It all works to a certain extent. But, it does take some planning.
One of my most successful FA-infected pond clean-ups involved several ponds on a farm, where little had worked before. It was on a farm with lots of manure, at the bottom of a valley that also included a lot of manure polluted inflow from farms far above these ponds.
The multiple-generation family of this farm used a number of techniques to to control algae and weeds, included dies, various names of CuSO4, and other chemicals.
My approach included some pond dye -- but not in the ponds. I poured several lines of it on the ground above these ponds during dry times. I used it to find incoming paths of excess nutrients, which I felt were causing most of the issues.
It then included a bulldozer, a skid steer, and a small excavator.
Grading resolved nearly all of the issues.
By the time we diverted most of incoming nutrient issues, there were still a lot of excess nutrients in the ponds. We added 8-10 inch grass carp at 20 per acre. The grass carp were moderately successful during the first season. By the second season the ponds looked great, and the grass carp were now in excess of 20 inches.
I looked at the ponds about a week ago (third spring season). I now figure it is time to take out the grass carp, which have become monstrous.
The catfish we put in two and three years ago are doing fantastic. There are some incredible LMB. There are lots of really fat 8-10 inch BG.
During high-water times, there is a natural infiltration of green sunfish, creek chubs, and various darters. We built a special small pond for them that includes a lot of plants that uptake nutrients. The few fish that make it through that overflow provide snacks for the fish below.
We have not done any flesh testing for chemicals. Personally, I feel pretty safe serving the fish from these ponds at this point. A lot of water flows through these ponds that is now filtered by many crops from grasses and grains, to cattails, to waterborne flowers.
