Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants treat pondwee and algea now or wait till spring

guys, new pond . 5 acres, completed last year, stocked coppernose bluegill and minnows in feb and large mouth bass in june. matts of algea and pond weed from shore out to about 25 feet all around, probably cover 30%. i feed bg with feeder. question: will the weeds all die down this fall and winter and therefore should i treat them early next spring, or would it help if i treated them now. i was planning to put in grass carp late fall, but i may have let the weeds get enough coverage that i will need to use chemicals, but question is now or next spring? thanks.(north east texas)

darrell stringer

Darrell, they should die back during the winter but return in the spring.

Darrell, I agree with Dave but I would not wait until spring because, as you know, the pondweed can get ahead of you in a hurry.

I’ll share our experience but not qualified to offer advice….

The conditions you describe match our experience the past year with a massive invasion of bushy pondweed.

We had previously stocked 4 grass carp that made no noticeable difference controlling the pondweed.
On the advice of Todd Overton in late spring/early summer, we added 10 more for a total of 7 per acre.

At this time I am happy to report pondweed is fully under control.
We do not want to use chemicals if at all possible and believe that grass carp stocked in the appropriate numbers are effective.

I would not wait until spring, but do recommend that you discuss the problem with Todd as to stocking numbers and timing.

Good luck – it’s been a bad year for pondweed with the hot summer drought period that persists. I heard on the news last evening that this is the 4th driest year to date in our area, since records have been kept.

Good luck and keep us advised on your situation.

George Glazener
N.E. Texas ¼ acre and 2 are ponds

ps: One more thought - tilapia will be effective for algae control – but only after pondweed is controlled. IMO dense and thick pondweed will hamper recruitment (is that the proper term?) due to shading out spawning beds.

darrell,

I agree also that they will be back. Tilapia have worked great for me on algae control. Grass carp have worked great on pond weed...the only problem I've had is keeping the grass carp in the pond. I have to have fish gates across spillways to keep them in.

My thoughts are to stock some grass carp this fall, it's a good time to handle them, and treat the algae with Cutrine plus. If you stock Tilapia next spring, they can get ahead of the algae much quicker if you use the Cutrine now to help get it in check. Once Tilapia get ahead of the algae, in my ponds at least, they stay ahead of it. I don't like to use chemicals either, only when required, and fall and early spring seem to be the safest times to use them because of water temps and normal good rains.

Grass carp and Tilapia sound like good suggestions, BUT...
In my area (Central Coast California) there is a high $ fee and permit required to stock grass carp and Tilapia are unavailable/illegal. Been using Cutrine+ and Reward but it's tough to get ahead of or even keep up with. Any other suggestions to keep the algae and pondweed under control?

Aquathol K was recommended to me as an
effective control for pondweed. It is
rather expensive though.

Todd is correct about taking care of the algae right now with Cutrine+ and adding the carp now and the Tilapia in the spring.

In my past carp stockings, we made fish barriers with rebar stick welded at 1" spacings. This kept our fish in. You have to be creative on how to attach it to the outfall though. Drilling holes and using cement anchors woked the best.

For the pond weed, treat it in the fall or spring, I prefer the spring since the plant is in its growing spurt and uptakes the chemical quickly. The rate I found best for Pondweed is 6 gal/treatment acre for Aquathol K, or 200 pounds/treatment acer for Aquathol K granular. If you would like the longest lasting treatment I would suggest Sonar by SePro in a split treatment method the first being at 10 parts per billion, the second at 5 parts per billion and the last at 5 parts per billon. Each treatment should be at least 30 days apart.

Cary,

It's so rare that someone agrees with me on here that I have to make sure it's me...Larry.... that you agree with.

ML for the record I agree with your recommendations as well .

Must be the Holiday season...two in one day.

"On the money ML" (now its a 3 banger today)

I want to officially go on the record as saying that I, too, agree with Meadowlark.

I would also like to go on the record as saying that I have absolutely no idea what you guys are talking about. :p

ML:

You know that a lot of us agree with many of your points -- like this one for example. Think about it this way - There is not one person on this forum who we all agree with on all topics --not even close. If it were not that way why would any of us post and ask questions or share info. As you often remind us its about the journey. Presently I don't even agree with some of my own posts from when I started on the forum. That is what learning is all about -- the challenge to become a better PB. ewest

I would just like to add that I would rather be amongst the people assembled here on this forum then amongst the finest people in the world.

yes, I ripped that quote off.

Wasn't it Groucho Marx who said he'd never go to any party that stooped so low as to invite him?

I disagree.

I am bumping this because the pondweed and algae have already started to come back after a brief winter rest.

From my earlier post in this thread:
"Grass carp and Tilapia sound like good suggestions, BUT...
In my area (Central Coast California) there is a high $ fee and permit required to stock grass carp and Tilapia are unavailable/illegal. Been using Cutrine+ and Reward but it's tough to get ahead of or even keep up with. Any other suggestions to keep the algae and pondweed under control?"

Any experience out there using Nautique?
Before you ask what kind of pondweed/algae, all the common submersed weeds (Chara, hydrilla, F. algae...etc.)

tecman, Nautique is also a 9% chelated Cu compound as is Cutrine Plus, Some of the other posts may have covered this but I prefer Sonar in our midwestern and northern waters for pond weed,(small leaf, bushey etc) if you were referring to this family of weed and not pond (plants) weeds in general. Sonar (floridone) is difficult if you irrigate so consider that one along with what is down stream if applicable.Chara and some of the other listed algae can be a problem in clear deep or shallow water, UV inhibitors can help in deeper waters but do little in the shallows, Dyes in general may conflict with some of the other things you want to accomplish with your pond.I also believe plants and algae develop resistance to same mode of action chemistries so rotation of mode helps also, Good Luck Ted

Thanks Ted. The Sepro rep. I spoke with seems to agree with you. He recommended 8# of SonarQ: 4# early April followed by 2# treatments in two week intervals. For the algae he suggested Cutrine+ or Captain at 1 gal. followed up with as needed treatments of 1/2 gal.

This pond is 1/2 acre, deepest 6', shallows 1'-4'. Loaded with 8"-9" LMB, 4"-6" BG and lots of 1"-2" BG. All the fish I have seen look very healthy.

That should be a good start, the Cutrine might be somewhat light at that rate but try it especially if you are doing spot treatments, Only thing I would add is to have some aeration going with this approach so a suffocation situation does not arise.Any type will help, Also try to have water temp (4 ft depth min) at least 60F > Good Luck

I am an ml supporter because the Tilapia have worked great for me here in central Tx. I have to tell a story about the Tilapia. I had previously , five years ago, built a floating dock on one pond that I handle. It was plywood over styrofoam planks that were about 2' x 4' about 12 " thick. Worked great but after this first year of stocking the Tilapia I noticed that the styrofoam was starting to appear all around the pond in small chunks. Come to find out , the Tilapia were eating the algae that had formed on the bottom side of the styrofoam and bits were breaking off. I went ahead and took out the floating pier and the styrofaom. So the conclusion is if you build a pier use 55 gallon drums for support instead of styrofoam if you plan on using Tilapia. Other than that I love the Tilapia for algae control and probable forage.

Right you are again Ted. Good catch. I should have said the recommendation is treat 1/2 the pond with 1/2 gal. Cutrine+ or Captain, wait 7-14 days then treat the other half with same. Spot treat or "as needed" 1/2 the pond with 1/2 gal.

The only aeration I have is when I add well water through venturi injectors. Works pretty well but only when water is added. We do get a fair amount of wind though.