Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Reducing Nutrient Levels in Small Pond with Plants

Hey Quarter,
I've been considering the hyacinth corral project myself. Our ponds are very similar, yours being slightly bigger. Sounds like they're built exactly the same tho. I started out the spring with around 18" visibility, but going into summer it increased to over 4 feet for several weeks of very dry weather. Now that we've gotten back to more consistent rains, the visibilty has come back to around 18-24 inches. I'll be installing aeration in the coming weeks and am interested to see how that affects blume and temps. I've had as high as 99 degree surface water this summer. Luckily, with a small deep hole, my mutts have been able to get below the heat.

I'm not sure how all this pertains to nutrients as I'm still very novice to pond life. My interest in the hyacinth was to provide shade and cooler water, as well as more hiding places for forage. I'd really like to be able to introduce some grass shrimp, but there's no place for them to hide currently.

I would think, with hyacinth being as prolific as it is, it would consume a lot of excess nutrients, maybe too much if not controlled, and your visibility would improve. Control is definitely the key tho. Left to it's own devices, your nutrient levels may plummet to the point of endangering your phytoplankton as well as any other wanted vegetation.

My less than $.02!!!!