Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants FA growing under ice?

This is somewhat similar to Brad M's question but it is different enough that I did not want to hijack the thread.

The ice is starting to melt off of the pond with all of this warm weather and I can see through it. It looks like globs of FA are growing under the ice. Does that usually happen? This is the first winter after the full year of a pond. I had a fair amount of FA last summer (I think most Michigan ponds did), but it went away in the fall.

I was hoping that I would have some time in the spring without algae.

Coach, I've got the same issue. I just checked out my ponds a couple of days ago and with the ice off my small pond, I can see there is a decent amount of FA still present and looking like it's just fine. Hoping to see my tilapia put a dent in it this spring, but also looking forward to giving some other solutions a try, such as beneficial bacteria for starters.

Same thing here. Last fall there was no FA in the pond. Then this week when the ice started to break up there was FA everywhere.

Is this 'green ice' I've heard about, or is this something different?

Green ice? Sounds like something I drank at a fraternity party...

Normally at this time, I would have had Algae in my pond, especially the early season Spirogyra but I've been clear so far and my pond is beautiful. As I'm willing to throw the kitchen sink in this water, I put these in several weeks ago. Doesn't mean much yet but if my pond is this clear in several months, I'll be sold. At the moment, the water temp is 50 deg at 4 Ft.

http://www.pondalgaesolutions.com/healthypondsproducts.html

Sounds like something I should get patented by Wednesday.

Barley Straw?

Here is a picture of what I am talking about.



I have big chunks of it around the pond. Like Todd said, it looks healthy and ready to spread. Is this something I should address right now?

Steve,

What product are you talking about? The biodegradable ball, or green clean? If you are talking about the ball, do you just through it into the pond and let it work, or do you have to set it up? How big is your pond?

It was yellow ice and you drank it at the Pond Boss conference as part of the initiation ceremony.

And that is all that Sunil, Theo or I will say about that.

Oh heck guys that's nothing. My bluegill production pond developed a very green algae bloom under the ice for the first time this year. I had drained the pond down as much as possible in the fall, but as it usually happens rain and and snow melt filled it up a little.

I'm sending a sample to Bill Cody on Monday as he has expressed an interest. I'm going to save a bunch in one of my stock tanks to inoculate my perch production pond when I fill it back up. This kind of green bloom is what I try really hard to produce for zooplankton feed but it's usually hard to do this early.

The drops are from rain as it was raining when I took these pictures.

It's a bunch of water soluble bags with bacteria inside the sphere, as with other companies, they don't disclose the composition.

I just had my former yellow perch producer and mentor tell me he too had filamentous algae form under one of his ponds. That was with a record 41 inches of snow in the month of February.

Maybe a new strain of coldwater algae is getting around? Perhaps spread via airborne spores or birds?

Good news, all the stuff floating right under the ice is mostly dead. ; ) Bad news, it came from below.
2 years ago I had an absolutely incredible amount of FA grow in my pond under 20" or so of ice... what a horrid mess. It started floating up just like the 1st pictures as the ice was coming out. Oh well, Ministry of Transportation's pond now.

So it sounds like it is left over from last summer/fall? should I treat with anything or let it run it's course? This will only be the second summer with the pond, so there really is no weeds growing in the pond, just some grasses and stuff along the edges.

If it's floated to the top I'd possibly try and remove if it's substantial, but otherwise I wouldn't be concerned. Newer ponds without macrophytes have to have their nutrients go somewhere, and at first that's algae. Once you get macrophytes they will take in nutrients and compete with the algae.

Thanks Cecil. I raked a bunch today. What a horrible day to be outside and at the pond! Sometime we need to check to see if we are related (coachB stands for Baird).

Here is a shot on such a gorgeous day.

Hey CoachB, pick yourself up one of those rubber landing nets with as long a handle as possible. Works great for scooping out masses of the stuff and then just plops right out.

Great idea. I have been using a pool skimmer net, but it is WAY to small and mostly just pushes the stuff around. The rake works okay, but so much just breaks up and floats away.

I'm leaving my floating mats around the shoreline in place this year. Why? Because I believe my fatheads are spawning under it and that may be why I have hundreds of thousands of them even with yellow perch and large bluegill. I've added fingerling smallmouth last fall.

I will also leave some mats around for my FH. Today it seemed as if the whole bottom released algae! My pond is about 1/4 covered with FA. I hope this is somewhat a new pond issue that will get balanced with time.