Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Mechanical Removal of FA

I have about a 1/3 acre pond and battle FA every year. Normally by applying Cutrine or similar every few months during the warm weather months. it does OK.

What is the best/most efficient way to mechanically remove FA?

I have had the conservation dept. out to look and they do not understand where the nutrients would be coming from causing the FA every year.

It is wearing me out. Kids love to fish and swim but this makes it impossible.

Possibly the nutrients were established early in the pond history and are recycling. Options to consider add enough bottom rooting fish to keep the pond turbid and use dye to make it look aesthetic ('lipstick on a pig'); use an alum treatment to bind and reduce the phosphorus; If the pond is old, drain it and have the nutrient sediments removed. If you were not in MO, tilapia are a good algae consumer especially for swimming ponds.

Few options come to mind:

Stocking Tilapia for such a small BOW they could easily manage the FA if legal in MO.

Aeration can also help manage FA by helping pond process excess nutrients introducing aerobic bacteria to pond bottom.

Crayfish can help manage vegetation of all types, including FA. I have a pond devoid of vegetation due to crayfish population density.

Manual removal of FA I perform by simply raking it in the few places it grows. It's tiring work I agree, but have not had to use any algaecides on my ponds to date.

Hope some of this helps.

+1 on removing what FA you can. When you use a herbicide, as the FA dies the nutrients just go right back in the pond for the next crop to use.

FWIW I am addressing the problem by trying to get other vegetation established to better use the nutrients as well as removal of FA when I can.

Mechanical suggestion - I have attached two 2' x 4' sections of wire fencing to cover the entire length of an 8' long two by four stud; the natural curve of the rolled fence wire facing downward. It floats. Then made a "V" shaped yoke and attached 200' of cheap nylon floating rope.
I am able to put this homemade algae rake in shallow water, walk around to the other side of my pond and slowly clear an 8' wide path. Then I use a garden rake to pull it up on the bank. After it dries, I pulverize it with a mower. I have been surprised at the aquatic life in the algae as I rake it onshore. Lots of little forage fish returned to the pond.

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Don't try this gizmo. It didn't work too well.



This option works much better, especially if you have someone else working the poles.

Google parachute skimmer.

Be careful of getting something too wide. It's better to make two passes with a smaller one than make one pass with a big one that needs a tractor to move it at the end of the pass.....

I've been using a pond weed rake with screen/mesh tie-wrapped around it and it works great. I've read posts on this forum and elsewhere about composting the FA.

But I have a question/concern about this. I have a 4.9 acre pond and a 35 acre watershed in MS. My compost bin happens to be in my watershed, along with my vegetable garden and house beds, etc. If I put the FA in my compost bin, then the composted FA in my gardens, will it "reseed" the pond?

As always, your thoughts on this are much appreciated.

Ronnie V

Well went in and waded with a yard Rake. All I really had available. Didn't realize how fine FA is and it was pretty fruitless labor.

If you wait for string algae to mass up, putting a rough sturdy stick into an open water area where it is thick, rotate the stick at a steady pace and the algae will wind on to the stick

Twirl, and hurl....

For floating sludge, a long stick with rope at both ends can be tossed into the pond and used to pull the sludge to the pond edge. That works well for azolla, when that stuff is gathered to the pond edge and laft to decompose, it somehow knocks itself out through the rest of the pond

I use on of those long handle small mesh dip nets when I'm trying to remove FA

I would highly recommend you take a look at the Jenlis Lake Weed Rake. I think I read that it appears under various trade names, look for the long (~8") red plastic tines.

I use it mostly to mechanically remove FA from a 1/3 acre pond. It works best weighted down and pulled across the bottom. You can take the weight out of the head, and throw it to catch and retrieve floating mats. In fact I would buy 2 so i could have a heavy and light rake, but they are too pricey.

The best part is the that you can just shake it to get the FA off the head. With any other rake I spent a lot more time cleaning off the rake head.

FWIW, I'm not sure I'm winning the FA battle, this is just the best rake to use while you're losing!