Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Green algae and swimming

Our pond continues to drop. Down about 5’ (see SMB beds exposed, and dock walkway angle) I did have 2” of rain in the gauge yesterday. Just not getting any runoff. Five separate rain events mostly .2” to .5”.
We were there yesterday and noticed this green algae. We swim in the pond, a lot. Grandkids are coming up in a few weeks. Is this stuff unhealthy? We can stay out of it easily enough if there’s any breeze.
Thx
Jeff

I had that exact same stuff on my pond about 3 weeks ago. I thought it was pollen from the white willows.
The aerator broke it up at night but it returned in the day.
It lasted nearly 2 weeks. Really sucked trying to flyfish in it.

So basically i have no idea and would also like to know.

It’s all in a small corner of the pond. 80% of the surface is clean. Of course without the breeze it may spread. With the trees I do t get a lot of breeze. No aeration either. And not running feeder with water levels this low.

Just curious, if you get down wind of this stuff, does it carry a foul, almost acidic smell? If so, it's most likely a type of bluegreen algae and not advisable to be in contact with. If you cant smell anything that way, try catching some in a jar of water, close it up for a couple hours then smell of it.

It can be handled with algaecide by letting the wind stack it on one bank and spraying just that area closest to the bank. It doesn't take much. As that dies, which will be rather quickly, the wind will push new recruits in to be sprayed again. This keeps the the treated area confined, but should probably also be avoided for a short period and wont be as threatening to your fish.

That's my understanding and how I've handled mine. Maybe one of the PB gurus with more knowledge will step in soon.

I’ll try and check Friday. When we were there Monday there wasn’t any smell downwind of it.
Thx

I'm not sure if all BGA has that smell. I had a small outbreak on my pond earlier this summer and you could smell it. The method I described is how I took care of it.

Thanks Mike. Hopefully I’ll have a chance tomorrow. If not, it’ll be Sept 7 before I see it again!

I would never take the chance - may be and probably is totally safe but why risk it?

FYI beautiful place!

Thx. Good question. I’ve been getting in and swimming around since it started to fill. Seems like when I’m up there, I’m working my backside off. It’s good ol Missouri heat and humidity. Nothing like jumping in to cool off..
I didn’t even get back to see the pond on Friday. Looks like we’ve been getting some rain, so who knows what I’ll find when we get back there. Hopefully it be up a few feet!

Anyone know if any of those sprays or chemicals that the pond supply companies sell work on controlling this type of algae? Without messing up anything else?