Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Should I be concerned?

Last year in a .62 acre pond that I grow out primarily feed trained largemouth bass I had very different conditions than presently. Last year I had an algae bloom at optimum levels that maintained itself from the overflow of nutrients from a trout pond. Later in the fall the water cleared and filamentous algae (staying mostly on the bottom) took over. This year water is even clearer yet with chara going crazy in the areas of the bottom I can observe. In some places it's three feet deep. Obviously the chara and other plants have taken the upper hand on nutrient uptake and the phytoplankton can't compete.

Now I am seeing a new phenomenon. It's floating filamentous algae that covers 1/8th to 1/3rd of the pond during no wind and high temp conditions. Of course I'm sure it starts on the bottom and floats up like most filamentous algae.

I know I am much above normal carrying capacity and I do feed considerably. However, like I said I grow out these feed trained bass for later sale as 2.5 to 5 lbs + fish. I am presently feeding about 350 largemouths, at least 200 smallmouth, and about 50 bluegill.

I also run two diffusers that mix the water column 24/7.

Could I have D.O problems if this filamentous covers too much of the water surface and blocks out sunlight for plants below it? I am netting out as much as I can. I have had this algae appear before and then disappear. I am also adding bacteria from time to time.

I suppose I could augment with a surface aerator at night as a safety margin. Thoughts?

Cecil, I'm sure you know what the water temps are in the pond - somewhere here I've seen the max DO vs. water temp given. Maybe that could help establish the proper pucker factor.

I would definitely use supplemental aeration if the weather got into one of those gray, low light spells.

Theo,

Thanks. I do know warmer water holds less D.O and surface water temps have been in the mid 80's. However conversely during the day this filamentous algae can actually produce oxygen supersaturation which is not normally a problem. I guess I may have to break down and get a good surface aerator to augment my bottom diffusers. I have a lot invested in fish.

CB1 :

No magic bullet from me on this one { FA problem}. I assume you do not want to try chemicals.I would be wary of chemical methods in a pond with as many fish # and lbs. per acre as yours. There would be little room for error or unforeseen weather for my risk tolerance.

The only way I can think of without DO risk is manual removal. One time when we had a FA problem where a big part of small pond surface was covered we used the following method of removal. Took a 40 ft. by 4 ft by 1/4 in. net-- tied both ropes on one end to one end of alum. pole { 12 ft.} did same to other ropes and tied to other end of pole. Looked like a drift sock. Then take net to one side of pond and tie wench cable from tractor on other side of pond to pole and pull across pond .It did an adquate job of removing the FA in the top 3 ft. It was a huge mess and a large mass to get rid of but it helped pond untill cool weather arrived.

Also surface spray or waves will help sink floating FA and help keep oxy.level up. Good luck. ewest

Cecil, the latest issue of PB Mag had an article about a guy that had built a floating contraption to remove topwater junk. Might be worth building one before it gets the whole pond.

Thanks all. I manually removed a big chunk of it before the net broke!

A breeze kicked up concentraing it making removal easier. I still should break down and buy a surface aerator for emergencies and when I treat weeds. But they are really expensive! Try the $700.00 range for a good floating aerator!

Am I correct, Cecil that by surface aerator you are talking about a Kasco type surface agitator? I too have priced these at 650+ dollars. The only justification I could think of was that I believe they can be moved from pond to pond in emergency situations. Also, I've heard of them being put on timers to be run only at night, thus training the fish to move to the aerator in times of low DO.

Bruce,

Yes you are right. It's a Kasco. I know I will have to break down and get one at some point with the high densities of fish I am growing.

BTW, I have made headway with your bluegills even though I have had one taxidermy student after another in the last few months. It still may be a little while yet, but they are mounted and dry enough to do the finish work. That's better than still being in the freezer.

Definitely fast growing fish as their tails and pec fins are quite small for their bodies! Quite the dishpans! I dupliciated their anatomy to the "T" as I make a mold to assure accuracy in the process of mounting the skins.(The only way I will do panfish as their body's vary so much even within the same species) I am looking forward to airbrush painting them exactly like the pic on the cover of Pond Boss.

New development. Filamentous algae is no longer a problem. Now I have brownish phytoplankton that has reduced visibility significantly. Fish seem O.K. although feeding seems to be down somewhat. I don't believe it is a crash as there wasn't enough phytoplankton to crash. Must be a different dominant species.

Amazing the changes that are taking place in this pond, however, all the variable seems the same. Always something new. Still learning.

CB1 :

Often when we have a reduction in our green plankton bloom { usualy due to rain or fert. diminishing} it is followed by visa. increasing and then brown plankton bloom with reduced visa. There have been several posts in the last week with the same problem . Ours is usualy self correcting and turns back to green in a week +- with sun and light fert. addition. See the posts below. Greg called it a red euglena bloom . ewest

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=000110

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000069

Wow, Cecil! Thanks for the update. I had not seen your post about the mounts until you bumped the thread today. Sounds really cool.

Bruce,

One thing I also found interesting about your bluegills was crusher teeth in the back of the mouth. Almost as prominent as a redear (shellcracker). I am not insinuating these fish have some redear genes, but apparently your bluegills have potentially a gentic propensity to strong crusher teeth than most of the bluegills I see.

That's the Condello strain!

Fast growing, loves pellets, three-pound potential......and CRUSHER teeth.

And some people think I make this stuff up.

From BG to bone crusher in 4 generations . That is genetic change at warp 10 . Where is that Dr. Frankenbruce !!!! ewest

All he needs is an assistant named Igor.

I didn't even thing of the fact that Bruce is a dentist and teeth are right up his alley. My what a coincidence!

I was thinking - we've seen some gorgeous pictures of RESxBG crosses that were well on their way to being huge. What a great fish for a big bream pond, if only they bred true. Probably the biggest growth potential of the bream crosses, reproduction rate should be lower than BG so they'd be less prone to stunting, and good looking to boot!

If/when I get a second pond I am inclined to try RES only and see how the limited (vs BG) reproduction does on keeping numbers down. But imagine, through the modern miracle of genetic engineering, the best of the BGxRES, breeding true. And now, I know what they'd be called: "Dr. Frankenbruce's Condello Strain Redeared Bluegills!" I'd stock 'em in a minute!

Course, they'd probably have to be sterile to satisfy concerns with wild fish genetic purity, worries about gene-spliced lifeforms, etc. Tssk, tssk, tssk.

Theo,

There was no evidence whatsoever that Bruce's bluegills have any redear in them. They don't look anything like redears or have any other characteristics. I just noticed that the crusher teeth seemed more pronounced then the bluegills I usually see around here. Maybe bejust a regional difference or adaptation to watersheds with lots of snails etc.

CB1 :

Or could it be that Dr. Frankenbruce is working his tooth magic on his pets. Igor , Igor come here I need you now. The toothed Condello BG are chewing off my leg. ewest

CB1:

I didn't think you were impuning (sp?) the purity of Bruce's 'Gills. Just 1) stating it like you saw it or 2) having fun. But you did get me thinking about RESxBG.

btw, my daughter has small BG in a 5 gallon aquarium. We put in a dozen small (1/4") snails from the pond and watched the BG eat them - they sucked them right out of the shells.