That is difficult stuff to deal with and eliminate. It is a benthic Cyanobacteria aka bluegreen but it could be Oscillaoria, Lungbya, Phormidium, or Planktothrix plus maybe a few others mixed into the mat; all filamentous and capable of forming jelly-like spongy sheets or masses on the bottom and later floating to the surface. It grows because the bottom is bare and fertile. Your treatment / management program for the last four years resulted in producing the heavy growths of this algae which is tolerant of pond dye and Cutrine-Plus . You managed to exclude most all other plants except this tolerant type, and once introduced it thrived. This bentinc Cyanobacteria thrives on a bare, fertile, mud, pond bottom.
Consider getting yourself a surface circulator (Kasco) and it will chop up all those floating mats. Tilapia at the higher density (30lbs/ac) will eat that stuff at lower biomasses although it is not one of their favorite foods. About the only algacide that I have seen works okay on these algae mats is heavy doses of peroxygen (GreenClean Pro or Phycomycin). In my experience it is easier to prevent it than get rid of it.
Kevin "the Bug Man" at Aquafix has a treatment program that deals with this type of algae that he calls Lyngbya which involves an Aquasticker, an algacide, and bacterial products.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 08/22/16 10:35 AM.
