Here is an old thread where I used black pond dye.
Page 3 of my FA thread
I have found that using pond dye for FA control it is essential to get an early start. We get back about mid March from our overwintering place and I made the mistake of not ordering pond dye before getting home. By the time I got home, determined FA was going gangbusters (pond was extremely clear this spring/late winter) I was already behind the curve. I got a couple gallon of Midnight Blue from Tractor Supply and dumped it in and ordered a dozen quarts of blue (also very dark, no yellow pigment) from Rain Biologics (each quart is supposed to be equal to a gallon of regular pond dye - but who knows???). I ended up using all of it on my 3 acre main pond plus my 1 acre RES/SMB pond. So a total of two gallons and 12 quarts on 4 acres. That was around the end of March to the first of April (not all put in at once) and it has pretty well taken care of it. The RES/SMB pond still has a fair amount around the edges that is stringy and will make a mess of fishing but that is ok in this pond because it is mostly a grow out year with little fishing anyway and will give the RES fingerlings some refuge.

Next year I will have the dye waiting for me when I get home mid March. Might even have someone put it in for me first of March. It was a green mat 4" high on the bottom when I got home mid March.

Last year I did not even use dye. A little Cutrene around the edge of the main pond was all I needed for decent control (not total). FA sure varies year to year for me. Now my 1/10th acre sediment pond was a different story last year. It was chocked full of FA and empties into the main pond so maybe that was the source of this years problem in the main pond. Funny thing is this year there is no FA to speak of in the sediment pond. It has been turbid most of the spring so it has posed little problem.

I'll not use any more dye past the initial early spring dose. As the weather and water warms a planktonic algae bloom will hopefully replace the dye. Heavy rains recently is diluting it and the dye appears to only be about half to two thirds as intense as it was initially.

Couldn't get the black dye from Rain Biologics any more so went with the blue. I actually like their blue better than the black. It had nearly an identical shade as the Midnight Blue I got from Tractor Supply (forgot the brand, they had three different brands of pond dye). My wife and I both liked the color really well. We do not care for the more turquoise Caribbean colored dyes (they have yellow mixed in whith the blue pigment) for our landscape.

Last edited by snrub; 05/03/19 11:28 AM.

John

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