Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants What is this and how can I get rid of it?

[img][/img] [img][/img] [img][/img]


This is around the edge of my pond. Just under 1/2 acre and about 15 feet deep on average. 2nd full season. Stocked with BG, LMB CC and fat head minnows. Any help? Thanks!!

Looks like good ol' FA (filamentous algae) to me. You can kill it with Cutrine Plus (copper sulfate), or there are various other aquatic herbicides available that will also do the trick, and likely have less potential for negative side effects (copper sulfate can cause a build-up of undesirable metals in the pond which are harmful to the fish).

Your simplest solution, though, if the FA is only growing around the edges, might be to fertilize the pond with a commercially-available liquid pond fertilizer. Fertilizing will probably briefly make the FA grow more, but within a week or less you'll get a good plankton bloom that cuts out the sunlight penetrating the water, and the FA will die for lack of said sunlight.

And, a not-insignificant side benefit is that your fish will grow markedly faster. Most pond owners who fertilize do so mainly just for this reason, because plankton are the base of the food chain and when you feed them you basically turbo-charge the entire food chain such that your fish will grow drastically faster and larger.

Pond feritlizer? Hmm. Will be something I check into. I forgot to mention that I added a gallon of aquashade this spring. Not sure if it would prevent the FA or not. Wonder if I could kill it with a herbicide and fertilize? I will do some searching for a fertilizer and keep checking back here for more responses. Thanks Walt for the response.

I don't know how the dye companies have managed to stay in business. A dye is the worst thing you could ever do for your fish short of poisoning them, as it kills plankton; but of course the companies that make the dyes don't tell you that. A good plankton bloom does the same thing the dye does, with the drastic difference that it greatly multiplies the growth rate of your fish rather than slicing it like the dyes do. And, just as often as not, the dyes don't do what they're supposed to anyway, as you've already experienced.

You could kill the FA with an aquatic herbicide, although here again, if the FA is only growing around the edges you don't need to and it's just an added, unnecessary expense. The standard advice with fertilizing is not to do it if there are weeds already present, but I've fertilized many times when there was FA growing not only around the edges of a pond but in large, expansive beds in several feet of water, and every time, within a week or less, within two or three days of when the plankton bloom occurs, the FA was dying off, and a few days after that it was gone, without exception. I'm working right now with a five-acre pond that I used to work with years ago. Several times in years past I fertilized it after the FA had already gotten going pretty well, and the FA disappeared every time. I just started working with the pond again two months ago after several years living out of the area; I was a little hesitant this time to fertilize because the FA was pretty extensive throughout the pond, but within a week of the first application of fertilizer it was gone, and the pond looks fantastic now.

There are several good brands of pond fertilizer on the market now. Nate Herman (username N8ly) sells fertilizer on his company's website, as does Greg Grimes on his site; you'd be in good shape with any product either of them sells. Don't apply the fertilizer directly to the FA, but rather apply it all around the pond in 3-6 feet of water. If you use a liquid you'll probably have to dilute it to make sure it doesn't sink to the bottom and go unutilized. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

I suggest two prong approach spray with cutrine or smiliar copper product then fertilize. I do beleive water soluble fertilizer is much easier to use and effective. Walt many folks do not care about fish they just want a pretty pond, so I see why they use dye. I 100% agree about fishing clients using it they do not realize the damaeg they are doing. You think clear pond means little fish production try to shock one that has been steadily dyed for years, barren of fish for the most part.

Yeah the dye thing is something I regret doing. I want nice looking water with no nasty algae and listened to someone with not much knowledge. I do want nice fish so I will follow the advice you guys are giving. I will check some places local for fertilizer. What ratio would I mix a 2 gallon sprayer at with the Cutrine? The label instructions make my head hurt! Thanks for the responses.

Might try 8 ozs/gallon and see with a good mist directly on the alge mats if that kills it. I use half that rate but you probably have high alkalinity thus need more copper.

