This stuff showed up about two weeks ago, and was a light green. Thinking it was algae, I sprayed it with Cutrine and it turned a rusty red within a few minutes. But, it's still here...it disappears with the rain, and reforms the next day like FA will.

I have been keeping the pond darker than usual with aquashade, but I'm not sure if this is decomposing FA or another variety that has moved in to take advantage of the FA's greatly reduced presence. It sits right at the surface, and will move with the slightest breeze. It seems to be comprised of foam mostly, but it will leave behind fragments of "film", or skin if disturbed.

*sigh*

I've been afraid this would happen, when all my gentle and well meaning admonitions were ignored.

Sparkie, you have been responsible for the creation of a new life form, Cyanellus algae, GSF X FA. Happily, I believe if you mix 1 part rotenone in with 2 parts Cutrine plus, your problem can be solved. However, I would suggest moving with alacrity, as this species can rapidly evolve, and may be able to crawl from one body of water to another by the end of the summer.

I'd be sending some of that in a container to Bill Cody.

Wow looks like more of that snot vomit someone else had awhile back..

I think it is mostly dead decaying algae that you killed previously. IMO it is surfacing due to all the air bubbles in it which I think is gas from decomposition. Decomposition may not be rapid due to Cutrine also doing 'a number' on a lot of the decomposer bacteria in the areas that were treated. Cutrine and most algacides are not specifically toxic just for algae. Most all small and microscopic life forms are vulnerable to the copper.

Thanks Bill. I would imagine that last night's rain removed it, at least temporarily.

Crawling algae....sounds like the plot line for a Syfy network movie premier. Ridiculous. I would expect more from a person of your scientific leanings.

On a more serious note however, I fear your frantic admonitions concerning the possible creation of a new, potentially malignant lifeform may contain some measure of truth. My Ameiurus/Typha project has yielded a species of cattail which is proving to be extremely hardy, chemically resistant, and highly prolific. Most disturbing however is the realization that when viewed in cross section, its leaves resemble an airfoil.

It may already be too late. Remain vigilant when you turn your eyes towards the heavens, and fear the wind that blows down from Indiana.

It was gone all afternoon, but this evening it's making a comeback. This is what it looks like in the beginning, hardly any substance at all, just tiny, green, foamy bubbles. When I manage to strain some out, it looks like an algae, just not one that I am familiar with.





It forms itself into these lines and arcs, I can't tell if it's current, or wind that does it.

T - that looks pretty familiar to me - good news, your FA is dying and decaying and floating to the surface. Always a bittersweet time for me - glad it's abating, but now I have to look at it or rake/net/remove.

Well that makes two knowledgeable votes in favor of decaying FA. It just seems strange to me that after all this time, and all these seasons of FA growth and decay that I've seen, yet I've never experienced this before.

The heavy dye application must be the wild card. As far as removal goes, I don't see how, unless I were to skim it off with cheesecloth....there's very little substance to it.

Wait, it'll get denser.......

I know a solid guy near you with Tilapia...might swap some for Maple Syrup or authentic Sasquatch video.

Figures. Maple syrup is all gone, and I sold the rights to the Sasquatch vid to the BFRO.

It's probably just as well. I'm holding out on stocking Tilapia until they figure out how to make them dislike the taste of Aquamax, do away with the need to breathe, (my ponds have a pretty high biomass already, don't need anything else utilizing the O2), make them totally unpalatable to the taste buds of LMB, and have them be able to crawl out on shore to expire, once the water temps drop.

It is amazing, the stuff that stays on the bottom how much it adds to the sludge layer. When I raked some out of the shallow area I made for spawning there was already an inch of stinky sludge below the FA and the decaying FA was adding more. My pond is only a year and a half old.

Have one of my three air diffusers running and hope to get the other two installed next week (grandson staying with us so have some slave labor - except I have to pay this slave). I hope the aeration helps keep the sludge at bay.

