Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Is this filamentous algae? Treatment problems

Hello all,

Last year I had a roughly 1/3 acre pond dug at my house; it is roughly 15' deep in the center when full (it's about a foot shy of full now).. Main purpose is a backup water source, as well as for swimming in the summer. It is not currently connected to any water, but our well here is not the best so it may be at some point in the future.

Everything was great until about 2 months ago when we started to get some algae growth. It seems to grow on the banks of the pond, and then break off and float up to the surface.

Things I have tried: Captain, I used half a bottle. This seemed to work the best so far.

Then I went to a local pond store (fin farm in Ridgeville corners, OH), They recommended granular cutrine+, saying it was FA. I just tried it, and I'm unsure if what is happening is good or bad. A ton of the algae seems to have dislodged from the banks and is in the process of floating to the surface. Unsure if this means it is now dead?

Attached are a couple picture of what I have going on. I have also been using the following with both the captain and the Cutrine. https://jonesfish.com/collections/pond-lake-supplies/products/aquatron

Any recommendations are appreciated. For reference I am located in Northwest Ohio.

Interesting pictures. I'm curious, what is the alkalinity of your water?

The floating stuff looks like dead filamentous algae, no sense in treating that. Go after the stuff on the bottom.

The reason I ask about alkalinity is, the two algaecide products you mentioned are copper based and known to not work so well in high alkaline waters. Depending on how much lime stone you have and long have has it been there, it may raise alkalinity to levels that copper based algaecides no longer will work for you. No alarm, just you should know what you have.

I hadn't considered that. The stone was put in when the pond was dug last summer. I don't have a way to measure the alkalinity I don't think?

I used more Cutrine+ on this past application; and that is when more of the seemingly dead FA came floating up. Perhaps I just need to use a greater concentration due to it being neutralized by the alkalinity?

Is there an alternative treatment method besides a copper based solution? Everything I find seems to be copper based? Would more dye be effective in limiting the growth potential?

Thanks for the input.

For testing Alkalinity and PH, a kit from any pool, hardware store or Walmart will do. It's a good idea to know those things. Especially when spending money on copper based products.

My neighbor has Limestone bordering his entire pond, down well into the water, he went through a nasty and costly algae problem for many years. Then I walked over with my test kit, his Alkalinity was off the chart. Since then, he has switched Green Clean Pro and it's actually working.

Texas A&M has a really nice water testing lab (http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/files/waterweb1.pdf) that accepts submissions by mail.

Can I just ask -- what's wrong with a little filamentous algae? Going for complete eradication in an open system like a pond could be difficult and might lead to unanticipated problems. You have some nutrient loading in the pond and something else will step up to utilize it if you push out the FA.

At our place, we get reasonable control of FA by using pond dye starting in the very early spring and then replacing as needed throughout the growing season. This works by reducing sunlight penetration but algae will still grow on the bottom at the pond margins where the water is very shallow.

I like Journeyman's suggestion. Try a few different amounts each in a different area to see which works best. GreenClean Pro, Phycomycin or Pak27 all the same product from The Pond Doctor. in Malinta OH

Next year look into stocking Tilapia. But I'd send a Private Message to Bill Cody to get The Pond Doctors phone number and address & then get what you need from them this year and you can talk to them about getting a plan together for the pond for next year.