Our new lake is doing very well you can see down into the water about 18 inches it looks great. My fatherinlaw went golfing and was talking to one of the grounds keepers and asked him how he got there ponds so clear and he told him about an aditive he puts in. It makes the water blue. Now I do understand what it does it filters sunlight to reduce the alge growth. But I don't know if this is a good idea for the fish. Any body out there who has used this product I would like to know what were your results. Thanks for any info.

Thanks: Vince

Vince,

There is an excellent article on the subject in the last issue of Pond Boss --Pros and Cons.

I have just subscribed to the magazine and I look forward to my first issue, however, I suspect I will not receive the new issue which covers Vincents question. I also use Aquashade and everything I have read says it is safe????? Can anyone comment on the pros and cons?

I have never used it but have never heard of it poisoning fish. However, from a holistic viewpoint, I think you need sunlight penetration for the creation of phytoplankton, the lowest order of the food chain. I can't see how you can have a balanced pond dyeing the water. Without sunlight penetration, I wouldn't think natural or chemical fertilization would work.

I believe Bill Cody addressed this matter once.

Bill?

I agree with Dave, shading the water is counter productive if growing lots of fish is your goal. you can have a balanced pond with Aquashade but you will not be getting all you can out of your total pounds of fish. I have seen a few ponds that went from feritilized monthly to Aquashade. simply put, the fish looked terrible. I never use Aquashade in sportfishing ponds, only industrial ponds or ornimental.

There are numerous blue dye colorants now on the market; they are basically non-toxic food type stains or dyes with an emulsifier. Aquashade, Crystal Blue, Blue and Blue/Black Vail, Admiral Liquid, and the list goes on. Only two are EPA aproved as a weed/algae controlling agents = Aquashade and Admiral Liquid. Aquashade is now made and sold by Applied Biochemists in Milwaukee WI.

They work by filtering out the red and orange wave lengths out of water deeper than two feet. This assumes you use the proper or labeled recomended dosage. They are designed to stop or dramatically supress most all of the green plant growth in water deeper than two to three feet. Suppresion of the plant growth also cause a big decrease in the production of dissolved oxygen in the water column. Too much suppression of oxygen production in the depths can also cause low DO and fish kills esp during rainy-cloudy periods. I see this most frequently in early spring when stratification has not stablized.

There are several blue-green algae types that that do not rely on the red & orange wave lengths for growth. So these nuisance & resistant algae species persist or thrive in the presence of the blue dyes.

Plant reduction from blue dyes also includes the beneficial phytoplankton (most are green algae & diatom types) which are the base of the fish food chain. Severe reductions of the phytoplankton/periphyton communities cause large decreases in each of the upper food trophic levels in the pond; this includes all fish biomass. I usually tell pondowners that when used according to the labeled instructions blue dye will cut the fish population by approximately 50%. Blue dyes are designedd to stiffle plant production and they work for most aquatic plants.

Blue dyes are used extensively in my area. This is the only way that most novices know as the easiest, benign way to keep pond plants minimized. In ponds that use blue dyes the only ones that have "decent" fish populations are those where the fish are fed pellets. Pellets make up or suppliment the lack of natural production of fish foods.

I basically made the same commentws Shan did in the magazine about three years ago. One other point though. I do use when clients have muddy conditions. The mud limits light anyway and the dye is much better to look at if applied at light levels to acheive a nice green color. However I agree I would never apply if not in a muddy situation if trying to grow fish. BTW if any of you folks don't have the magazine this is reason to get it the article on lake dye had the opinion of several pros.

Thanks Guy's. I am definetly a novice on pond management, about as green as they come. Like alot of people I learn as I go and from my screw-ups. By the time I am eighty maybe I will know something.