Sprkplug, I don't have anything nearly as severe as what your pictures show, but also have a very thin layer of stuff that looks similar in nature. If there is some wind, never notice it. But after a still night when there might only be the very slightest of breeze, it will accumulate on one bank.

Carolynn & I were fishing last evening just before dark and it was calm. The stuff made my bobber look black and yucky, so we moved to the other side of the pond. Was a thin layer of it out to about 20 feet away from the bank. There are some bubbles also.

I do not know it to be the case, but I laid it on possibly being the aeration. The color of my water has been different this spring since putting in the one double air diffuser. Being a fairly new pond, I can't say for sure what the water is supposed to look like, but I know the water looks different than in our other pond that has no aeration.

My thinking is, maybe the aeration is working on removing the inch or two of muck that accumulated on the bottom of my pond from last year when I had no aeration. Think about it. If the muck layer is being reduced as aeration is supposed to do, where does the muck go? The nutrients and "stuff" has to eventually be suspended or absorbed in the water, doesn't it? I'm thinking a portion of the stuff is floating on the top where the wind, waves and decay eventually gets rid of most of it.

But that is just a guess on my part. If my hypothesis it correct, as the muck goes away eventually the water will change again, hopefully for the better.

Tony, not trying to hijack your thread, but do you see any difference in BG feeding immediately after adding aquashade? I've been fighting the FA in a pond, and the feeding really slowed down after adding aquashade. They're picking back up, but I was worried for a day or two.

I have noticed that AL, but like you said they pick back up after a few days. Guess it throws em' for a loop, temporarily.

Thanks! That's good to know.

24 hours later, coming on strong. Looks plenty green yet.

That's why they call it CYANELLUS algae, after all.

As I look at the picture, Sparkie, I think I'm seeing the shape of a head, with a very wide open mouth, forming in the surface substrate. From now on, I'm not sure I'd visit the pond without firearms.

Hollowpoint rounds, filled with Cutrine?

Worth a try.

FWIW, I've got not-dissimilar-appearing-stuff as well-no cutrine, and first year I've seen it have this appearance, though I've had smaller amounts of definite FA in the past. Rex was passing through here yesterday, so I had him sic some of his beauties on it. I'll let you know how that works. I wonder if there's something about the wierd weather we've had for the last couple seasons that has affected algae production? Or algae die off?

I wondered that also. If it's FA, it's unlike any that I've seen in the past. Something is absolutely different.

sprkplug.

From your pictures, it looks more like spirogyra. Cutrine Plus liquid, mixed at a rate of 16 ounces per 2 gallons of water with the addition of an adjuvant like Cygnet Plus at a rate of 4 ounces per gallon of water will knock that back within 48 hours. Another great product to help with the reduction of the sedimentation is an enzyme product called PZ-900. Add that to your solution and spray it on every piece of algae you can hit. This mixture is something that I use thousands of times per season and it works.

Things to stay away from... ROTENONE! Unless of course you want to knock out your fish population while trying to get rid of your algae bloom.

Also, Chelated copper products like Cutrine will NOT disrupt your microorganism function if they are applied within the label rate. I personally apply the Cutrine with bacteria products on a daily basis and the results are always on the positive.

Things to consider... water circulation: I noticed from your pics you do not have an aerator in your pond... I would highly suggest getting one. This will increase your microbial function which will help to reduce the nutrients feeding the algae blooms.

Just my $.02, but it's based on 2500 pond treatments per year....

I simply cannot get a handle on this stuff using Cutrine plus. The only relief comes from the rain, temporarily. It appears to be getting worse, which seems odd to me if it's decaying FA. Spraying it is problematic, as the spray simply pushes it aside. It's almost like I need a fine mist, to enable it to cover the stuff instead of going through it.

