Mark

It would probably be beneficial to know more details about the pond before making any specific recommendations - ie. pond's age, amount of organic buildup on the bottom, water source(s), water chemistry, etc.

However, with the info provided thus far, I would be inclined to suggest using GREENCLEAN to temporarily control any excess filamentous algae - but only after physically removing any large algae mats in order to avoid the cycling of nutrients, of which it sounds as though there's an excess.

Also, with an average depth of 8' (for a 1/2 acre pond), adequate aeration would likely do wonders since it probably gets very little vertical circulation from surface wind-action. I suspect that this pond is quite capable of developing a thermocline - which isn't good.

As for the bottom plant-growth (no specific specie stated), I probably wouldn't get overly concerned with it at this point - unless it/they begin to pose problems.

It sounds like filamentous algae is the main issue. So, if he can deal with the filamentous algae in such a manner as to avoid inhibiting future phytoplankton blooms, the bottom plants will help utilize organic nutrients in areas of sufficient sunlight penetration - and their populations will be kept in check by the phytoplankton blooms that are hopefully established in the future. Besides, his newly stocked forage fish will undoubtedly benefit from the habitat and O2 afforded by a native plant population that occupies somewhere between 15-20% of the pond.

GREENCLEAN has shown to be a great spot-treatment algaecide for smaller ponds, with very short-term effects. He'd have to allow the already added AQUASHADE to dissipate before expecting any phytoplankton blooms. In the mean time, supplimental microbial treatments might also be beneficial.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of grass carp (Asian white amur), as their impacts are difficult to predict and impossible to regulate - unless you're a good shot. Maybe I'm biased because of my profession (though I try to avoid it), but in many situations, properly selected and utilized herbicides usually offer a greater degree of target specificity and impact-regulation than grass carp.

Bill? Anything to add or adjust?

Two final notes:

AQUASHADE has its place in the management of many water bodies. However, I very rarely recommend its use in ponds being managed primarily for recreational fishing. On the other hand, if aesthetics and low-maintenance objectives are the primary focus, AQUASHADE is certainly a strong consideration.

GREENCLEAN may be a little pricy for larger ponds/lakes. Though its cost appears to be falling, GREENCLEAN is probably best suited to smaller ponds. I prefer CUTRINE PLUS over copper sulfate on larger ponds and lakes (for algae control) for numerous reasons already covered in many earlier posts. However, it is important to avoid over-applications and over-use of CUTRINE, which could easily impact the desirable phytoplankton along with the targeted filamentous algae.

Kelly Duffie
Cypress, TX