Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Starting a pond management business

A specialist on when and where winter aeration is needed or not needed? Plus, provide aeration where needed or where helpful?

Winter Work- Place fish structures, Snow Removal on ponds, Snow removal for businesses, driveways, etc Waterfowl Aeration Systems, Cut wood, go work for someone down south, part time job at a local outdoor store, guide fishing and hunting, etc....

give me a call or shoot me an email, I can help you get set up with anything you would need.

Blaine,

I got another call for grass carp today. The caller thought they might take care of a filamentous algae problem which I hear a lot. I explained to her that was not the case. I'm hoping she comes on here as I told her about the site.

The number one problem I hear about in ponds is filamentous algae. This particular pond owner has farm ground around the pond so it will probably be a continuous problem. The only thing I could think of was she may have use chemicals which she doesn't want to do. I also told her she may have to come up with a very dense grass barrier around the pond. She's been mechanically removing it but the pond is quite large and it's an uphill struggle even with a tractor.

I told her about tilapia and will refer her to Rainman if she can't find any, but there just isn't anyone around to supply them. The ones that raise them for the food market aren't interested in selling them for pond stocking even if you offer them more. Something wrong with those people! Don't they want to make money?

Cecil, Get a cage ready and I'll ship you a bunch of amur! We're both licensed for Indiana GC stocking.

So I got my first official project and it's a doozy. It's an 8 acre pond average depth of 5' max 10'. It is absolutely infested with watermilfoil, watermeal, duckweed with a little sago mixed in. I intend to use 2 gallons of Sonar AS but I am in a little bit of a quandary. I don't want to be blinded by my eagerness to get this business off the ground by misadvising my customer on the timing of the initial treatment.

Would my customer be better served if I were to tell him to wait until Spring for initial treatment? He wants this stuff gone and is ready to spend the money that it takes for the initial kill and ongoing maintenance for years to come. He's hoping that next years maintenance will be will be much more affordable after weeds are under control.

Any advice is very appreciated.

Very smart Blaine. I can understand this eagerness, but doing something right, even if you have to wait, will be much better for your client's pond, and your future business. Very cool to see you get your first project!

I don't have any pond treatment advice for you Blaine, I just wanted to say a heart felt congratulations!

First question I always ask, what is the customers goals, both short and long term?

Next I ask myself, are these realistic, can they be done, can I do it?

Do they conflict?

As for this pond, sounds like he just wants it back from invading plants. There will be many jobs like this. But no two are the same. Does this pond have a fish population?

This is not the ideal time for that treatment. In fact, it's close to the worst. Many of the plants are going to be dying back and going dormant anyway. It might make you look good, but it won't be from Fluridone. Is that the lowest cost solution?

Bear in mind that is a slow acting solution. Sometimes a 45-90 period. Where will that pond be in 90 days? Under ice? Will those plants be a problem then?

There are so many questions it is hard to give the right advice. But if it were me, and I still have a question about fish, I would use another fast acting kill it all product. Then inform him you will need to retreat with a slow acting long term treatment next Spring.

Others concerns and questions are, why? Why is the pond so full of weeds, is there some kind of nutrient loading problem? What if, you kill all the weeds and cause some nasty even worse algae bloom or blue green nightmare?

Short answer: No way I'd treat a pond like that with Fluridone this late in the growing season.

Pond Frog,

A fish kill is of major concern. The pond has many beautuful LMB in the range of 5-10 lbs. Then there is a growing poulation of stunted LMB I believe is due to 85% of the water column being choked with milfoil and a total cover of watermeal with some duckweed. Half of the pond is 2.5 to 4' deep and the watermeal is stacked as much as an inch deep in those shallows. The other half of the pond is 6' -10' deep. It's a 60 year old pond that is full of muck & silt and surrounded by agriculture. Ice cover is about 150 days away. Are you saying that killing it all now won't drastically reduce reinfestation next season? Even if I implement a smaller scale preventative treatment program early in the Spring?

