Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry water clarity and algae problems

Morning Dave,

Thanks for the quick reply. I suspected there would be a time element involved but never had water tested for NPK before. There are a couple of other labs in the area so I'll call them to see if they can do the analysis. In the next town over, there is a Cornell extension office however I'm sure they would have to send the sample out.

Earlier this spring, I had a pair of geese that would visit daily. They did a fine job of leaving ample squeezings in the yard circling the pond however, water clarity was not affected.

Russ as a general matter ponds are short (if at all) on P not K and sometimes on N. Iding the missing element N=nitrogen, P=phosphorus, K=potassium , can be critical in the missing link. Other things are also key - like water temp and alkalinity. Your alka is good. It sometimes takes a while before the soup is ready. We have one pond that still does not have a visible bloom even down here. It is only missing time at the right temp - the rest is I know ok. If your watershed is similar to your pond area (as most are) then the same data is in your soil samples test wrt NPK and others. Further bottom aeration can slow down a plankton bloom.

Eric,

Hit me with an idiot stick. I completely forgot about the soil sample I had done on the pond spoils. I just grabbed my book and reread the soils report. The report says P is very low (1#/A) and K is low (30#/A). It also lists nitrate (NO3-N) at 10#/A. Surface water temp is 64 degrees.

With this information, would you take a wait and see position?

Bill Cody's post from 11/05 contains this sentence; "The nitrogen to phosphorus ratio of nutrients evidently favored filamentous algae rather than phytoplankton."

I need to research this more. Do any members recall NPK ratios being discussed in PB magazine articles? With rain in the forecast, looks like a good time to peruse my stockpile of PB magazines.

I would wait and watch especially with rain forecast. There is an article no more than 2 yrs old on doing the jar (bowl) test. Three bowls of pond water - leave out side in pond conditions. Add a little of different % NPKs to each and watch - keep 1 untreated for a control.