Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Newbie from Florida with alge starting in pond.

I have this small pond, oval, aprox 150 by 125 ft with an estimated 4 ft of average depth. I had let it go for years until it was completely covered with weeds.

I have been clearing the weeds with a pond rake for the last two weeks and got it looking good and now it appears an algae bloom is starting.

It appears to be that super small planktonic algae that you can barely see but it is spreading fast.

4 days ago I sprayed some old Cutrine Plus on it with a pump up hand sprayer when it was a small patch close to shore but it didnt seem to help much. Either the Cutrine was too old and no longer potent or my mixture of 2 tablespoons per gallon was not adequate. Anyway the bloom is much bigger now.

The water probably has way too much nutriments in it as there are cows on the property so the algae could be a persistent problem.

I have this main question:

Using the acquacide is a short term fix with the nutriment overload so do those products advertised that claim to rid ponds of the excess nutriments by using trillions of nutriment eating bacteria really work? I am skeptical.

Right now, I just want to keep the pond surface clear of water weeds and algae. I can clear the pond of floating water weeds with a rake but the Planktonic algae is too small for that.

I have included some photos of my clearing project. Will post some more later of the new algae problem.

Thanks all in advance for your help.

Photo of overgrown pond last winter:

[img:left]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...amp;oe=567BA98E[/img]

Same view after clean out two weeks ago:

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...amp;oe=56739488

The work in progress: [img:right]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...amp;oe=566074B3[/img]

Finished job :

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...amp;oe=56671EE0

wow what a change, thats alot of work, nicely done

I am no expert but from My experiance I have found tilapia will certianly help control the filiment algea and some "weeds".

Grass carp can also help with aquatic rooted plants.

if you have plantonic algea as in the water is just green from the microsopic algea bloom, not much can be done until your nutuent load is gone.

I have seen it use up the available nutients on its own and balance out on its own too. Remember you just exposed all that water to sunlight. It might cycle through...

Airation could help with biodegrating sediment to lessen you load over time.

I am sure one of the forum experts will be able to give you better information///

Where in FL are you located.....Does it have any fish, if so what?

Is there fish in this pond?

Calcium hydroxide will fix you right up if there is no fish in the pond. I would add as much as I could to bring the PH up to 8 minimum.

Again if there is fish in the pond you may want to add this product slow. 2 pound every three days. If there is no fish I would dump in at least 100# to start. Its really cheap like $10 for 50 pounds.

The theory behind this is that the calcium will make a tight bond with your acid nutrient load you have in the pond and in the muck.

Acids like phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfides, and carbolic acids with then become calcium phosphate, calcium nitrate, calcium sulfate and calcium carbonate.

Once you get your PH up to 8 at least then find 100# of sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. This is hold you PH in place until it is used up as well. Depending on the added nutrient load you should add the equal parts calcium keeping the nutrients tied up.

Well done on the clean up holly heck that is a pile of work there dang...

Cheers Don.

Thanks for your input. I have somenew ideas.

I am in North Central Florida near Ocala.

I dont know if there are fish in the pond. Until 2 weeks ago it was completely covered over with water weeds. Maybe mud fish? When I get a chance, will get a cane pole and see what I can catch.

Yeah, I think the nutriment overload may be a real problem. It doesnt help that the cows are not potty trained. Although they did help me break up part of the floating grass island: [img]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...amp;oe=566E971E[/img]

But like you said, the increased sunlight is part of the problem. I hear there are dyes to consider to help with that.

I am intrigued by this advertised product. It sounds Too good to be true though:
And too expensive to buy a pig in a poke.

If anyone out there has had experience with this product, I would appreciate their input.

cast nets work great for sampling also seine nets if the muck is not too deep. Are you able to walk in it...

any chance you could dig it out a little ?

I have been messing around with stocking alternatives to the Large mouth bass. I could help give you some insight on that when its time to mess around with the fish. Large Mouth Bass in a pond that small would be hard to manage I would expect.

In my opinion the nutrient eating bacteria is a waist of time. The bacteria's life cycle I expect to be quite short. When the bacteria then dies and rots back down your nutrients become available again. Its really a loop in the nutrient cycle and your back to where you are now.

The real way I see is to tie the nutrients up in a chemical bond that will keep them in check. Keeping the PH up in the water solution will keep nutrients from breaking the bond. Plants will be able to use the nutrients but need to work at breaking that bond to do so.

In the long run there is no magic pill for any pond. As you know from the work you have done it is alot of work.

Cheers Don.

EDIT: trust me spend $50 bucks on hydrated lime and nuke that pond.

I agree, Drop Thet H bomb on that pond and start fresh with your fish. Build a forage base then add some snook, snapper or something odd or go taditional....But you will have a fresh start and not some old stunted fish.

Thanks all for all the good suggestions! I think the calcium hydroxide is the way to go.

It looks like the algae bloom has dissipated! Hallelujah! That gives me more time to work on the other two smaller ponds while I keep the first one under observation.

We have had a lot of rain so there is plenty of water flowing through the ponds so maybe all this new water has flushed the ponds out. But it wont last all year. There will be periods when the water in the ponds goes stagnant so the algae problems may return.

Hopefully, by next spring I will have it all under control.

Thanks again!