I have a pond (1/2 acre of water) that has green algae. Pond was built 45 years ago and this is the first year I am seeing the algae. The algae does not cover the entire surface but appears in blobs. Our county dept. of conservation recommend treating with chelated copper but I am having problems figuring how and how much to apply. Any suggestions ? Thanks.
green algae in pond
- Thread starter LenPA
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Chelated copper will kill everything in the pond and all the frogs that live around the pond. I would just ignore the algae until next winter when the pond freezes over. Then get 15 or 20 bags of barn lime from Tractor Supply and spread it across the ice surface. In the spring it will melt and fall to the bottom of the pond raising the PH level and the pond will once again be usable. If you have a lot of undergrowth in the bottom of the pond that you need to kill off, then the chelated copper will take care of that. Spreading chemicals on the ice surface is the safest way to get treatment to the center of the pond. Just be careful that the ice will be thick enough to support your weight. If in doubt, tie a rope around your waist and tie the other end to the tractor. If you fall in just pull yourself out using the rope. If you have a helper, they can pull you out by tieing the rope to the back of the tractor. They just need to be careful to stop once you are out.
I would add some aeration or a fountain.....
also some plants..... water lettuce/ lilys etc,
RCW
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Like @John T said, I’d try some aeration, but probably wouldn’t worry about it this season as @DustyRusty suggested.
Try it next season…..
Try it next season…..
Most times the algae is caused by excess nutrients in the water. Getting the decaying matter off the bottom of the pond will help to curb these nutrients and that is where the lime will come into play. It will help to break down these nutrients and raise the waters PH. The one thing that I didn't recommend is that he stock the pond with some goldfish from the local pet shop, and that is because if he is to use the copper treatment it will kill all the fish. For me using copper is a last resort to resolving the problem. The fish will eat the vegetation at the bottom of the pond and help to complete the ecological cycle to a healthy pond next year.
Wish there was a easy solution, my water is green from high nitrogen, lots of fish and fish food, use a sand filter and a UV light. Waiting for winter or replacing most the water is about the only thing that works for me, the Copper algicide helps a little, never killed any of my fish, but you have to be careful how much heavy metals you are putting into your property.
Dusty, I like your idea of using lime in the winter. How
Dusty, I like your idea of using lime in the winter. How much can I use? However I think the wind would blow it into a corner of the pond before the ice melts.
You can't really use too much, however, if you do and the pond is leaching water through the ground into your well, you will pick up the lime in the well water. If you are worried about the wind blowing the lime into a corner of the pond, then cover the lime with some water so it becomes a solid lump. You could also drill some holes in the ice and pour the lime into the water at various parts of the ice. The only reason to do it when there is ice on the pond is that you can walk on it. If the pond is fed by springs, then where you place the lime is less important. If the pond has an inlet and outlet, then you definitely want to get the lime as close to the bottom as fast as you can so it doesn't get washed downstream. You can also use coarce ground lime if you can find it bagged. Pelletized lime is too expensive.
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Oh yeah, I have an aerator and fountain. Also, only plants I have are cattails and that doesn't help much. plants to cover/protect from the sun is supposed to help.
I would use blue dye to control algae. Plenty of companies make it for ponds. I won't go into my experience with it except to tell you that it works and doesn't harm wildlife.
Just one reliable reference linked here, but there are plenty of others.
www.canr.msu.edu
Just one reliable reference linked here, but there are plenty of others.
Using aquatic dyes in ponds
Pond dyes can be used year-round. Blue dye in ponds is shown to not harm animals or floating and emergent plants in ponds.
www.canr.msu.edu
Don't know where youre at but here, we can call the game and fish people and they'll send someone out to do a pond study. From there they can give you ideas that will work alongside the the goal of the pond, be it a livestock water source or fishing pond or whatever. And it's free here too, no charge. May be different in other states. BUt, it's worth calling them for info.
someone mentioned water lillies. Mmmm, again, don't know where you are at but if we put lillies in a pond here, they completely take over the entire pond in under a year. Of course it's dependend on depth as they don't live in water deeper than about 4 or 5 foot deep but if it's a regular "farm pond" like every piece of ground has on it in this area, lillies will completely kill everything else. Fish and all. That's why I suggested called the fish and wildlife people, as they'll give you a better idea what to use for the algae. It may not be "algae", it may be duckweed. Had a pond at the old house, and duckweed took it over. We were told to put some lillies in, which we did, and in under a year's time the lillies completely wiped EVERYTHING out (except themselves). Local lake, the fish & wildlife people did the same thing and it's a 6700 acre lake, which in the summer was maybe 1000 acres of usable water, the rest was lillies. They've actually completely dewatered the entire lake and are rehabbing it as we speak-a HUGE undertaking. Boats could not navigate without getting 'plugged up' with lillies. They'd keep the water cooler than usual in late spring but as the water temp warmed, they'd act like a greenhouse, and water temp would get up into the 90's-largemouth bass in the shallower areas would die off, as would the crappie and about everything else but alligators, some gars, one species of bullhead, and snakeheads. Then the coons skunks possums birds and CATS would gorge themselves on the carcasses. You can imagine the stench.
someone mentioned water lillies. Mmmm, again, don't know where you are at but if we put lillies in a pond here, they completely take over the entire pond in under a year. Of course it's dependend on depth as they don't live in water deeper than about 4 or 5 foot deep but if it's a regular "farm pond" like every piece of ground has on it in this area, lillies will completely kill everything else. Fish and all. That's why I suggested called the fish and wildlife people, as they'll give you a better idea what to use for the algae. It may not be "algae", it may be duckweed. Had a pond at the old house, and duckweed took it over. We were told to put some lillies in, which we did, and in under a year's time the lillies completely wiped EVERYTHING out (except themselves). Local lake, the fish & wildlife people did the same thing and it's a 6700 acre lake, which in the summer was maybe 1000 acres of usable water, the rest was lillies. They've actually completely dewatered the entire lake and are rehabbing it as we speak-a HUGE undertaking. Boats could not navigate without getting 'plugged up' with lillies. They'd keep the water cooler than usual in late spring but as the water temp warmed, they'd act like a greenhouse, and water temp would get up into the 90's-largemouth bass in the shallower areas would die off, as would the crappie and about everything else but alligators, some gars, one species of bullhead, and snakeheads. Then the coons skunks possums birds and CATS would gorge themselves on the carcasses. You can imagine the stench.
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Daren Todd
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sure hope so. I moved here in 1989 and dad and I used to fish Lake Stumpy pretty often, and we always did well-once we found the fish. As time went on, it was getting MUCH harder to find the fish, for one reason lillies, and second the lake is/was silting in and the once deeper (6 foot+) water was becoming 3 foot or less. Only thing left is the channels where the old creeks ran, and lots and lots of mud. They've got a good plan, I know a lot of folks don't like it much but it needed to be done. For now I'll fish elsewhere-and frankly unless "ol stumpy" comes back like it once was, the liklihood of me going back is slim.I just love lake conwayHopefully it will be more user friendly when done.