Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Still consider myself new, please help..

Snide,

Fertilizer would probably make the algae problem worse. The FA is caused by excess nutrients in the pond.

If you had the pond cleaned out last year, and I'm assuming it was done with water in the pond, you probably stirred up 50 years of nutrient loaded muck. Secondly, the cattails, as difficult as they are to have in a pond, suck up incredible amounts of nutrients from the water.

As the water warms, your pond may clear of the FA. With rain and wind, your pond will slowly cleanse itself of many of the stirred up nutrients. But, it could take a whole season.

Adding an aeration system would probably help. Before you do, take a close look at the water that flows into your pond. Can you put some small settling ponds and debris-catching dams in the water path that will collect excess debris from flowing into the pond? As the soil warms, keep a healthy grass strip in the areas where the water flows in.

Adding plants to your pond, either around the edges, or even on floating islands, will also help take up the nutrients.

I'm sure you will get lots of other suggestions also. Read them all carefully before making any final decisions. When you come to some conclusions, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions before actually implementing some of them.

Regards,
Ken