Sprkplug - you ought to send me a sample of some of this stuff. Let's figure out what it is by actually examining it. Copper based products do kill bacteria. How can the copper in Cutrine kill trout in soft water and not harm bacteria and other sensitive organisms?
From the Web:
Toxicity and bioavailability of copper herbicides (Clearigate, Cutrine-Plus, and copper sulfate) to freshwater animals.
Mastin BJ1, Rodgers JH Jr.
Abstract
In designing aquatic herbicides containing copper, an important goal is to maximize efficacy for target species while minimizing risks for nontarget species. To have a margin of safety for nontarget species, the concentration, duration of exposure (i.e., uptake), and form (i.e., species) of copper used for herbicidal properties should not elicit adverse effects on populations of nontarget species. To determine the potential for risk or adverse effects (conversely the margin of safety), data regarding the comparative toxicity of copper-containing herbicides are crucial. A series of comparative toxicity experiments was conducted, including baseline estimates of toxicity (LC50s, LOECs), sensitive species relationships (thresholds and exposure-response slopes), and bioavailability of toxic concentrations and forms of copper 7 days after initial herbicide application. Aqueous 48-h toxicity experiments were performed to contrast responses of Daphnia magna Strauss, Hyalella azteca Saussure, Chironomus tentans Fabricius, and Pimephales promelas Rafinesque to copper herbicides: Clearigate(R), Cutrine(R)-Plus, and copper sulfate. D. magna was the most sensitive aquatic animal tested for all three herbicides; 48-h LC50s for organisms exposed to Clearigate, Cutrine-Plus, and copper sulfate were 29.4, 11.3, and 18. 9 microg Cu/L, respectively. In terms of potency (calculated from the linearized portion of the exposure-response curves, which included 50% mortality), D. magna was the most sensitive animal tested. Organisms exposed to Clearigate, Cutrine-Plus, and copper sulfate had exposure-response slopes of 2.55, 8.61, and 5.07% mortality/microg Cu/L, respectively. Bioavailability of Clearigate and Cutrine-Plus was determined by comparing survival data (LC50s) of test organisms exposed to herbicide concentrations during the first and last 48-h of a 7-day exposure period. Even in these relatively simplified water-only exposures, a transformation of copper to less bioavailable species over time was observed with a 100-200% decrease in toxicity (i.e., an increase in 48-h LC50s) for all four test animals. This series of laboratory experiments provides a worst-case scenario for determining the risk associated with the manufacturer's recommended application rates of Clearigate (100-1,000 microg Cu/L), Cutrine-Plus (200-1,000 microg Cu/L), and copper sulfate (100-500 microg Cu/L) in natural waters for four nontarget freshwater animals.

I'm grateful for your generous offer Bill. I sent you a PM.

Could you please tell me what FA is? I assume it is some kind of algae but since I am not familiar with the abbreviations I am not sure if it is the type of algae I am trying to identify in my pond. Thanks

FA is Filamentous algae. It can look different from pond to pond, but it is often associated with a "hair" type of composition. It tends to grow on the bottom, then break loose and float to the top where it can form mats.

As a side note to this thread, I still haven't sent a sample of my algae to Bill for identification. A combination of rainy days and time away on vacation has thwarted my efforts thus far. Due to all of the rain, the pond has been clear since last weekend. However, we have had a couple of dry days, and I noticed what I think may be the same stuff beginning to form just last night. We'll see.

How much rain you get over your say Sprk? We got 2.6" Mon 2-8am. It was building up all weekend and then unleashed.

The gauge shows three inches since Sat. night. This is the wettest July in a long time. Business is still booming, when it's normally slowing down about now due to dry, non-growing grass.

Love these cool temps also!

Of the 3 summers I've had the place in Lawr Co, this is the driest there. Lotta of the grass is stressed. Rains that have been forecast there have only occasionally amounted to more than 0.1". You've prolly had no issues with water levels then, and that's good. Monday got us back to full pool- it had held at -4" for a few weeks.

You let the boys bring any of their toothy new friends back to bucket stock one of the ponds?

We brought some back......but in steak form I'm afraid! The captain claimed blacktips are delicious.

Yep, water levels are good here. All ponds at full pool and discharging water. Haven't been able to say that the past few summers.