My pond is very very small, approx.1/8 acre supplied by run off with a average depth of 4'. 7' on one end and 3' on the other. As you can imagine, this little hole can become a septic pool real quick and I knew that when I built. So I read, and read, and read every thing I could get my hands on. What my pea brain got out of it was, I need to aerate and maintain a balance. Aerate, no problem. Balance, What the he.. is it and how do I do that? So again I do a little research and read about this "Benifical Bacteria" stuff and blue dye. So I build a venturi aerator, buy some so called bacteria and blue dye and start doing my thing. I let the water sit for 1 1/2 years before I stocked a little fish, 3 Bass, 25 Gills, and 5lbs of Fatheads. That was two years ago and now I got to remove a few of the little Bass ( it appears I have about 30 ) and the Gills are, no kidding 1 lb. fat and sassy.

I do not use alot of dye, just enough to maintain a little color, visability ranges fro 6" to 12". There are a few water plants here and there and some weeds. Good forage like bull and green frog tadpoles and I stock twice yearly with Fatheads. Overall, I think things are good in this small environment? Never had a fish kill and they have great color and appear to be real healthy. Real fun to catch the gills now and then with a barbless hook.

Does anyone think I am poisoning my little freinds with the dye? does anyone have a comment on the bacteria?

As far as the dye, I would go with what the preceding responses are. It's obvious it would reduce food production by decreasing sunlight, but there are pros and cons.

I may be using it in the future in a couple of very small static ponds to keep weed growth down. One is only 25 by 30 feet, which I use as a nursery pond for fingerling fish, to grow them out on feed until they are big enough to go into a much larger pond with very large bass. The other will by a 50 by 40 pond that I will grow feed trained male only bluegills. Both ponds will be fed ponds so there is no concern with suppressing the food supply. I could fertilize, but in such small ponds I believe it could be possible to easily overfertilize and the feed and wastes from the feed will probably add enough nutrients as it is. With all the nutrients it would just be a matter of time before the birds brought in invasive weeds.

As far as bacteria, I had been using it in my flow through trout pond, but have discontinued as frankly I can't afford the steep price anymore. I have not used it for a month and my water never looked better. So who knows -- maybe we are getting a snow job with this bacteria. We really don't have any independent tests - so the manufacturers could be telling us anything.

A couple points I neglected to mention. There are hundreds of tadpoles in this little pond all season long and the Fatheads do spawn and they seem to thrive. This tells me that I do have creatures that are on the very low end of the food chain such as phytoplankton etc that these little frogs and fish eat. I do pellet feed the Gills most every evening. My water is never super clear, always has a tinge to it like tea stain. The small amount of dye that I use maybe twice a season changes this brown tea stain to a pleasant greenish tinge. All my fish are probably going to grow third eyes and have horns sticking out of there heads.

As you can all probably tell, I am a very novice pond owner. All I ever wanted was a small little farm pond on my acreage to enjoy drinking a couple cold ones in the evening sitting in my chair watching and catching a couple fish. I am new to this post and after reading all about how to manage my little water hole; ie disolved oxygen, fertilzation, aeration, the correct bloom, etc. etc. I think maybe I should have a fish fry, fill in the hole and buy a swimming pool from walmart. My 6 year old son does have some of those floating fish with the little magnets that I could catch. Oh shoot, I would have to manage the swimming pool water?

JAB, I believe fatheads could survive in a nuclear waste dump. However, as you state, they are spawning and growing so you are doing some things right. Hang in there. Nobody, unless they have more money than all of organized religion, can afford to do it 100% right.

Thanks Dave. Just trying to have a little fun these days. Actually my little pond is good and I would never fill it in and buy a pool. It has good natural forage and the stocked fish are well and happy. Just a liitle struggle now and then in keeping the water from turning either pea green or muddy brown. Got a lot to learn and I will learn it given time.

Pond dye is supposed to be as safe as food coloring which we all consume every day. Soda has it, snacks have it, ect.

I just tried the bacteria for the first time this year and I think it made a big difference. The down side was that the clarity went way up and the deep sunlight created more filamentrous algae for a few weeks. After using it for a month it levels off as it removes more nutrient from the water.

I hope the long term effects will be beneficial.