New to PondBoss! List of Questions - 06/26/21 11:02 PM
I've been lurking on this site for about a week now...it is hands down THE place for the best information on pond maintenance. Y'all are amazing. So...I have a ton of questions. First, I should mention the pond: I live in Georgia (near Augusta) and the pond I'm dealing with was made in the early 1970's. It is roughly 2 surface acres with an average depth of around eight feet (twelve in the deepest spot...three feet of depth at the head/roughly 1/4 of the pond).
It is currently having a horrible time with watermeal (just the word makes my skin crawl...with hatred). The pond is NOT mine, but I have been enlisted to help figure out the various problems...because I'm a nerd.
The pond has suffered with watermeal and duckweed for approximately three years with no intervention. It has also had around four fish kills in the last three years. My brother and I advised the purchase of an aeration system...it was bought and we installed it. A Hiblow HP200 running two Matala 12" diffuser discs in 8' of water each (separated by 200' in different areas of the pond). The aeration has been running on a system from 12:00a.m. to 6:00a.m. for the last week.
So, we installed the aeration to hopefully stop the fish kills. But as I'm finding out about aeration, it will be beneficial with so many other aspects of pond maintenance. Now...to figure out the watermeal. LOT of questions...here we go:
1. If we lived with the watermeal for one more season but relied on bacterial products like MuckAway and GoClear + the aeration system to reduce nutrients in the pond, would that remediate the watermeal problem by itself?? I've searched and not seen this approach discussed in direct terms.
2. If we have to go with a fluridone product to knock out this scourge, does the systemic action also kill the good bacteria in a pond? Would it be wise to, after fluridone treatment, reintroduce aerobic bacteria into the system or does this active ingredient not bother bacteria?
3. Who sells Texas Hunter feeders WITH the solar panel chargers for the best price?
4. Purina MVP vs Optimal? (BG, LMB, warmouth [didn't see an acronym for these], and BH) Is this primarily a matter of personal preference?
5. Should I keep the aerator at just six hours in the night? I've heard that because of our extreme summer temperatures in the southeast, running a system during peak heat hours is not advised.
6. What is flumioxazin? How does it compare at watermeal eradication compared to fluridone?
7. How much does it cost to drain and dredge and old pond/start over?? <$10,000?? I have yet to see even a "ballpark" figure on this...or any sort of pricing at all.
Anyway...that's about all for now. After absorbing as much information as I could for a little over a week now, I KNOW I've forgotten some of my questions...but this is a decent start. I appreciate any and all input!
It is currently having a horrible time with watermeal (just the word makes my skin crawl...with hatred). The pond is NOT mine, but I have been enlisted to help figure out the various problems...because I'm a nerd.
The pond has suffered with watermeal and duckweed for approximately three years with no intervention. It has also had around four fish kills in the last three years. My brother and I advised the purchase of an aeration system...it was bought and we installed it. A Hiblow HP200 running two Matala 12" diffuser discs in 8' of water each (separated by 200' in different areas of the pond). The aeration has been running on a system from 12:00a.m. to 6:00a.m. for the last week.
So, we installed the aeration to hopefully stop the fish kills. But as I'm finding out about aeration, it will be beneficial with so many other aspects of pond maintenance. Now...to figure out the watermeal. LOT of questions...here we go:
1. If we lived with the watermeal for one more season but relied on bacterial products like MuckAway and GoClear + the aeration system to reduce nutrients in the pond, would that remediate the watermeal problem by itself?? I've searched and not seen this approach discussed in direct terms.
2. If we have to go with a fluridone product to knock out this scourge, does the systemic action also kill the good bacteria in a pond? Would it be wise to, after fluridone treatment, reintroduce aerobic bacteria into the system or does this active ingredient not bother bacteria?
3. Who sells Texas Hunter feeders WITH the solar panel chargers for the best price?
4. Purina MVP vs Optimal? (BG, LMB, warmouth [didn't see an acronym for these], and BH) Is this primarily a matter of personal preference?
5. Should I keep the aerator at just six hours in the night? I've heard that because of our extreme summer temperatures in the southeast, running a system during peak heat hours is not advised.
6. What is flumioxazin? How does it compare at watermeal eradication compared to fluridone?
7. How much does it cost to drain and dredge and old pond/start over?? <$10,000?? I have yet to see even a "ballpark" figure on this...or any sort of pricing at all.
Anyway...that's about all for now. After absorbing as much information as I could for a little over a week now, I KNOW I've forgotten some of my questions...but this is a decent start. I appreciate any and all input!