agree, but, I also suspect you have never experienced seeing 3/4 of your pond surface being covered in thick FA mats. That was the condition of our puddle a few weeks back. We raked off what we could and hit it with copper sulfate and we are now FA free. Did we impact the bottom of our food chain? I'm sure we did but, I can supplemental feed the gills and have a pond I can fish. Isn't fishing the ultimate objective for most of us?
You know what is even better than fishing? Eating 100% fresh fish unadulterated of chemicals and not having to worry about a state warning I should only eat 2/week.
The problem with anything you put in your pond is, it usually just kicks the can down the road and makes another can you have to kick, then another and another and soon enough, you have a job in your back yard.
It's common knowledge why FA mats develop. Most is attributed to the watershed that feeds/supplements the pond. I need my watershed for those nutrients but not before I strain it through one of these:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/features/?cid=nrcs143_023525
