Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Is the cool spring making my FA worse?

We have only had only one day of 80 degrees and most days have been in the 60's, a below average spring for us. My FA has been pretty bad, with about the first 10 feet all the way around the pond saturated with the stuff.

This is only the second year for the pond, with almost none last year. Will most of this clear itself up when water temps finally get into the high 70's-low 80's, or will it stick around all summer?

I am already tired of using my garden rake for this stuff, I will have to get a better rake for this stuff

Hello rexcramer,

I am entering the third full summer for my pond. First year like you with no algae. Second year it came on strong like yours a solid 6-10' out from shore. Don't count on the warmer temps to clear it up. I battled it the entire season last year with Captain agaecide but that was a temporary fix at best. I ended up strapping on the boots and physically wrestling as much as I could out of an almost 2 acre pond. This year it is back strong as ever and I dread the thought of another two day wrestling match with the green monster.

I stocked blue tilapia this year, hoping for the magic bullet that many swear by. I'll be amazed if they work as well as many say. I'll keep you posted.

By the way, how many algae removal tool concepts have you envisioned while raking the pond? Using a rake is like mowing the grass with a pair of scissors. Do you have a lot of leaves that fall into your pond?

Copper sulfate granules dissolved into 25 gal of water, then sprayed over the FA works wonders. But, I'm trying not to go that route this year. I know that there are better choices than copper sulfate, but it was the least expensive option for me plus the water in the pond used to get changed due to it being down belowthe water level in the surrounding ground. No FA problems this year so far. Time will tell tho!

Blaine, have you noticed any difference in the algae yet with the tilapia?

Rainman,

Nothing yet but I have a lot of algae. I'm thinking that they need to get bigger and most importantly... Spawn. I just hope that I don't have to wait until the end of the season for the expected results.

Blaine,

I'll bet once it starts to really warm up your tilapia will kick into high gear. We've had abnormally cool temps as you know. I'm looking forward to hearing your report in a month or two.

BTW I'm now filling up my biggest pond. I'm doing repairs myself. I'm using Aquashade this year since all my fish are larger, monosex, and on feed in the pond. Perhaps if I have some algae problems along the shore I will give Tilapia a try.

The last grass carp I had liked the feed more than the chara. No grass carp for me.

I have been waiting to climb in there and get to raking but the water is not even warm enough to do that. Last year by this time we were swimming in shallow water.

I do get a lot of leaves in the pond, it is surrounded by trees. My neighbor said he has not used any chemicals this year and has had no FA, but I do know he has used chemicals in the past. I do not want to use chemicals if possible.

Someone needs to breed a cold water resistant tilapia. I would drive to oh to get them if I had to.

Rainman's Blue Talapia are tolerant down to 45 F. vs. 55 F. for the Mozambique. He can air ship some to you.

My understanding is that the "Blue" tilapia can survive in water temps as low as the mid 40's. Check with Rainman for specifics.

The leaves seem to be a common theme in ponds with out of control FA problems and is most likely the nutrient source fueling the growth.

Rex - My big pond is experiencing a lot more FA compared to previous years. This is the 3rd year since it was renovated. Luckily it's only 2/3 acre so I manually attack it. Landscape rake with a noodle attached is my weapon of choice. No chemicals here. I just do half the pond daily or so. My goal is to simply minimize the amount recycled into the food chain. Since I have the YP I don't aerate 24/7 so that keeps the ponds a little cooler hence my FA lasts a bit longer.

Chuck

Thanks for the reply Chuck, I spent 8 hours this weekend raking and scraping gunk from all around the pond and it looks much better now.

Can you post a pic of your rake so I can see your weapon of choice? I am looking for a better option than just a steel rake

Rex -

For manual vs chemical removal, I wonder if BZ's prickly rope would work.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=35766#Post35766

Russ

Rex - I don't have a picture to post right now. All it is is a 3' landscape rake with a swimming noodle attached with zip ties. Rake from Home Depot/Lowes, noodle from Toys-r-us, drugstore etc. The rake is about $30-40 and the noodle is a few bucks. Quite a bit cheaper than the $100 "lake rakes." It works perfectly. Been using it for about 5 years now. A quick on-line search for landscape rake and swimming noodle will get you what you need visually.....

Unfortunately now I have baby fishes everywhere so I've cut back a bit so I don't rake up all my big fishes food!!

Chuck