Yeah, I did think of non-anglers after I posted that. It just annoys me when dealers sell dye to people who are trying to have fishing ponds.

Can you guys explain a plankton bloom?

From SARC http://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm?catid=25 Algae Blooms in Commercial Fish Production Pond

See also SARC Fertilization of Fish Ponds http://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm?catid=25



Important primary components of

the ecosystem in a fish production

pond are the microscopic algae, or

phytoplankton. Suspended in the

water, these microscopic, singlecelled

plants are often collectively

referred to as the “bloom.” Like all

green plants, phytoplankton

produce oxygen during the

daylight hours as a by-product of

photosynthesis. This is a major

source of oxygen in fish pond

waters.

Blooms are also responsible for

consuming much of the oxygen

produced. Fortunately, during

daylight they usually produce

more oxygen than they use,

resulting in a surplus for fish and

other organisms. At night or in

cloudy weather, however, production

of oxygen through photosynthesis

ceases or is greatly reduced,

but the consumption rate does not

change, often resulting in a deficit

in the oxygen “budget.” Under

certain conditions, the level of

oxygen can become critically low

and fish may suffocate or at least

become stressed to the point of

being susceptible to disease.

Phytoplankton blooms also serve

the useful purpose of shading the

pond bottom, thus preventing

growth of aquatic weeds. Uncontrolled

weed growth can prevent

fish producers from effectively

seining their ponds.

The pond community

The two most common types of

algae found in blooms belong to

the green and blue-green families.

While green algae generally

dominate cool weather blooms,

blue-green algae usually account

for as much as 50 to 75 percent of a

bloom in the summertime. Once

blooms become dense enough to

significantly reduce sunlight

penetration, conditions favor

growth and development of the

blue-green groups of algae. Bluegreen

algae are often associated

with off-flavor problems in either

of two ways. Some blue-green

algae produce substances called

geosmin and MIB (methylisoborneal),

which impart undesirable

flavors in fish. Additionally, when

weather conditions or other factors

stress the algae and they begin to

die off in large numbers, off-flavor

compounds are produced by the

decomposition process.

A complex community of microscopic

animals is also typically

associated with a phytoplankton

bloom (Figure 1). Most of these

tiny animals, referred to as zooplankton,

are herbivores that graze

on the phytoplankton “pasture.”

As a major food item for small fish

in natural aquatic habitats, zooplankton

provide a link between

the bloom and the rest of the food

chain. Apart from the zooplankton

and the fish being cultured, most

of the other animal life present can

be found on and in the pond

bottom. A typical pond bottom

community includes bacteria,

protozoans, insect larvae, true

worms, crustaceans, snails and

other animals in varying proportions.

These organisms survive by

feeding on or breaking down fish

wastes and any uneaten feed that

reach the pond bottom.

I was just going to say that.

So if I fertilize this will cause the algae to grow but will eventually die off? Will this cause an oxygen depletion which could harm the fish? How often will I need to do this?

Yes, the FA will at first grow more but should eventually be out competed. Pond fertilization should be done annually. Have you ever checked your ponds clarity with a Secchi disk? Consider tracking your ponds clarity with the disk and looking into a fertilization regiment.

If you fertilize now while you still have the algae, which I recommend because it saves a step and unnecessary expense, the algae will very briefly - with the emphasis on very - possibly grow more, perhaps a couple days. But within a week or less, as the plankton bloom occurs, the sunlight will be cut off to the algae and it will die.

All of this is based on a pond that only has algae growing around the edges of the pond - that's yours, correct? If you had FA covering a large percentage of the pond, 40-50% or more, it would be safer to kill the FA first with Cutrine or the like; but if it's only growing around the edges you'll be fine, and you'll save money and time (and labor).

Be sure not to apply the fertilizer directly to the algae - instead disperse it as evenly as possible throughout the pond in three to six feet of water or so. A little deeper is okay; shallower and it could help the FA too much.

