Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Watermeal Spreading Quickly

Well, I had apparent success with the cutrine plus treatment as the visible FA is pretty much gone from the surface. Of course, the watermeal has now taken over and in a span of a week, is enough to cover the entire surface of the 1/2 acre pond when it is fully spread out. It's a thin layer and, normally, the wind has bunched it together such that at least 1/3 of the pond is clear.

I realize watermeal is a prolific grower, but suspect that with elimination of much of the FA, the excess nutrients are going to towards this nuisance.

I was planning on tilapia, but that did not work out, so now on to chemical options, much as I do not want to do so.

From my reading here, fluoridone based products may be the best/only reliable answer. I understand this to mean products such as Sonar and Whitecap, both more expensive than the tilapia were going to be.

My concern is this. I have a lot of chara, sago (I am pretty sure), and American pondweed. I don't particularly want to lose all those, but believe that Sonar or Whitecap will probably kill much of those populations as well. I don't necessarily want to kill all of the remaining vegetation, but if that is the cost to rid myself of watermeal, or at least make a serious dent in it, then I am resigned to this undesired "shock and awe" approach. I also realize that a massive DO crash could happen if this is not carefully managed.

So, my out loud musings are as follows, and I would really value any feedback the gang may have, as well as viable alternatives to chemicals.

* Could I use a minimal amount of chemical over a series of applications to gradually use a full dose to hit the stuff but avoid a DO crash?

* Am I correct in believing the two products I mentioned will likely kill every form of vegetation in the pond?

* Are there products that will work with some level of specificity for the watermeal only?

* Are there any other options short of manual removal (for which I don't realistically have the time) that I should first consider before going nuclear on this friggin' stuff?

As an aside, I am planning on adding 2 GC to the small pond this fall so they'll be in place and ready to start munching in the spring. I hope that will address some of the issues. I'm also planning to put 4 in my larger pond, which I'm not otherwise really managing right now, to work on the curly leaf pondweed that I discovered this year (it's all totally gone from sight now, by the way. Very interesting how it dies off so quickly) and any other stuff there just to keep that pond attractive even though it's only half full.

As well, I'm hoping Rex will be able to bring me tilapia next year so I can those in the mix as well. I am really sorry it didn't work this year, especially after seeing Scott's/esshup's pictures of the beautiful fish he got from Rex. I really would prefer to use natural methods to control the vegetation, while also working on eliminating or controlling the source of the excessive nutrients that are contributing to the problems.

Thanks for your thoughts!