Find out how big the watershed is? With a normal watershed you can apply the 2 gallons of Sonar now and then follow up next spring with a gallon spread out through a couple treatments to keep the stuff from reforming. It takes a much lower dose of fluridone to keep stuff from growing and mating than it does to kill mature plants. I would still recommend killing the mature plants yet this summer to set the stage for next year. Watermeal is the biggest concern that needs to be the focus of eliminating. Once that is eliminated (2-3 years) you can scale back the fluridone and get rolling with good native vegetation.

Also would suggest applying some cheap bacteria packets 21 days after your Sonar treatment to help eat up the decaying vegetation. The other stuff will start dieing much quicker than the watermeal. 12 packets of bacteria per acre, about $3 per packet.

I'd spot treat slowly especially the floaters. I would not, I repeat would not Fluridone the entire pond with that much infestation late in the Summer. Too much vegatative die off in warm water temps is the recipe for a major crash.

You are right, too much vegetation will stunt some LMB from lack of forage because sight feeding is so poor. I'd spray the surface plants, show some improvement, at all costs avoid a crash and hit it hard with Fluridone in the Spring timed with new emergence. Way better safe than sorry here. The action plan completely changes with desirable fish, better do a risk assessment here.

Long term wise sounds like age has contributed for muck. Plus continual nutrient reloading from plant cycles. Would be nice to get some gravel in there, some aeration for the beneficial bacteria to stick and reproduce. Long term you should knock the muck back and get the nutrients down with competition. Another concern is opening up the window for algae. And duckweed, watermeal since they will be the last plants standing. You let the pond get covered with that it is all she wrote for the fish. I'd attack the floaters first.

This is off topic a little bit, but n8ly, how has the pond hippo worked for you? I know it's a lot of capitol for a small business to expend, but it sounds like it would be a good thing for the WM and DW that Blaine is combating on his first job. Quick results, and less chemicals applied right now to the pond. Plus getting nutrients out.

Pond hippo works great, but is more for 1/2 acre and smaller type ponds.

Having something else no one else sells is fine but remember you still need to keep your bread and butter stuff. The reason no one has those type of odd ball fish is because the market is not good enough for them. Yes some people like this or that type of fish but when it comes right down to it anyone in this buisness will tell you, you need to move your product as fast as you can. So just be carefull when it comes to fish and what really sells in your area. Get a good foothold and then maybe try a couple of harder to find fish. The last thing you want is a tank full of Muskey or Sauger Eye's that you can't get rid of right? Anyway good luck bud I hope it works out for you.

I just can't justify putting out $2500 for a pond hippo. Looks like a gigantic hippo from Hungry Hungry Hippo game. Too limited of application for that outlay. If I spending that kind of money I'm buying a product like a lake mower that can be used on large commercial jobs and mow just aobut anything. If I have a pond that small with watermeal or duckweed I'm skimming and spraying. Take a lifetime of jobs to begin to recover that pond hippo investment.

Yeah exactley PF that's what I am talking about, and how many do they sell???? It's kind of cool and different but...... Inventory and movement of the INV. is very important especailly when your first starting out even more important. One wrong decision can break you if it's bad enough.

At first with limited capital, you have to invest very prudently. You need equipment that is broad range or universal. And you better have wholesale or mooch connections.

Then let the market dictate what you start stocking. My biggest demand is water lilies, so I find the least expenive source in the US and propagate my own. I sell to wholesalers now.

Another consideration is commercial applications. You may have to spend more to get professional or commercial grade equipment, but in the long run, you come out way ahead. Customers have a perception factor, if you break out DIY equipment on the jobsite, it leaves a bad first impression. If you pull out that professional equipment, you look like a pro, and like it or not image is everything, at first. Then it's up to you to do the job right.

Exotic species, slow movers are dead weight, money burners. I let my local market dictate what I stock, and what I load up on. I am not in the business of pitching and selling, I am a supplier and consultant.