I'm trying to get an algae bloom going in my smallmouth production pond but it seems the Chara is staying ahead of the phytoplankton. I've applied copious amount of Cutrine Plus granular with no results. Granted temps were hanging just below 60 F. but I've never had good luck using Cutrine Plus on Chara in my ponds with very hard water. I even started early this year to no avail. The only way I've been able to allow the phytoplantkon to get ahead of the Chara in the past was to drain the pond and only fill just before fertilizing. Unfortuanately that's not practical this year.

Can anyone suggest anything else? I considered the Green Clean pro granular but was told it's detrimental to phytoplankton also.

I do have some Hydrothol 191 left over from quite a while back but I do know one has to be careful in applying it with fish present.

Cecil, want some Copper Sulphate?

I don't think CuSO4 will work well on Chara. CuSO4 is even more useless in higher hardness such as what Cecil has. The greater the water hardness the more quickly the copper binds with the carbonate and precipitates making it more ineffective. Chara can be a tough one to control. In many instances Cutrine plus granular will work on Chara. Kelly Duffie is our go to man for this specific problem. I suggest you PM Kelly and see what he suggests for Chara in hard water. Let us know what Kelly recommends. Cecil do you know the hardness/ alkalinity concentration? High hardness may be inhibiting even the Cutrine-Plus. You may need a adjuvant with the algacide. I doubt the Hydrothol will work on Chara since it is an algae.

Bill,

Thanks!

Hardness as CaC03 is 362 mg/l.

I'm hoping Kelly had some answers because if there is a hatch they will starve as the Chara is sucking up the nutrients, what water is almost gin clear and the Chara is growing like wildfire. I think in one place it's 2 feet deep! I'm going to get the rake out until I hear something.

Cecil - A long-handle rake might be the best option, all things considered (fish, phytoplankton objective, hard water, etc). Manual removal will provide quick control without excessive copper introductions.
Higher algal-forms (Chara) usually require more aggressive treatments - which may prove detrimental to your phytoplankton objectives if conducted on a large-scale basis.
Do you circulate (as opposed to re-circulate) water through your ponds?

Kelly thanks for the reply.

The production ponds are filled with well water and are static for the production of fish fry. Is that what you were asking?

Cecil:

Could you drop the hardness level in that pond enough to get the Cutrine granules to work?

I think the pond is one of Cecil's small ones about 0.1 ac. Removing the chara with a rake will give him some good excercise plus it will keep Cecil out of his wife's hair! ROTFLOL!!!!

The raking will not only remove some of the plant biomass but it will disrupt the sediments oxygenating them and release some of the soluable nutrients in the sediments that will maybe stimulate some plankton growth. Raking will also resuspend some sediments to make the water at least temporatily more turbid - shading the Chara that hasn't been removed. Oh the fun of a fish farmer.

Bill, you're right, it is one of the small ones. If the water level is low, he might need mountain climbing gear - the pond banks are that steep!

Is the chara growing on the almost vertical banks or just mostly on the flatter areas and bottom?

Mostly flatter areas on the bottom.

Eventually i will get an algae bloom but it may be too late for optimum production. Bill Lynch says some aquatic vegetation can be a life saver to keep a bloom from getting carried away. I know last year when I had nothing other than phyoplankton in that pond I had to crank up the Kasco surface aerator to a save my butt as D.O levels crashed and I ended up with pea soup water.

That said he said once FA gets established it can be really tough to get a bloom going. He typically drains his ponds for the winter fo that reason and fills just before he fertilizes.

I get too much erosion on my steep banks over the winter if i do that. However next year I'll draw down a week or so before refilling hopefully to get the same effect. I'll probably dye the water over the winter too.

Just a thought: Garden pond owners uses salt on waterfalls to kill filamentous algae. I wonder if Chara is effected by salt since it is also an algae? I could apply some water softener salt to a small section and see if it works. Only downside could be it may be detrimental to zooplankton?