Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Southern Naiad has taken over

we have a lake about 7 acers in size. We have just pulled the gate on the pipe to allow the drainage to begin. Many problems with the lake, but draining it and some renovation will do the trick. Our main question is, the lake is taken over by the Naiad weed and if we let the lake drian, do these weeds grow back when the lake has filled back up or do they die?
will we have to spray once the lake is drained to kill them?
we are just not sure how to keep the weeds from taking the lake back over.
thanks for amy help

The easiest thing to do would be to stock grass carp in the lake when you refill it. I would say from 7-10 per acre.

-HH

okay, so really no need to spray once it has been drained?
we have already decided to put in the carp just want to keep it down and not let it get out of control.

All of the weeds came back here after the ponds dried up and then refilled.

I have friend who had one drain and stay that way for 1.5yr and he said grass came back in theirs.
just want to make sure ours does not get over ran again, it was really bad to the point that draining it was an option amoung other factors

Last year I had the same issue. It was suggested to me by a pond manager to fertilize the pond which I had not done at that point last season. After fertilization the Southern Naiad stopped growing and began to turn brown. Within about 3 weeks It died away and a year later have not returned

Yes I was told the same thing by a biologist. We had to lime before we fertilized, and did not get the fertilizer applied.
That is the plan when it fills up this time, it is really bad right now as it drains and we just want to make sure it does not come back. we are planning on carp and fertilizer, but did not know if we needed to spray before we let it fill up again.

The same manager that suggested fertilizer to kill the pond weed advised against grass carp. He said that the carp does eat pellets and since my pond is pellet fed the carp would eat the pellets over the vegetation. I know that grass carp works, but he suggestion was based on my circumstance and it did work out

I have held off fertilizing because of the fear of increasing my Naiad levels. Can somebody explain to me how this works? Is it the decrease in sunlight penetration, or some other reason?

If (and a big if) you can get a photoplankton bloom going, and if the Naiad is far enough below the water surface, the photoplankton bloom would reduce the amount of sunlight getting to the Naiad to kill it.

It's your guess as to whether the Naiad would grow faster than the photoplankton would.......

Personally, I'd rather kill the macrophytes first to ensure that they don't outpace the photoplankton.

That's kind of what I was thinking. Thanks for the conformation.

GC can be very easily turned off of pellets - they are smart fish. Catch one once while it is feeding or give it a good scare and it won't be back for quite awhile. Problem solved. Stubby Steve's artificial fish food lures look just like your pellets and you can cast one to the GC. They become hook smart fast.

The pond has almost drained as of yesterday. The grass is very bad, a complete grass mat covers just about everything in the lake bottom. I have been told this grass will not die and just come right back. Is that true, it will be at least two or three months before we put the door back down and allow it to fill up I would think.
Do we need to spray this grass with round up while no water is in it, I can't imagine the amount of carp it would take to control what was in it, we do not want it to get there again.

I know rye and another seeds can survive up to 10 years or longer underground.

Here's my take: Assume your pondweed will grow back. I drain two ponds annually and have allowed them to be dry all winter and still the pondweed came back more invasive than the previous year. I thought lack of moisture and cold temps would permanently kill the vegetation and was wrong. Nature is accustomed to events like this and these plants have found a way to survive conditions presented like drought through years of evolution.

I don't fertilize and have no advice to offer - except that phytoplankton blooms DO reduce clarity and sunlight penetration which would help manage your pondweed issue theoretically.

After you complete whatever renovations you have planned for the dry BOW I would advise you to rely on GC to manage your pondweed issues as suggested previously in this thread by Honeyhole. They are an inexpensive and organic method of vegetation control. Start with 5-7/ac and increase as necessary to manage the vegetation. Remember you won't see an impact until year 2-3 so don't go rushing into stocking too many GC...you could have the reverse effect with overstocking! GC can denude your BOW of vegetation and create a very turbid situation as they root in the pond bottom looking for a meal once their preferred forage has been eliminated. Has happened to many forum members here.

is there another alternative to grass carp or pond draining to manage southern naiad?

Yes - read here

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/management-options/southern-naiad/

I'm going out on a short limb here and say that this may be an awful year for unwanted plants here in the South. The lack of a cold winter already has many of my summer weeds, including Naiad, way ahead of the normal growing schedule.

For personal reasons, I have resisted GC simply because of my desire to plant other more desirable aquatic plants. But, the unwanted submerged plants may force me to bite the bullet and go with GC.

I'll probably use up my chemicals this year, then put GC in later this Fall.

My hope was that my easily controllable Primrose and American Pond Weed, with the addition of Corkscrew Eel grass would have given me all the cover I needed for my small fish, and easily fishable water.

I guess time will tell, but we've already hit the 90's here in East TX, so it is what it is.

thanks ewest.

i went with the fertilizer option the day after i posted.

its an 11ac pond. we hit it hard with lime last summer and I think this was the result. I'll admit i was happy to see SOMETHING growing in my pond this spring but hated it when i investigated the plant itself. we have had such issues with water clarity (TOO clear) and were told that lime was a possible answer. well, after week after week of transfering lime to the deck of a boat and blowing it off with a sump pump connected to a hose, we felt like we had finally accomplished something....until this problem.

my other worry is the "waste" of lime and fertilizer if i go back and kill the naiad chemically. my fish are doing OK now and I really dont like the thought of starting over. i have pellet fed bream that are true 1.5lbers!

thanks for the info. I will work on it and report back. i wish i had lots of money and lots of help. it sure would be easier....

Hey 2thDoc and all,
Been reading on Naiad invasion as this is happening lots up here this season. Since this post was not updated since May 10th, any new observations?

I read that Naiads are annuals so you can do a draw down but it won't kill them as their seeds remain and they will grow again, and again!

We cannot use grass carps where I am, been thinking of using pond dye, nobody fertilizes in the North-East IMO, and most chemicals are banned in this province also, so what's one to do?

The reason I found my infestation happened I see related to installing a new dock on my 0.35 acre pond and the mallards have suddenly been sitting there each day... I figure they poop lots seeds from other ponds they have been too, and now voila! I got Naiads all over my pond and no algae anymore.

I will dye my pond now, but I am doubtful I will have sucess, I see seeds on their stems all already! Any updates or suggestions welcome!

Hey Mario, it's been awhile. I have been investigating dye because I have never used it. I find that it is good for preventing but does almost nothing for weeds after they have gotten a start.