Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Chara

My lake has been inundated with a pond weed called chara. It is thickly matted about 2 feet below the surface. So far we are lucky it has not emerged. I'm not sure if it's a serious problem other than making the fishing rather tough. Will it hurt anything? Can it be treated?

It will stay submerged.

Pluses and minuses:

+ Great cover for invertebrates and for fry and fingerling fish to hide

+ Produces beaucoup oxygen
+ It competes with filamentous algae and other invasive macrophytes and can preclude any problems with them

- Decomposes underneath and adds to the muck layer
- Too much cover for forage is not necessarily good for predator fish
- It can get seriously out of hand but not always

It dies back (mostly) every year. It is treated the same way algae is treated (chemically), but once it's mature it's very hard to control.

Yes is can be treated. I had the same problem your talking about it coverd at least 70 percent of my pond. My pond has shallow slopes so that don't help any either! I added a few grass carp and treated with Cutrine Plus Granular and this is the first summer I have ever had without all that chara. It does make for very hard fishing under the water that's for sure. Even bobber fishing is hard to do! I used the CP to a point and then let the GC take it from there.

Good Luck,

Good for you RC51.

My water is so hard even the new young growth for the year doesn't fear Cutrine Plus.

I control mine to some extent by raking it out or draining my production ponds annually. If I get a good algae bloom going in those ponds it also controls it -- especially the yellow phytoplankton that makes the water a brown color.

Hey Cecil,

That's a bunch of Chara right there! I thought I had hard water??? I guess not! Course my pond has not seen any kind of chemical treatment in a long, long time so it more than like freaked out when I put that CP in there!! I think I caught it by surprise. Along with about 4 grass carp to keep up with the rest it has worked great for me!! I also used 2 one pound packages of CFLO through out the summer. I think that is helping too with my mucky bottom. Not sure if I will have to treat next year or not but I am sold on CP for sure! If I need it again I will have it handy!!

So your grass carp were not effected by the CP?