Ok guys I have a question and maybe it's in the wrong category here but. In my past discussion with my fish guy, he mentioned winter FA. About 45 days ago I had FA growing from the bottom of the pond near the water well input and some FA was attaching to some of the structure in the pond also. Water temp hung around the low 50's and pH around 7.2. The water visibility was around 15" with a green water color. We then had our snow and ice storm and the water turn clear with 3.5 foot of visibility. Today there is around 25" of visibility and the Ph is 7.2 and we have had a lot of rain. My FA is no longer growing from the bottom of the pond. I still see some on the pond structures but it looks like the FA has died back. So was it winter FA? The water still has a green color but has it lost the nutrients? I am feeding 3 times a day. So would u use a fertilizer here or just let the fish food fertilize? The pond water checks out good. FM are tearing up the food but I don't see any CNBG feeding.
Tracy

Winter or cold water FA can be due to several cold water adapted species similar to there is not just one specie of trout. In addition there are several other cold water adapted fish similar to various types of cold water algae - various diverse types. We should be careful not to generalize too much and apply one "rule" with cold water algae.

My guess and just a guess without seeing and analyzing, is the FA during the cold season was thriving on the nutrients oozing from the sediments plus maybe some mineral stimulus from the well. The green color bloom may have suppressed light to the FA which it didn't 'like'. Snow and ice dropped the temp and the green water bloom died back. Added rain probably added nutrients with the runoff and adjusted the nutrient balance in the pond. As the water warms green plankton continues to grow and it is absorbing the nutrients. If results of feeding the fish provides the right nutrient inputs then the bloom will continue. If not the right nutrients are provided the FA may return as a different species adapted to warmer water.

My FA this year is the worst I have ever seen it. I thought it might be localized to just me, but from driving around and looking at other ponds it is bad nearly everywhere.

Cody note: As ponds age and annually accumulate nutrients expect them to grow more plants. That is what ponds do over time - become more eutrophic. What happened previously affects what happens next. Dealing with them as with your kids is a management issue.

One word, Sparkie...TILAPIA!

I need some tilapia too. Wonder where I could find some.

Mr. Cody, thank you for all the information you have provided to me for the questions asked. Thank you for always making your answers clear and to the point.
Thanks
Tracy

It's bad in my pond this winter, tilapia next as soon as it's warm enough

I found one dead fish when the ice went off. Looked like it was wearing an olive green fur coat. I plan to get some other vegetation going as soon as the water warms but, I expect to be skimming FA off the pond a lot this year.

Edit: Tilapia is not an option in Illinois or I would going that route.