Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants What is it and how do I get rid of it?

I have this algae in my pond this year(see pics). Haven't had it before. I think it's FA. Not sure though. I've recently stocked the pond with more fish and started feeding. Would that have caused this stuff to start growing? I had cattails and pond weed last year. Imazipir knocked out the excess cattails. Adding grass carp and pond colorant has taken care of most of the pondweed. My pond is filled by a well almost no run off. So,it gets really clear if I don't color it. But now this stuff popped up. Some of it is submerged and looks like big clouds of green cotton candy under the surface. When it reaches the surface it turns dark and seems to bubble. What is it and how do I get rid of it? What am I doing that caused this? Thanks for any help you can offer.

I see FA and some kind of pondweed in pic 1. Horned or Sago Pondweed is my guess.

Pics 2-4 are FA IMO

I agree with TJ - FA in all of the pics and something else in that first one. Copper based chemicals are pretty reliable for FA - Cutrine or the like.

Do you guys think this is caused by possible overfeeding because the new fish aren't eating the food I've been putting in the pond? Isn't FA cause by too much nutrients in the pond and sunlight? I've colored the pond pretty dark so I don't think it's from sunlight. Am I wrong about this? Thanks for any help you can offer.

Excessive uneaten food certainly contributes to nutrient buildup, so that could be a factor, but I can't say if it would be the only reason. I think that unless a pond is really tightly managed on a very strict basis, a change in one parameter perhaps isn't so likely to cause a big change in the pond like your experience. I could be wrong, but my gut feeling is that it would require perhaps several different things happening to cumulatively have that effect, unless of course it was one really big event. I'm truly a novice - if there is a lower level, I'm actually probably at that level! - at pond management and am still just trying to learn myself, so this may be totally flawed thinking. But, yes, uneaten food does lead to nutrient buildup and that could be one thing affecting your water right now.

FA. Grass Carp no likee. Tint should have slowed it down though. I can't say I have heard of excess food loading a pond, it tends to rot away and eat up O2. There is one negative about tint, it can slow down if not kill plants that compete with algae. If I were to speculate, that is what happened here. The tint took away some beneficial competitive plants from the equation and let the algae take over. How to get rid of it is the age old question. Herbicide, biological, or manual? One question, how long has it been there, and is it expanding, staying the same or reducing. It might eat itself out of the equation.

Pondweed Control

I have a 30-40 ft ring of pondweed around a 3.5 acre lake in Henderson County, Texas. I am certain that it is pondweed (small long stalk from the bottom rising thru up to 5 ft depth with small oval leaves on surface only).

I know that this weed provides good cover for baitfish and can be healthy for the food chain. However, the amount now makes it difficult for kids to fish from the shore, and it is not very trolling motor friendly.

I know the options. Of the following, what would those with knowledge advise?:

1. Leave it alone this season and try to control next spring with dye.

2. Mechanical removal or cutting.

3. Herbicide in rows to create casting lanes.

4. More thorough herbicide application.

5. Let it die off naturally in late season.

6. Drain down the lake 2 ft & allow it to die off. The lake is 15 ft deep and spring fed. The spillway pipe would allow this.

How much of a problem is this aquatic plant?

Well you already stated it's a problem :); not motor friendly and kid safe.
It can become worse of a problem if left alone, if we can get some pictures someone here definitely can identify it as invasive or not.

If you're interested, check out the Lake Mower in Texas. The machine is very good at cutting lanes for fishing/boating and can give you the immediate results you may want.

First off, DanC, welcome to Pond Boss! Great first post - you've obviously done some research. Because there are a number of varieties of pondweed, it may be helpful to have a few good quality pictures of it to aid in positive identification. Some varieties of pondweed are far less desirable than others, so that may make a difference in your planning.

If you don't have a lot of other vegetation, it may not be a bad idea to control sections of this growth by clearing casting lanes as you've suggested. Having some vegetation isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if it's a reasonably desirable plant. American pondweed is pretty decent stuff - I have some of that in one of my ponds. On the other hand, curly leaf pondweed is seriously invasive and annoying, though short lived. I had an infestation of it in my larger pond and it was literally covered to the point it couldn't be fished just 2 to 3 weeks ago. Suddenly, the water is almost clear of it again.

I don't know much about aquatic vegetation at this point in my pond ownership career, so you definitely want the input of others who know a lot more than I do. Fortunately, the forum is full of those sorts! Again, try to post a few good pictures that show close up detail and that will assist in an accurate identification and treatment suggestions.

Welcome and stick around - it's great to have you here!

Dan,

I also had the same problem you did in my 1 acre pond. Pond weed all around about 20 feet or so out from the shore. I put 7 Grass Carp in my pond and this year I hardly have any pond weed. So if you want to control it and you can have GC in your area I would suggest about 20 of them. I have about 10 percent coverage now with 7 so you do the math. You can always go a few less and add more later if you need to. If you add them this year you should see a pretty good difference next year I would think.