Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Could FA stop my perch fry from hatching?

I had a few perch egg strands on some Christmas trees, but within a week the whole tree seemed to be covered in FA.

I have seen no evidence of any YP fry surviving, but I have had a FH spawn and a LMB spawn, even though I had only five mature LMB.

I am thinking my YP egg strands may have been smothered by the FA, any thoughts?

Purely a guess, but is it possible they were eaten?

I have a pond with heavy FA and a stunted pop of HBG, If I catch say a 3 incher in my cast net I have to be careful where I throw him back in b/c if I throw him in the FA he can not get back to the water. If my cast net hits FA fish will be trapped in it and its very hard to get them out of that stuff. It seems very easy for them to get stuck in it. And newly hatched fry I think would have much harder time trying to swim through it.

I would say its possible but Im no expert.

What is FA??

Filamentous Algae

The only time I've seen FA or fungus grow on yellow perch eggs is if they are not fertilized or they are dead for some reason such as laying on the bottom or getting smothered with silt. Did you get a heavy rain event that covered them with silt and subsequently with FA? Also keep in mind that just before eggs hatch they look pretty ragged and the left over byproducts could accumulate fungus or algae.

As prolific as yellow perch are I find it hard to believe you would have trouble getting them going in a pond via natural reproduction. Only other thing I can think of is intense predation by carnivorous insects or other fish but even then there should be sufficient survivors. Each perch can produce a few hundred thousand eggs.

I do have Golden Shiners, but I just put them in this year and only 5# of them. I see schools of them swimming but not too often. I cant believe they would have eaten all the YP eggs.

Fry have no problem swimming between the FA globs, I have been watching LMB and FH fry every day hiding in the stuff. I think ultimately the FA will help all my minnows survive, even though the LMB are not afraid to dive right into it.

Where do YP fry go after a few weeks, deep water?

Rex,

Have you tried a fixed light on the pier or something to see if you get yellow perch fry underneath it?

Cecil I went out with a flashlight but not a fixed light. Do you usually just leave it on all night?

No you don't need to leave it on all night, but a an hour or two would be optimum. A lantern on the edge of the pier would probably do it. Or lay on your belly on the pier and hold the flashlight in the water for several minutes.

If you get a enough fish to congregate under the light if you're quick you should be able to scoop up some for identification.