Hell from Argyle,Il. We have been rebuilding our 1 acre pond eco system for 4 years now after a drainage collapse.. We did have algae blooms from farm nitrogen drainage in the old pond. totally out of control! we have used barley straw in the new pond and so far its done quite well. It does have to be within 3 foot of the surface to decay and release its chemicals. Initially used 6 bales. Keystone Hatcheries sells a bale for $33 (WOW) and they suggest 5 bags about 1.5 bales early in April for 1 acre pond.I bought before from a farmer for $12/bale. Our neighbor pond uses a lot of the copper sulfate --apparently not enough as last year the green floating algae was over a a third of that pond. I will post things that may be valuable for both of us. I am on the middle pond in Argyle. How big is your pond? Lots of shallow area?
bill