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Joined: Apr 2013
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Joined: Apr 2013
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The neighborhood that I live in has an approximately 5 surface acre lake. We had a fish kill early last summer. I don't live on the water side however I do fish over there some. Due to this the property owners on the lake side have asked me how to deal with the recent overwhelming plant growth. I didn't search because to be honest I don't even know what I am dealing with. Please help   
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,315
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,315 |
I can't help much as I am pretty much a newbie, but I will ask a few questions so the pros might be able to get a better idea of how to help you.
1)What types of fish do you have in there?
2)What is the deepest part of the lake?
3)What is the water source?
4)Is there a Home owners association for help in funding?
Well see where that goes, best luck, Jim
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511 |
Welcome, Josh!
It appears to be Filamentous Algae (FA). And as I too am a newbie I also had the same problem in my 2 acre pond, followed by a fish-kill.
From my understanding, it's growing due to high nutrient levels to feed it as well as clear water allowing the sun to penetrate the bottom also allowing it to grow. This may be why you're seeing it in the shallow areas.
Possible Remedies?
You can use a pond dye but it may not help for the 3' or less depths.
You can treat it with Cutrine Plus (granular or spray) but then you have the issue of oxygen consumption as it decays, adding even more nutrients and possibly causing a O2 crash if you treat too much at a time.
Raking or scraping out as much as possible to prevent it from O2 consumption (it's great fertilizer!).
Find out where the nutrients are coming from i.e., runoff from fertilized lawns, fields, etc. It also looks like there's a lot of trees which add to the "muck" via leaves, etc.
Install an Aeration system which would be somewhat costly for a 5 acre pond.
Plant life will put out oxygen during daylight hours and consume it after dark with lowest oxygen levels just before sunup. Is there pond weeds, vegetation, etc., surrounding the pond? These will help consume oxygen leaving less for the FA.
So on top of fishnchips great questions;
How is the water clarity?
What is the age of the pond and how much or how deep is the "muck"?
Hopefully there will be others more qualified to chime in, the above is just from my experience and what I've learned from the great folks here on PB!
Read up and research, there's tons of great information here. And hopefully I'm not too far off on my assessment.
As with fishnchips, good luck Jim!
Last edited by Lovnlivin; 04/13/13 09:00 AM.
Keith - Still Lovin Livin https://youtu.be/o-R41Rfx0k0(a short video tribute to the PB members we met on our 5 week fishing adventure) Formerly: 2ac LMB,HSB,BG,HBG,RES
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 29,788 Likes: 1295
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent  Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 29,788 Likes: 1295 |
Not much to add until the questions are answered.
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 6
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 6 |
I can't help much as I am pretty much a newbie, but I will ask a few questions so the pros might be able to get a better idea of how to help you.
1)What types of fish do you have in there?
2)What is the deepest part of the lake?
3)What is the water source?
4)Is there a Home owners association for help in funding?
Well see where that goes, best luck, Jim 1). I have caught lmb, cats bluegill and a few crappie. Also had some carp but I'm pretty sure they were involved in the fish kill as I have not saw any since tHen 2) at normal level the deepest part is about 10' 3). Best I can tell water source is runoff 4). No hoa. Most likely I will getting with the neighbors who have frontage and a few others that fish/boat.
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 6
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 6 |
Welcome, Josh!
It appears to be Filamentous Algae (FA). And as I too am a newbie I also had the same problem in my 2 acre pond, followed by a fish-kill.
From my understanding, it's growing due to high nutrient levels to feed it as well as clear water allowing the sun to penetrate the bottom also allowing it to grow. This may be why you're seeing it in the shallow areas.
Possible Remedies?
You can use a pond dye but it may not help for the 3' or less depths.
You can treat it with Cutrine Plus (granular or spray) but then you have the issue of oxygen consumption as it decays, adding even more nutrients and possibly causing a O2 crash if you treat too much at a time.
Raking or scraping out as much as possible to prevent it from O2 consumption (it's great fertilizer!).
