channel cats? I see that some sites say it is harmless to most fish and a lot of sites list koi and trout as fish that it is harmfull too. I have seen two sites that list it as being harmful to channel cats also. If I spray the shoreline am I going to kill my cc's

tz,

Hi. I am sure one of the experts will be along shortly, but I have used Cutrine plus all summer with great success. I would follow the label for the proper mixture, and only spray one half of your pond on a calm day, wait a couple days and hit the other half on a calm day.

The key is to not go crazy pouring it into your pond so that it poisons the fish. If you follow the proper dosage, and only spray half at a time, you should be ok. I was really nervous the first time I sprayed and results were great. There are also several good posts about Cutrine Plus on this thread if you search for them.

Hope this helps,

tz - as mentioned above, it very unlikely that Cutrine Plus would have any direct impact on your channel cats. But, with Cutrine - or any other algaecide or herbicide, killing too much algae or vegetation at one time could cause dissolved oxygen problems.
Actually, the label's suggestion to treat only a portion of the pond at a time (to ensure fish-safety) has no valid basis, since treating even 1/10th of a pond's alga infestation could send the DO-level below the lethal threshold if it is already tittering on that edge.
Warm water-temps, heavy buildup of algae biomass and/or insufficient aeration are just a few of the major culprits for such risky conditions.
I've never seen a risk-formula that takes into account all of the environmental factors to answer "How much of my pond can I safely treat at one time?" or "How soon can I make my second treatment?". So, I'd suggest that you err on the side of conservatism when treating algae with anything - especially during the hottest months of summer.

my pond is roughly .6 acres and average 5' deep. I sprayed the cutrine plus around the edges of the pond last night. Directions said use 2.4 gal for 1 acres to kill FA. I used about 2/3 gal spraying around the edge, then put a gal of aquashade in there and turned the timer on my aerator to run 24/7. My plan was to kill all the fa around the edge and get some cutrine plus in the water column to kill some of the bloom because my water looks like pea soup. Then aquashade to filter out some of the uv rays to keep it from comming back. My aerator has 2 diffusers and is rated for a 2 acre lake and I have it running wide open now. I hope that is enough to offset the DO. Does any of this sound like it was a reasonable plan?
thanks all

I'm not an "aeration expert" by any means. However, when you say your aerator is "running wide open NOW", I'm concerned about how you ran the aerator prior to "now".

I've seen folks install aerators in mid-summer, then flip the switch and walk away (i.e. "24/7"). This tactic often causes an acute mixing of "bad" water with "good" water. If there's more bad water than good (from a DO standpoint), the abrupt sum of the two might pose issues to fish that are sensitive to low DOs (catfish; though tolerant to relatively low DOs, are not immune to suffocation). The best approach is the gradually increase the aerator's run-time (2, 4, 6 hrs/day, etc) so any mixing of water-column DO-variables occurs slowly over an extended period of time.

Regarding your Cutrine rate: .6 ac x 5' avg depth = 3 ac-ft of water. Cutrine's labeled rate calls for .6 gal/ac-ft; ~ or 1.8 gal for 3 ac-ft ~ but only "IF" you were treating your entire pond at one time (NOT RECOMMENDED).

Personally, I don't like nor agree with the label's vague and possibly misleading language - BUT must admit that listing "prescriptions" (dosages and application technique) to cover all possible algae-scenarios is completely impractical.

Your 2/3-gal treatment around the perimeter seems reasonable. However, so many variables come into play when discussing "safe treatments" that it is impossible to guarantee acceptable results - OR, for that matter, the absence of fish-issues.

My strongest suggestion is to always take SMALL STEPS when implementing ANY changes to your pond's environment (algae, weeds, DO, clarity, blooms, etc). Fish can usually adapt to small, gradual & incremental manipulations of their habitat; but often croak in response to any abrupt or massive alterations.

As for your general plan; it sounds good, providing that you don't alter too many things too quickly.

my aerator was running 12 hours a day before yesterday evening, and there have been times that i have switched it to 24/7 for the weekend with no issues. when i added alum to clear up the turbid water i left the aerator running 24/7 for a few days with no problem. my pond was turbid with suspended clay after we built it and it filled. after about a year and a half i put alum in it to clear it up this summer. i waited so long to put the alum in to let the grass regrow some. within a day my pond was clear as a spring, like 10' visibility. within another day or so it was turining green like a bloom. a few days later it was pea soup green. then i started noticing fa accumulating around the edges of the bank. and as of yesterday i probably had 2' of fa all around the edge of the pond. I sprayed it all with the cutrine plus then added aquashade and started the aerators.