Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Pond draw down when applying sonar

When a draw down of a pond is done prior applying SONAR, it will recover some water. What if the water is going to start flowing out again? Should an attempt be made to draw it down again from as deep as a person could get the siphon intake?

Thanks, FH

Fish Head
The best way to treat a pond that has flow through is to draw down as much as you can. I would take the amount you would be normally applying and only add 2/3 to the pond. I would then add the other 1/3 about 3 weeks after the original treatment. That way you are keeping your concentration in the pond for an extended period and will eventually starve the target vegetation.

FishHead: you're question represents good thinking, but is somewhat incomplete.
The best strategy for WHAT to use and HOW to use it greatly depends upon the targeted specie - which wasn't mentioned.
Ex: duckweed and coontail, though both are susceptible to SONAR, are two completely different treatment-concepts in ponds that have potential for transient water (flow-throughs).
If you're treating for duckweed and you draw-down the pond ahead of a SONAR treatment, you will strand a LOT of duckweed above the waterline - where it may well survive if there's adequate moisture available (potholes, mud, etc). Then, if the treated water doesn't inundate the stranded duckweed until after the SONAR-levels have dissipated, the surviving duckweed will be able to reinfest your pond.
Such a situation might justify making a separate treatment around the pond's perimeter with diquat, above the waterline, to control any stranded duckweed.
Other than that, the draw-down & 2/3-1/3 split treatment mentioned by Ponds is certainly a valid and utilized method for dealing with transient water ponds.
Also, depending upon the targeted specie(s), you might consider using SONAR Q pellets - which have an extended release-period - and thereby helps to reduce the risks associated with unexpected out-flows following a treatment.

Thanks Ponds and Kelly. Kelly you hit it directly, my target species are both Coontail and watermeal/duckweed. I have tried Radeo, Weedtrine D, and Roundup with limited success. I have owned the pond for three years. My pond has many things going against it. For instance; it is 50+ yrs old, it has been subjected to cattle runoff some 20 yrs ago, it is fed by farm field tile, and it is still the recipient of a lot of the leaves from the trees around it. I have applied the chemicals by means of hand sprayer, and an ATV type 15 gal sprayer from my canoe. Since it has several fallen trees along some of the bank it is almost impossible to apply the mixture to all of the target species. The pond is 2-1/2acres and averages 10 foot. I have begun to remove some trees and plan to continue with that assult. I also will begin removing the fallen trees as much as I can. I have seen 3 fish kills of which most recently last fall a cold rain in Oct killed several adult Bluegill, and some?? of my 6 mo old LMB. I was pleasantly supprised to see some BG frey last week when I lost the rest of my ice.

So, as you can see I come here for support and most of you can sympathize to my problems.

Thanks for your time!

Fish head

The RODEO and ROUNDUP (the later should not be used IN the pond) are completely ineffective on coontain, duckweed and watermeal. WEEDTRINE D would be marginally effective IF you use enough AND keep going back after survivors on a frequent, short-interval basis. However, REWARD would be a much more economical alternative to WEEDTRINE D.

The pond's size may ultimately dictate the best treatment option. 2.5 acres may be enough to justify this strategy, which is to use some SONAR Q pellets and some SONAR AS liquid (pellets to primarily target the coontail and liquid to target the duckweed/watermeal - though both products will "assist" each other). The liquid will provide a quick concentration "spike" while the slow-releasing pellets will help to sustain and prolong the concentration - especially under the prospect of potential outflows (hopefully minimal).

Also, WEEDTRINE D or REWARD (both are diquat) may be used to treat any duckweed that becomes stranded above the waterline - whether on stumps within the pond or along shoreline areas. If the duckweed or watermeal isn't touching the SONAR-treated water, it isn't going to be controlled by the SONAR.

QUESTION FOR YOU: given the nutrient inflows you described, has your pond experienced a lot of filamentous algae problems?

Kelly, my mistake on the use of Rodeo, it was actually Reward as it has a higher concentration of Diquat.

Suprisingly the filamentous algea has not formed in my pond to much. I have seen some but it is usually very little. Any idea why that would be? The Coontail is really bad in the shallow end and actually breaks off in floating masses. The steep edges are not to bad but it reaches the 5.5 ft depth...the water is real clear most of the time.

FH