Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Fertilize with algae

If it comes time to fertilize, and the clarity calls for it, but I have a decent amount of algae....should I? Wind will blow the algae to one side, or if it's calm it may be dispersed around the pond. Makes fishing more difficult in certain areas. Also, I don't want to clog up the pond and potentially hurt the fish. There was some earlier, and fertilizing didn't seem to worsen it much. I tried to attach a pic, didn't work.

Without knowing the alkalinity, it might be pointless to add fertilizer because if the alkalinity isn't over 20 (bare minimum) then the phytoplankton can't utilize the fertilizer. I'd much rather see ponds with an alkalinity of 40 as a minimum, that way there is a bit of a leeway before they drop too low. Just the same as adding lime to the soil to allow the plants to utilize the fertilizer in the soil.

Liming Ponds for Aquaculture

See this thread from the archives. A water/soil test is highly suggested before anyone uses fertilizer. It may not be fertility that is the limiting factor.

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=96127#Post96127