Hi all!

Sorry for starting a new thread from ScottO's "Algae bloom taking over..", but I believe what I have is different? (and didn't want to hijack).

This is what is throughout my 2 acre pond, with some areas nearly blanketed on the surface.





Here's an underwater video (if it works)

[img]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd462/lovnlivin2/th_gopr0199_zpskiitd4ht.mp4[/img]

And here's a bigger picture of the pond where you can see some areas becoming nearly blanketed. I'll try to get a closeup of that too.



Any help with identifying what this is?
Will it continue to get worse?
Anything I can do to slow it down and/or how worried should I be?

Sorry for all the questions, but any help is appreciated as tonight I found about a 2 lb fat LMB floating by the dock with no apparent injury (but it was only one)

Thanks in advance!

Keith

Hard to tell. The submerged plants are not plankton but look like a pondweed variety. The water does have color - what is your visibility?

Thanks for the reply, Ewest!

Right now it's 12" or less, and has always had a good green color averaging 18" clarity (give or take).

Also, what you're seeing in the photos and video is throughout the water column. I never would have guessed that stuff to be a submerged plant being free-floating like that!

I think Fatih poisoned your pond ...



I'm of NO assistance here - never seen that before.

Did you or are you going to autopsy the bass? I strongly recommend putting it under the knife and scope to see what you can see.

haha

In hindsight, I wish I would have cut the LMB open to see what it had been eating as it's belly was huge (although not yet bloated as far as I could tell)

The bloom is likely Aphanizomenon flos-aquae or similar species. On the surface it is often described as looking like grass clippings. It is a Cyanobacteria that at times can produce toxins. Don't let your dogs swim among the algae and lick it off it's coat. Dogs can get seriously sick ingesting it.

Hi Bill!

Thanks for chiming in on this, as I figured you'd have an answer!

Whenever I hear Cyanobacteria I think of blue green algae, but seeing that stuff before in a 16,000 acre lake we frequent in Kansas (which is still under warnings) it didn't have the same characteristics.

I don't have a dog, but this weekend I was planning on getting in the pond to clean my 4 diffusers (although I wasn't planning on licking myself clean ) I think I'll hold off on that now!

The "strands" were not visible last night or this morning so I'm now wondering 2 things:

At what point should I feel safe enough to enter the water?
Would adding oxygen by running my outboard help at all? My pond gets very little wind exposure due to being surrounded by trees and wondered if this would help.

Example:




Thanks Bill!

Keith

"IF" Sonar will kill it, just buy that use it. It's expensive as hell but my pond is cleaner than it's been in the last 7 years. I'm a big fan now.

Timinator, I believe Sonar to be an herbicide (Fluridone?) which my understanding is ineffective on algae including FA.

I've used it before for Coontail and Duckweed and you're correct, it's very expensive but very effective on vegetation!

I believe the BG algae and the like (cyanobacteria) to be common during summer months especially on calm waters (brought on by hot, sunny days?) which is why I was wondering if adding O2 (running the outboard) would be effective.

Thanks!

Keith

Sonar and similar brand products are not algaecides.

LovLivin - the bluegreens you were typically seeing in the 16000ac lake were likely a different species of Cyanobacteria. Your particular species is one that characteristically looks like various sizes of grass clippings in the water.

Check out information on the web for more details for your genus Aphanizomenon. Often some cyanobacteria, can regulate their buoyancy in response to available light. Microcystis is a good example of one that does this. This characteristic allows cyanobacteria to migrate up and down even through thermal gradients and use nutrients confined to cooler deeper water below. Buoyancy is controlled mainly through the production of carbohydrates from photosynthesis. This control mechanism breaks down if there is too little carbon dioxide available. Although buoyancy cannot be adjusted during the night, the organisms will usually float to the surface because of their reduced carbohydrate content as a result of respiration (oxygen consumption) at night.

The boat motor technique can help disperse and break up FA mats and cause them to sink. Nutrient conditions often cause reoccurring FA development. Another very good benefit of the wake from a boat motor is bottom sediment oxygenation from wave action on the shoreline and the near shore bottom areas.

Funny you should mention that, Bill!

I've been researching but most all the sites I've been to go on about the health benefits of AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) and the upper Klamath Lake in Oregan where they harvest it to make health supplements

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphanizomenon_flos-aquae

http://www.perpetualcommotion.com/a/AFA.html

This one was at least a little more informative:
http://www.tldp.com/issue/167/algae.html

And this one which APPEARS to be in English, but not the type I was taught in school.

http://fottea.czechphycology.cz/pdfs/fot/2006/01/01.pdf


A few years back I used a beneficial bacteria I got from the late/great Ted Lea which actually improved my water clarity issues and may try that again as it's barely at 12" now!

I'll also run a few laps with the boat

Thanks again!

Keith