Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond update and questions!

Well I have a pond update and the inevitable questions! Today the fish truck came to the pond! After doing 3 haul seine surveys in our pond I am convinced the only thing that survived the fish kill is thousands and thousands of BG and crappie. All around 1 inch too 2.5 inch. Under the advice of my supplier I bought 65,, 8 to 10inch FAT feed trained bass, 20 10 to 12 inch CC ,and 25 8 to 10 inch HBSB also feed trained. The plain is to knock the BG and Crappie=e down then remove half of the bass in the fall or next spring.

Now the questions!?? Due to a mild winter I have a large bloom of Filamentous algae. Some of it has already matted and floated to the surface and I am freaking as it is only MARCH! I called my fish guy and told him what the pond looked like and asked to put off the fish order so I could treat the FT with copper sulfate and then use aqua shade. His recommendations were to not use the copper and to use ROUND UP! He said to spray half the pond or do it in quarters until it was dead then to lay on the aqua shade and then get aeration in ASAP! He said the round up would not harm the fish and that the copper would? His concern was killing to much of the FT and having an oxygen issue thus spraying in quarters. Have you pond bosses ever used round up for FT and did it work? And do you think$ 387.00 was on the money for 65 LMB, 20 CC and 25 HBS? I also tipped him 10.00 bucks as we had to carry the fish 1100 feet as the field was to wet for the truck! I am home and will post some pics tomorrow of the FT ,the new fish, and the before and after aqua shade! Thanks !

My gut reaction is DON'T USE ROUNDUP!!!!

FWIW my fish guy would have charged me >$500 for that order, with the LMB not feed trained.

My rough guesstimate is that you got a heckuva bargain on the fish.

I don't like the idea of RoundUp because it isn't approved for ponds. I'm not a chemist so am not qualified to know why it isn't approved. However, I also don't like copper residuals or aquashade. I do like grass carp and/or tilapia but don't know whether you can use them in Delaware.

Roundup wont hurt the fish, but since it is a systemic product, much of it will be diluted in the water and be wasted. There have been issues where the surfactant in Roundup has decreased the reproduction of amphibians when used around the edges of water. Walmart has a generic brand of glyphosate that is much cheaper and stronger than roundup. It does not contain the same surfactant. It is in a white bottle. Not sure the name, but just look for cheapest/highest percentage of glyphosate. You can try a little and see how it works. You can always use it to kill weeds, unwanted bushes, vines etc. The experts will probably post and may suggest habitat or some generic form of it.

I am going to put my faith in my fish guy and try it. He has 11 ponds and grew striped bass for the state of MD and DE for restocking and he has a master’s degree in aqua culture. I read the labels on both the cooper sulfate and the round up and I will say this the copper has warnings all over it that it is toxic to fish where the round up doesn’t? What’s the worst that could happen? Kill all my new fish and turn my pond green? Hell I have had that happen twice on my own! Hahahah! Thanks for your input and as soon as the sun comes out here I will go take a few pictures of this pond that keeps me awake at night! PS I have to have a permit for the grass carp and the tilapia do not do well up here but I can get them in April.

I think the stuff your are talking about is called BURN DOWN as it has a high level of glyphosate and is sold as brush killer. I DO NOT WANT TO HURT MY MEGGA FROGS! BUT the FT is making me crazy!

I second DD1's suggestion, both grass carp and tilapia are available in your area. The carp will probably require a permit. The tilapia will need to be stocked each year but are death on algae and they will help yoiu grow bigger bg and bass.

There are several types of water approved GLYPHOSATEs. Look at this link re pond chems with lables. Rodeo is the roundup equivalent approved water use glyphosate.

http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=000247

Round-up has a surfactant that is in a family known as the tallow-amines. Research has indicated that it can cause damage to both the eyes and the gills of fish.

In my opinion, there are simply too many approved aquatic labels to be using a product not designed for aquatic use. Check out gly-star, touchdown pro, rodeo, etc. Why risk it over a few bucks?

i have asked and asked for rodeo with no luck. I dont think they make it anymore.

where does one find Rodeo?

