Did you pull that out of the water or is it growing on the banks? If you crunch it up in your hand and it smells kinda like garlic, it may be chara, but it's hard to tell out of the water. It sorta resembles widgeon grass in the posted pic.
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If it has strong garlic/skunk odor, almost certain chara. If not, may well be nitella. Even experts (which I'm not) may have a tough time differentiating some types of pond plants.
Ihe close up pictures were much more helpful. If the water is hard and has moderate to high alkalinity then it is Chara. If you have soft low alkalinity water then it is likely Nitella. Both are plant like 'stemy' forms of algae with no true roots. It looks a lot like Chara. They are early primary invaders of ponds; often the first to arrive as submerged vegetation.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 05/12/1907:04 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Thank you So much for your answer and explanation. The water here in West Texas is very hard (what there is of it) and the oilfield doesn't help. lol This is a problem that's gotten worse thru the last 2 years. I've used the Hydrothol and the Cutrine Plus with no success, I think if it's an algae my water is too hard for that to be beneficial unless I use enough to kill my fish, so I recently used Clearcast thinking it may be a weed and a herbicide would work, and I still don't see any results. I'd hire a professional to help, but there literally aren't any around my area Midland, TX 79706. (Just in case there is one that someone knows of).
Last edited by sindylou; 05/12/1910:28 PM. Reason: clarification