Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Quarter acre pond in Northern IL. Stocking ideas?

Hello Team,

I've posted an intro and gotten some great feedback. I'm looking for a cleaning/maintenance plan and read that stocking certain fish can give good results. This leads me to two natural questions that I'm hoping you all can guide me through…

1. What fish can/should I stock if I want to clean up algae and other nasties that tend to take over a mid-summer pond?

2. Does anyone have experience with stocking in my region? I'm in Barrington, Cook County, IL.

Fishing would be a bonus, with keeping a healthy, clean ecosystem being the primary goal.

I've posted some pictures of my weed situation coming out of the winter thaw, if that helps.

Thanks so much.

…ryan

You don't have a weed problem, you have an algae problem. Unfortunately since you live in the Republic of Illinois, you cannot stock Tilapia to eat the algae. There are no fish that you can stock that will eat the algae, you will have to control it either manually (as in rake it out of the pond and move it to the compost pile or to the woods) or treat it every few weeks with Cutrine Plus granules/liquid (following the directions on the bottle/bag). If you don't use a copper based algaecide like Cutrine Plus, you can use Pak 27, Phycomycin, or Green Clean Plus.

As for fish, do you know what fish are in there now, and if not, why? (Pond dying from winterkill, etc.) What fish do you like to catch/eat (harvest is an integral part of pond management) and what are your goals (fishery wise) for the pond?

What is the water depth in the deepest part of the pond? What is the average depth?

@esshup - You have a bad habit of making great points. The Republic of Illinois… lol you're preaching to the choir. The only area worse is Connecticut, which is where I just moved from. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Regarding some of your points/questions, these are definitely things I have to figure out now that I am able (depth, fish in the pond, etc.). I do know that after skimming a little off the shoreline, there are plenty small green sunfish. I haven't netted/fished otherwise. Just moved her in late November of 2020 and trying to get my arms around the weeds. Last summer the entire surface was duckweed.

I was gifted a nice fountain for the pond as well, but not sure if this will abate the algae. Seems more likely to help with the duckweed though.

I'll do some research, but if my pond feeds into another body of water, will the Republic of Illinois come after me and my children if I use an algaecide?

Thanks for the input.

…ryan

LOL. I grew up there, but since moved to Indiana. My college roommate lives in Woodridge, he cannot seem to get vaccinated - still 65 and older there, but here they are opening it up to anyone 40 and over. Anyway.......

The problem with the duckweed is excess nutrients and no wave action from the wind. The fountain won't be much help unfortunately.

If you have water flowing through the pond, then the water coming into the pond has a high nutrient load if the water is flowing continually. If not you can treat the weeds with a contact herbicide and it will have dissipated before it leaves the pond.

For Duckweed, use Clipper herbicide (Alligare Flumigard is the generic equivalent). Be prepared to treat the pond multiple times because of the seeds on the bottom, that germinate when they see sunlight and warm water. I would treat the pond when there is the least water movement, that way the chemicals stay in the pond and have a time to work before they dissipate.

Gotcha. So an algaecide like Cutrine (for the algae) and an herbicide for the duckweed (etc?). Any suggestions for smart ways to lower the nutrient load? Previous owner definitely was not on top of keeping the pond bottom clean of leaffall, etc. I haven't ventured into the pond on foot as of yet, but my guess is that there's a lot of muck.

The previous groundskeeper came today to help me install the fountain. He told me he used something to kill the algae once, and the neighbor downstream was angry because he claimed it killed all his trees. Seems a little unlikely to me.

…ryan

Never say never BUT: I had a neighbor of a customer of mine claim that his garden died because I sprayed roundup on my customers gravel driveway and was threatening to sue to replace the garden and the lost crops. This neighbor is known to be a PITA and sue happy. I knew this going into the game so I kept track of wind direction and wind speed on the day I sprayed the driveway. ( have a portable weather station) I gave that information to my customer and he had his attorney respond to the neighbor. I guess he decided that it wasn't a wise decision to sue because I haven't heard of herbicide moving against the wind.....

Yes, I would use the Cutrine Plus if the algae is bad before the Duckweed gets bad. the flumioxazin will also treat algae at the same time it whacks Duckweed. Follow the label for application rates and techniques, and start at the lowest recommended application rate, AND I would only treat half of the pond at a time, waiting the appropriate amount of time that is listed on the label before treating the other half. (Yes, this means you have to read the label, as horrible as that is.) LOL