Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Pond Dye questions

As I move through my first summer with the pond, i am trying to find ways to control my FA. I have a ring about 5 feet wide around the whole pond and I can see 3-4 feet down into the water. I have continued to rake, but it just pops back up a couple of days later. I have read several articles about pond dye, but I have seen too many freakishly blue or green ponds on golf courses and people's yards. I want my pond to look natural, is there a way to do that with dye? Maybe without?

My fish are doing great, but wonder if I have had an bloom or not. I have not had the pea soup look at all.

This is my first pond, and don't want to make mistakes and over cemical anything.

Coach, in your previous posts I didn't see a mention of stocking GSH, according to studies they eat FA and although it might not solve your problem it could reduce it.
Every pond is different but in 2006 when my pond was new I stocked GSH, and have had very little FA.
Just a thought.

My concern with GSH is that I have seen them take over some lakes around here. I think 2catmom had that problem just north of me. Don't they get 6 inches long or longer? One thought I had was to stock some tilapia, since they don't survive the fall. I could grow them in tanks in the spring, and then release them when the water gets warmer.

Tilapia are great if their legal where you are, in NY they are only legal if grown in contained systems, or so I have been told.

I agree trying Tilapia if legal. I am in NE Texas and stock them every Spring when the water gets to 60 degrees. Never have an FA problem all year long. Another plus is you get to eat them in the late fall when water temp gets down to 55 degrees.

If your pond is not currently getting a plankton bloom, and it sounds like it's not, you might try fertilizing starting in March or April before the FA gets going well. If you get a bloom going before the FA gets cranked up, the bloom will entirely prevent it from growing because it cuts out the sunlight penetrating through the water. A not-insignificant side benefit is that your fish will grow drastically faster because phytoplankton are the foundation of the entire food chain in your pond and when there's more plankton, everything else on up the food chain, from zooplankton that feed on the phytoplankton to insect invertebrates to fish fry etc., grows faster as well, most importantly your fish.

I do know of a lake that has had tilapia stocked in the recent past and never has an issue with FA, but I also know of a 1/2-acre pond near me that has an FA problem and was heavily stocked with tilapia last year, and they didn't even make a dent in it. So they're not a sure thing. But they do provide a lot of forage for your other fish, so that's an upside even if they don't control the FA.

You might just try both. It would make for some happy fish.

Walt, if the tilapia stocked near you came from KSU stock, they are Nilotica strain and are not big FA eaters. A guy I am dealing with said the State told him that they are BLUE NILE tilapia---must be a KSU strain unknown to anyone else!

I have no idea what strain they were, Rex, and would certainly defer to your expert knowledge of the fish on that. I do think it's safe to say though that they were non-FA-eating tilapia.

Are you referring to Golden Shiners or Gizzard Shad when you say GSH? I believe Gizzard Shad are the problem fish Lynda had. I wouldn't even consider planting Gizzard Shad in a pond let along most BOW. I know of one large natural lake where they help produce trophy fish of several species but the water is very clear (easy for the predators to capture them) and there are a lot of predator fish from two kinds of bass, gar, bownfin, rainbow and brown trout, walleye, yellow perch, and northern pike.


As far as the dye I can tell you from personal experience it won't be effective on FA in the top 1 to 3 feet of water.

One thing to keep in mind is FA is a common problem in new ponds until some macrophytes become more numerous.

I sue a dye but I feed all the fish in my pond (adults or smaller fish in cages until they can be sexed). I'm not concerned about the food chain and marginalizing it by using dye.

On another note the following may be counter intuitive but I know a fish farmer that I highly respect that does it: He uses a dye in his perch production ponds early in the year until his algae bloom takes hold. Apparently in the right amount it keeps macrophytes at bay and as it breaks down it allows the phytoplankton to take hold. Sounds like it could be tricky but he knows what he's doing. I've learned a tremendous amount from this guy.