Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations floating matter

Once again I call upon the forum to help me answer a question/solve a problem. Yesterday I visited my pond which is located deep within the Missouri woods consisting of hardwoods and pine. While there I found a light green thin layer of "stuff" covering my entire 1/3 acre pond that was not there nine days ago. What this substance is I do not know. The days have been warm (mid-80's) and the nights cool (mid to low 50's) and water clarity is only about 9-12" now. The pond isn't normally fertilized although a light organic application was administered early in May. The pond is nine months old and has never had this issue before. I am perplexed. Could it be algae or pollen? What does everyone think and what do you recommend? I haven't the means to provide a picture. Thanks.

I'm going to venture a guess and say it's algea. My pond gets a thin green film in the shallow more stagnant end of my pond. It seems to accumulate where the wind is blowing. It has never caused a problem in my pond.

like this?

Thanks for replying. I am certain the material floating in my pond is not duck weed. This stuff is much finer and seemed to accumulate extremely quickly. This is was confuses me as I have no idea how long it takes algae to grow or why this hasn't happened until now. Sunlight seems to be able to penetrate albeit at a moderately reduced rate. I just hope this doesn't destroy the plankton base before it flushes.

Try to get a photo of it Bus. Is it slimy like algae or more granular? One year (2006) we had our Incense Cedar trees pollenate like crazy. It covered almost the entire pond with a light green granular pollen. Looked like heck but is wasn't a big deal. It has never been an issue here since 2006 (we've been in a draught since then, I don't know whether or not that has anything to do with anything). Anyhoo, try to get a photo of it.

It doesn't really appear to be slimy but more granular. Of course this is only from a visual observation however. One of the things I suspected was pollen possibly being knocked down from the high winds we had last week. This stuff seems more transparent than any algae I have seen. I am still at a loss though. I am still a rookie.

Bus,

The granular description leads me to believe that you may have the dreaded watermeal. Do a google search for a photo of it. It is very small, green, and gritty. It's about 5-10% the size of duckweed.

I have studied upon the watermeal question and found it to be a real possibility. I will have to go back to the pond to conduct a more detailed inspection. The problem I have with this option is the watershed/pond isn't very fertile and from what I have found it appears that both duckweed and watermeal seem to prefer nutrient rich ponds. My pond does, however, meet the requirement of still water as it is surrounded by trees. Will this stuff die off when it gets cold?

Bus im not an expert but by your description of your pond i would definetly look into getting a areation system put in. Your setting up for a fish kill in the future.

Bus,

It is a little late to be treating it this year as it will die-back through the winter. Chances are, though, that it will be back next year. The probability of having this plant increases greatly with a nutrient-rich pond, but it is not uncommon to find it in ponds that aren't considered "nutrient rich". In fact, I see it often in situations like yours that have lots of tree cover.

If watermeal is indeed what you have, then be prepared for a battle. Forunately, your pond is small so chemical costs shouldn't break you.....they'll just make you mad!

Thanks guys. I intend to go out there this evening for further investigation and will post my findings later. Again, thanks.

Mine is covered with a nice light green dusting of pollen. It is now the fall pollen season, at least in northeast Texas. Ragweed, cedar elm, something I did not identify but turned me yellow when I walked through a patch . . . The wind concentrates it near shore once it picks up midday and clears the center. My pond is also surrounded by forest.