Once the FA starts floating around...it's near the end of it's life-cycle. It starts on surfaces underwater, mostly the bottom of the pond, where it has nutrients to utilize and can get ample sunlight. Once it starts to decline, it produces some gases that cause it to float to the surface. The best way to deal with it as it floats is to manually remove it. An FA rake, made from a light duty aluminum landscape rake, some pool noddles, and a length of rope..is the best tool I have found to manually remove it. Some folks with larger ponds have used a long floating rope armed with zip-ties to corral it to a convenient shore so that the rake is more effective. I just wait for the wind to blow it to one end of my little pond.

Here's my rake...

[Linked Image]

The gap in the handle was an afterthought. It's much easier to handle when you can get a grip. Here is the thread that talks about the herding rope. Look at post #35779 for the bulk of the info you are looking for....

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=35766

Removing it will reduce the nutrient load for the next crop, but FA can be an ongoing issue to deal with. Like Journeyman man said...try to get other more desirable plant established to take it's place. Shallow water is an FA haven...start there with new plants.


Fish on!,
Noel