If the majority of the pond was covered in FA, its die-off could potentially take up enough oxygen to kill fish. But if it's only around the edges, you'll be fine. I had expansive weedbeds die off two months ago when I fertilized a five-acre pond in which the FA had already gotten a very good foothold, and there was no problem. No matter how you kill the FA, it's going to take up oxygen as it dies; even if you used Cutrine you would still have to be careful if a majority of the pond was covered with FA; the general recommendation in that circumstance is to treat part of the pond at a time. But that's only when a majority of the pond is covered.

The best gauge of how often to fertilize is to use a Secchi disk - there are threads on here telling you how to make one. It's basically a bright-white and black disk that you lower into the water, and if you can see it more than eighteen inches down, you need to fertilize. Usually that's going to amount to once a month or so from March until October, possibly April to September where you live.

I would add one thing, you should be aerating if you aren't.

Thanks for the responses. I will try and find some pond fertilizer somewhere this weekend. Not sure about the aerating. Fished dozens of ponds but never seen one being aerated. Maybe I will read some here about it. Is a fountain spitting water into the air considered aerating? I'm guessing you mean by adding air to the bottom of the pond. Well, when I fertilize I will let you guys know how it comes out. Thanks.

Aeration makes a big difference in the health of your fish because they're never starved for oxygen, which can occur in un-aerated ponds especially in the last few hours before daybreak.

But if your pond isn't overly deep, and you keep the total biomass well below the maximum carrying capacity of the pond, you can get by without it. Aerators specifically made for fishing ponds, i.e. ones that aerate the bottom water and not just the surface, are far better than fountains that just aerate the surface layer, as the former can prevent a fish kill if the pond turns over.

Aeration is definitely a good thing to do when you're fertilizing. Though your fish will grow much faster due to the increase in plankton, said plankton, if they're too numerous (if you can't see more than 6" down into the water two weeks after fertilizing, you've got too much bloom), can cause a fish kill if several cloudy days occur concurrently such that a large-scale plankton die-off occurs. But a good aerator prevents this, and thus is worth its weight in gold.

A good aerator that aerates the entire water column will also make your fish healthier just day-to-day, even if you never come close to a fish kill, because oxygen levels will stay more consistently in the optimum range.

Yesterday I noticed my pond water has turned a nice greenish color. It looks like the pea soup I read about. Not sure what happened. I can still see fish swimming about a foot or more down. The weather has been nice here. In the 80's during the day and a few mid 70's days here and there. A few showers as well. I'm thinking of spraying the algae to kill it for now and see what happens. Can anything else cause a plankton bloom? I remember the pond turning the same color last year but not sure what month or the weather conditions. Was busy moving, building and a baby. Could runoff from my fertilzed lawn cause this?

Plants need nutrients to develop. It COULD be lawn fertilizer but it's hard to tell.

truck dd you find fertilizer? I sold Nate Herman some and he is in Ill you might track him down or we can ship it to you. However I would be careful with feritlizer it sounds like you got some natural fertilizer already. You do not want to build up too many nutrients if youi have thick ice over conditions. Also I can get you a disk it is critical to track visibility so you do not have the boom and bust effect.

I didn't find any fertilizer in my area. Checked several stores which sell pond products and no luck. However, I did spray the algae. I mixed 8oz with one gallon of water and sprayed half of the shore. The algae did not totally die off in the area I sprayed so I'm going to spray the other half using the same mixture but maybe spray it a little better and make sure I soak it real well. Will do this today. The algae is much better now where I did spray but I will wait and re-spray it again maybe this weekend. I'm in no hurry. I will stay away from fertilizer right now as it seems my pond is holding a nice greenish color. From what I have read here on many threads that is what I want. I do need to check how deep the visibility is so I will try and find threads about how to do this correctly. My fish are cleaning up the feed very well and I feed twice a day. A short feed in the morning and a little longer feed rate in the evening. Thanks for all who provided me with answers. I will post what happens with the algae problems.