I moved in to my current house about a year and a half ago. Last summer, the algae in my pond got BAD. I ended up using a wet-vac to suck up all the muck off the top.
I want to control the algae better this year. I bought a bottle of "Tetra Pond Algae Control" at Menards. I did some calculations, and now I figure I will need FIFTY-ONE more bottles of this stuff to treat my pond once! Oh boy, please help check my calculations.
My pond is oval and about 112' by 85'. I think the deepest part is about 15' and the bottom is shaped like most ponds and lakes, with a gradual rise from the bottom to the shore. I reckon the average depth is about 6 feet. It has a rubber liner. Using online calculators, I figure my pond holds a minimum of 316,000 gallons. Since one bottle of Tetra algae killer treats 6000 gallons, I need 52 bottles. Am I doing this right? What should I be buying instead?
I don't have pictures, but I went to that website to identify it and it is definitely filamentous algae. Green and just a sloppy mess. What most people call "pond scum".
In my pond I have a great number of perch and a larger fish (about 12-18" long) that I haven't been able to pull out of the water yet. Hopefully there is a treatment that doesn't render the fish inedible. Also, I have an aerator that runs 24/7.
Esshup, I'm in the Green Bay area.
tex
All of the algaecides that are rated for pond use, providing they are used according to the label, won't affect the fish at all. Now the part about "used according to the label" is the important part. I had a customer that had an algae problem and wanted to purchase enough algaecide to treat the whole pond for a year. I measured the pond and calculated what he'd need for the rest of the year. I told him how to use it and when to use it. He thought he knew better than I did, and didn't want to keep treating his pond every two weeks. So he put ALL of the algaecide in the pond at the same time. "It's enough to last the year, right?" He killed every fish in his pond.
Using anything incorrectly can lead to bad consequences. Take a human drinking water. It's safe right? And we need to do it every day. Did you know that if a human drinks too much water they can die? So, "safe" is a relative term I guess.
When the experts above say to manually "remove the FA", they mean to remove it entirely from the watershed of the pond!
If you let it decay on the bank of the pond, then those nutrients will go right back into the pond over the course of the next year - and the algae will continue the growth cycle.
I only rake small amounts from my ponds, but our expert rakers have given advice to first get it on the bank. (Preferably some place that your wife will not castigate you for making an eyesore at the pond!) Then let that heavy, water-logged mass of algae dry in the sun to lose a lot of weight. After some period (depending upon your location and weather conditions), you can then scoop it into your available transport and move it out of the area of your property where rainwater runs into your pond.
There is an optimal time to move it. When it is still a tiny bit damp, the mats still stick together (mostly) and are easier to scoop up again. If you let it get too dry and sun-beaten, sometimes it falls apart partially into dust. (It is hard to move dust with a pitchfork!)
Good luck on battling your FA! Even if you are winning the battle for the first year or two, the results might not be easily observable. However, best practices PLUS patience will certainly improve the look of your pond.
Wow, thanks for all of the advice guys. I have a lot of work to do.
Speaking of removing it manually, I had pretty good luck with my wet-vac. It's a big one; I put it in the back of my 4 wheeler and with a long attachment, it was quite satisfying watching those big mats of FA go "swoooooosh" lol. I have to dump it a lot, since a lot of water gets sucked up too.