Find out where the nutrients are coming from i.e., runoff from fertilized lawns, fields, etc. It also looks like there's a lot of trees which add to the "muck" via leaves, etc.
Install an Aeration system which would be somewhat costly for a 5 acre pond.
Plant life will put out oxygen during daylight hours and consume it after dark with lowest oxygen levels just before sunup. Is there pond weeds, vegetation, etc., surrounding the pond? These will help consume oxygen leaving less for the FA.
So on top of fishnchips great questions;
How is the water clarity?
What is the age of the pond and how much or how deep is the "muck"?
Hopefully there will be others more qualified to chime in, the above is just from my experience and what I've learned from the great folks here on PB!
Read up and research, there's tons of great information here. And hopefully I'm not too far off on my assessment.
As with fishnchips, good luck Jim!
Water clarity currently is about 8 -10 inches. I have no idea the age but I would guess 20+ years based on the age of some of the first residences although I don't know that it was constructed during the subdivision or the subdivision was planned around it On the west end it backs up into a wooded area so leaf/ much buildup is deep over there. It is about 2' deep at normal levels but that third of the lake wAs dry late last summer. There is runoff from an AG field that goes in as we'll as runoff from a couple highly manicured lAwns. The remainder of lawns are just mow and go
Last edited by Joshfcb; 04/14/13 05:17 AM.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,315
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,315 |
By the way Joshfcb, welcome to the forum. The answers are definitely here. Just takes some sorting thru to get to it, because there is so much info. I have a hard time with the search feature at times too, so don't feel alone. I find that just reading thru all posts will give you a lot of stuff to think about and learn. I would start by skimming thru the area "common pond q&a", and reading the ones that catch your eye.
With regards to your problem. I think that its going to take some money. You, and whoever else is involved, is going to need to get together and decide how much you are willing to put into the maintenance of the lake. --- yes, this is where a lot of problems will start to arise once money is involved. Decide what you want to spend up front to get it going and a yearly amount. That way you can keep up a routine plan.
At this time, I would also get a feel for what the goals for everybody is. Is it only to get rid of the FA, or good fishing(and what types), or swimming, etc.
It may be possible that your fishkill last year added to the nutrient load for this years FA problem. Seems like 10' should be good, but I am thinking that you either had to much fish in the pond, or you need an aeration system to avoid having another one.
To get rid of the FA, you will want to start looking into whether to tackle it chemically or naturally. Both are going to cost money.
Last edited by fish n chips; 04/14/13 06:30 AM.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 29,788 Likes: 1295
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 29,788 Likes: 1295 |
Agreed. First off, look and see if Tilapia are legal to stock in Ky. after you have the $$ sorted out.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 106
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 106 |
IMO before you go and stock the hundred+ pounds of Tilapia recommended for FA control or start treating the pond chemically why don't we try to get an idea of why the fish kill happened in the first place. Is there a history of fish kills with this lake? Obviously we had severe heat and drought last summer but the fish kill occured early in the summer which, atlhough miserable, wasn't really the heart of the heat and drought. Do you remember what happened in the days or weeks leading up to the fish kill? Was there a period of cloudy days, major rain storm, green soupy looking water, any smells etc? Was it a huge fish kill with thousands of fish of varying sizes, was it just adult fish or was it primarily just one species? Last year was harsh on ponds and if that is the only fish kill that pond has ever had then maybe you could attribute the weather to what lead to the fish kill but if that pond has had other fish kills in the past I would think about addressing that first.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,315
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,315 |
I think Joshfcb also needs help in figuring out a ballpark cost of these things, so when he goes back to everyone they will have a basic idea of what they are getting into. Sorry, I can't help out much there. Oversimplifying cost -Tilapia 20to30$/# @ 30#/acre=____ Joshfcb- there is a section for resources. You might get quotes from some of those vendors. http://www.pondboss.com/resource_guide.asp As mentioned, I think its good to figure out why there was a fish kill. To add to that, possibly a chemical from agri runoff?
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