IMO fertilizing with Chara beds present is a waste of money. Chara will try to suck up all the fertilizer. Scattering ground feed can begin 7-14 days after you see perch eggs. If you can't hand feed daily you may have to buy a special type of feeder since the ground feed will have a lot of fines. Clumping will want to be a problem with using ground feed in an mechanical feeder.


aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management