Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations FA turning brown for no reason...

I have some extensive mats of FA growing on one of our ponds, this one is 4 acre in particular. Probbaly 40% coverage. Its not very hot yet but for some reason about 75-80 percent of the floating FA mats have turned a brown color just like after you sprayed grass with roundup. Does it normally do this as it ages. I know it doesn't seem to do as well in the extreme summer and might turn a little pale in color but for spring and it to be brown looking is weird.

No chemicals were put in. There is a pretty extensive coontail uprising in this pond, but I wouldn't think it would cause the FA to die off like this.

I also seem to have a moderate bloom in the water, once again nothing was put in the lake at all.

So moderate bloom, coontail, and brown FA.

I guess if the FA is dieing back it might boost the bloom, hopefully no too much.

Nutrients are less numerous? Other plants competing with the fa and uptaking nutrients as in the coontail?

Not the same thing but a similar principal... For several years I had an algae bloom in a pond due to the extensive feeding I did. It was perfect in that visibility stayed right at about 2 feet. At one point I harvested many of the fish which caused me to reduce feeding, with consequently less nutrients available. The bloom thinned out and chara took hold, which actually is another form of algae. After that chara out competed the phytoplankton and the water turned gin clear. Never could get an algae bloom going again. I've since reverted to Aquashade to keep the chara in check. Too tricky to keep a bloom going with chara in the pond, and it's possible to just feed the chara if I fertilize.

Some FA types turn brown as they near the end of their life cycle.

Cecil:

Since you don't have trout in the pond, is chemical treatment an option?

If you're referring to my biggest pond, yes a chemical treatment is possible. In combination with the Aquashade to curtail but not eliminate chara, I hope to add some whitecap (sonar) to keep the sago pond weed from going nuts. Expensive stuff and I haven't purchased it yet, but should be able to pay for it in a month of so.