Shorty, sure enough; the tilapia finally cleansed the pond of any and most algae. However, they only reluctantly munch at the chara that's now prominent in about 30% of the smallish 0.15 ac pond. Also about 20% is covered in lily pads, which I can control and consider a positive for the relatively shallow pond. Plus several cinder block structures as well. I'm putting together a 2" pvc minnow fortress, just want to rough up the insides of tubes before launching.
PROBLEM (rant, you may wish to skip this) with this big bream pond: algae; thick mats covering 90%, then FA, come July chara remains. This starts in late March, before the water warms up and a self shading phytoplankton bloom can be triggered by fertilizing.
Have plans to aggressively eradicate FA in 2020. In late March I'll treat with liquid copper sulfate, then repeat 10 days later in early April to essentially rid most rooted growth. This October I'm renting an excavator to trench off the above surface spring 35' upstream; 4' deep 20' long. Have pond liner, cinder blocks, and cement to semi-seal the trench and channel excess water around during the rainy winter and spring. This is to reduce the 'flushing' of pond water. The subsurface pond springs provide ample water, there'll still be 10-20gpm outflow. In spite of pond bottom getting a truck load of lime sand (25ton I was told?), I'll pellet lime the pond to prep for spring. PH was 7.3 the one check, not so worried on PH. Fingerling tilapia will be stocked when water touches 70 degrees. Come late April with warm water, I'll fertilize for pyhto-bloom and get ahead of the algae mats I've endured these past 3 years since the pond was dug.
It's taken a lot of research reading, along with observations, to realize that the rooted algae doesn't die in the winter (?chara, ell grass, ect..?) There's been no way to beat it by just fertilizing when the water starts to warm. I've spent more $$ and time raking it than I do mowing my 4 acre place. A lesser man would've given up.
Last edited by Will W; 08/28/1904:10 PM. Reason: try to add foto
