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Joined: Oct 2013
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That pump run time issue is still a big question mark with me, as is discussed in the link above. May need to revisit that thread. Since I put the new pump in, I don't need to run 24/7 for enough turnover (and I would prefer not to have the electricity bill for 24/7) but then the question looms, what hours to run.

Right now I am running from about noon to 6pm, which is enough turnover for this early season and I am actually trying to warm the water rather than cool it. But when hotter temps come I will increase the run time to probably 12 hours total. Then when it gets to July/August and heat waves will probably go to early morning till noon then again a few hours after 5pm to try and get adequate turnover rate but not excessively heat the water.

There is a good chance I am doing it all wrong. My idea is that by running the system during the daylight hours the phytoplankton are producing maximum O2 and I am moving low DO water up to the top for the plankton to do their job on and drawing highly oxygenated water to the depths as an O2 sink for the over night hours. This is against conventional wisdom and is probably wrong. But we will call it an experiment if I have a massive fish kill and everyone will learn from it.


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Have you checked your bottom temps after the pump shuts off? The closer the temp variance between top and bottom, the better idea you have about DO saturation at depth. It could be you can reduce run time even more if its equalizing temps faster. And with a good bloom to shade sunlight, it'll start cooling faster on the bottom and still have good DO.


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I have not, but that is a good idea.

I have learned that if I get what appears to be blue-green algae that running the pump more helps reduce it. When I was running the linear diaphragm pumps with not nearly as much turn over rate I had more problems with the bluegreen algae blooms. With this pump if I start to see it I increase the run time and that seems to help.

I relate it to what the sewage pond aeration pumps do. They really agitate those with rapid turnover so the nutrients are oxidized. That may be the wrong type of thinking, but it appears to me mixing the water more helps the water rid itself of at least some parts of excess nutrients.


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LOL...So apparently last year I was ALMOST ready to buy, but not quite. Up the street from us, a house took out all of the trees in their yard and put down grass. And, a new neighborhood is going in uphill from my intake stream. I think the fertilizer they used to get all that going caused major issues for me. My pond is nearly completely overgrown. It exploded with growth, granted looking back I could have done more to control it, but I never expected this to happen:
[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]

So, I got a pond rake and dug in. I've put about 5 hours into pulling weeds at this point, and have made a dent, but man is it a lot of work. The Parrot Feather crap is absolutely insane, the root system is gnarly. Here are some shots after raking a bit:
[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]

And here's one near the dock (note the opened area at the opposite side from the photo:
[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]

So, it's been a good workout to this point, and I'm ready to do more. But, overall, I'm trying to weigh my options. I know I could still drain it and reboot, but, I have game fish in it now and some nice bass based on last-year's fishing fun.

I did add another 6 grass carp this year, the 8 that I put in early on I wasn't sure were still there and even if they are, they need help!

This is bringing me to a few questions at this point.

1) Aeration: Now that I'm taking all the time and effort to go through this plant removal process, I am getting myself ready to invest in an aeration system. The EasyPro PA6SWN is for 3/8 area and has one output, the PA8SWN is for 3/4 area and has two heads. While I think the 6 would technically be close enough with a rating of a 3/8 acre (vs my .44 acre pond), I don't want to skimp toooo much. Anyway, one thing I'm uncertain of, will the aeration help control the plant growth, or will it make it worse?

2) Should I try to remove all of these plants and all other plants, or not? Is there something I should try to promote? A few years ago we had bad algae blooms, so it's nice to not see that happening with the plants, but of course they are creating their own problems.

3) Also, I have an explosion of Alders growing up around the edge all the way around the pond. They are getting huge, some are 7'. Should I let them line the edge of the pond, or should I keep it more cleaned up like it was originally? They are easy-ish to remove, I'm not sure what the right balance is.

Last edited by Vaaccess; 06/21/20 09:06 PM.
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Is that silt?
You mentioned a new neighborhood upstream, it almost looks like construction silt has filled your pond.

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No, it's not silt...at least I haven't seen what I'd consider to be silt. The pond is just crazily overgrown with grass. The piles are all grass that I've pulled out. The Parrot stuff is rooted heavily, the other stuff seems to be muskgrass based on the identification site I just looked at. I can provide a better picture of that if needed.

I've also added some water hyacinth...but it's not as hard to get out if it gets out of control...And maybe I shouldn't even have that in there, either...?

The construction areas are far enough that I wouldn't get that much from them...I just thought maybe getting some of their fertilizer may have contributed to this plant explosion...

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I fill your pain. frown I have been raking out Bushy Pondweed for 4 days. I have pulled out several hundred pounds of it. About 10 times as much as you have pictured in the piles of your Parrot stuff. I have also added a contact herbicide where I see the plant growing. I am using a 14' boat and rake it and pull it into the boat, then unload the boat onto my pier, let it dry for a day and then load a wheel barrow to haul it to a future burn pile. And I have to bail out the boat after every boat load is unloaded. I would say around 5 gals of water per load. I am headed out this morning for another 4 to 6 loads pf BPW. I would love to find some laborers and put them to work. If I would have known this was going to happen, I would have killed the plants back in early spring. You don't know what you don't know. I also added GC and can not see where they put much of a dent in it. But I guess it would be worse without the GC. I have seen alot of life that is in the BPW. Insects, fish fry, mussels, along with some type of eggs that have been in the stuff.

Last edited by TGW1; 06/23/20 06:52 AM.

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@TGW1
At least I know I’m not alone!!!

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If you're going to rake this stuff, it's important to follow up with an herbicide as TGW said, to prevent it reemerging from the tiny fragments left behind. Raking seems like a losing battle but, at least it removes the nutrient load, which would become fertilizer for next years batch.

Pond dye would slow down growth of the deep stuff.

The nuclear option - Floridone, would work well to eliminate everything, for a year or more, but would be best done in early spring , when there is a lot less growth to battle.

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Pond dye. I almost forgot! I had half a bottle and threw that in, thanks for the reminder.

Any brand or source recommendations for dye?

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You will need to control the phragmites that are to the right of the dock or they will grow and completely surround the pond.


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Originally Posted by esshup
You will need to control the phragmites that are to the right of the dock or they will grow and completely surround the pond.

Thank you. I am making significant progress on the parrot feather and algae, but still have a lot to go. I will keep that under control, too. Good to know!

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If that is phrag I would attack with deadly poison as soon as possible. Could it be cattails? I would attack them too.

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