I found rodeo at my local southern states.I will try it and report!

a few pics see the FT plague growing! AHAHAHAHAH!$!$@$%@%^#^#&[url= http://"http://www.hunt101.com/?p=478633&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

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[url= http://"http://www.hunt101.com/?p=478636&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

[url= http://"http://www.hunt101.com/?p=478637&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

Someone straighten me out as I have to be missing something here. !!If FT is really FA when did any form of glyphosate ever have any effect on FA. Chelated copper or Cutrine when the water warms up to 55 ish would be better, Those fish types will handle .6 gallon per acre ft (treat 4 acre ft rate)or 2.4 gallon per surface acre just fine, All you will do by shading is lower your DO (fast) and Cutrine will do it faster yet without aeration.Consider AERATION first then take care of the FA, You should have plenty of DO presently but dying the water and killing your algae will change that fast.Investigate where the phosphorus load is coming from and perhaps may be feasible to reduce or eliminate that source thus keeping Cu out altogether at some point .

Salt I also see high temps there about 40ish and lows all week 25 range, seems a little cool for any type treatment, just my .02

Thanks Ted!

I was just on your page shopping! I will be in touch!

Nice looking fish Salt. They will be glad to meet those 2in crappie and BG. I bet they even play a little chase.

I noticed a few of the HBSB had POP EYE’S and a few of those had hemorrhaging
Behind the eye. I found 2 dead today and called my fish guy. He said he had too much oxygen in his tank and will replace any that I loose. I also threw out a few hand fulls of feed although it was cold here today the new fish still fed for a few minutes. The HBSB have the welfare system down pat and were the first to the feed.

I think you're pretty fortunate to have the HSB on pellets already. Sometimes it takes a lot longer to get them to feed. I don't know what the feed trained LMB are worth, but I'd probably give 5 bucks apiece for actual pellet trained fish. The HSB are probably worth two bucks each. Generally we can get CC pretty cheap around here, so it sounds like a fair deal for you given the additional cost of delivery.

That "pop-eye" trait is fairly common. We see that in some HSB, always right after ice-out in smaller ponds. If I'm not mistaken, the gas bubble problem is identifiable by the fact it's always just one eye. The cranium has a nitrogen buildup, which takes the path of least resistance--blowing out one eye. If it were a bacterial or viral problem it would affect more than just the one eye--maybe both eyes or other areas of the body. Nice of him to replace those fish. Sounds like a standup guy.

Bruce it was in both eyes and not in all of the fish. The LMB are feed trained as I watched them eat in the grow out pond before buying but as of yet have not had them smack a pellet in my pond but it has only been 36 hours but I have high hopes! PS I saw a huge BG today at my neighbor's pond it was over a pound and beautiful! He has been a lurker here and is trying a BG only pond stiveing for 2 pound gill! He is going to trade bass for gills with me in the fall! This fish was as big as a paper plate!

BG only pond! Fabulous. Is he using some of the methods on the forum or in the magazine?

Is there a photo of the big bluegill from today? I'm having cabin fever and would love to see a pic!

Yes he is! If I could teach this old chicken farmer to type he could post! But his BG are fantastic! I turned him on to pond boss and now he is a junkie! he is digging a new pond to grow HBSB

A little story about Roundup that won't be any help but what the heck. For my job I have to attend yearly 8 hour refresher training seminars in the hazardous materials field (to keep my incident command status current.)One year the instructor, trying to get the point across about chronic health effects of some chemicals, told a story about when Roundup was first introduced. The salesman for I guess Monsanto would go around using a unusual method for proving how safe it was. He would mix up a small cup of the stuff at application strength then drink it. The instructor said the salesman now resides in a cemetery. I then commented that " at least he don't have any weeds on his grave site." An awkward silence fell over the crowd and off in the distance I could here a cricket chirping. Lots of my attempted humor is met in this way.

:D