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Pond restoration/ algae management experience?

The algae is consuming nitrogen and phosphorus which is coming from the degradation of any carbon based things that go in there. So long term keeping the carbon out is the key to less labor long term. Fence the pond out and put pumps in it to irrigate or water farm animals. Don't let them drink directly from the pond. They will shit and piss in it and release nitrogen from the ammonia in their piss and phosphorus from their shit. Cut back the trees. The leaves and seed they drop also have nitrogen and phosphorus in them. You will save some effort long term if you get someone to come in with a dozer and push the muck out of the bottom or we have a neighbor that has a good size track hoe that can reach to the middle of most of our ponds when we have a bad one. When you get that done, put some aerators in and a good diverse fish population (talk to your wildlife management guys for your area). I hate using anything copper sulfate based because copper is a heavy metal and is not good for wildlife or stock. It never goes away from the bottom of the pond, it just reacts with the nutrients and settles to the bottom. The fish are good to consume the algae if you don't want to stop it from forming. I just don't like having to restock every time something comes along to kill off those specific fish.
 
Get your aerator going before you chemically kill the algae or it will suffocate any existing fish. Wouldn't hurt to get some Muck Defense to help clean up the dead algae.
 
krttrkllr said:
Get your aerator going before you chemically kill the algae or it will suffocate any existing fish. Wouldn't hurt to get some Muck Defense to help clean up the dead algae.
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I worked at a catfish farming company for 5 years and worked closely with the biologist, but that wasn't my job or anything. I was the one in charge of harvesting the fish. We were all natural so never added anything to the water to kill algae, but yeah whether chemically or naturally killed, when certain algaes die they turn the water toxic and will kill everything in the pond. The above suggestions of cleaning up the crap around the ponds is what I'd do for sure, and if it's more like a pond scum floating on top and not just the whole upper water level being green, maybe take a boat or a fine mesh net type thing or something and skim it off and then get it away from the bank.
Algae is a double edged sword. It can help grow fish like hell, because (I might have this backwards but i don't think so) algae will drop oxygen levels during the day as it sucks it up, but at night it will provide more oxygen in the water. Nutrient load is for sure what's causing so much of it, either from fertilizer runoff or it's an old hog lagoon, etc..
After a catfish pond is retired it takes a few years of bloom and die cycles for the algae to stop being a factor. Just for basically the algae to "eat the poop" in teh water from having so many fish in there and so much food dropped in there every day for 30 years.
Tom's ponds used to look alive in teh heat of the day because of the algae moving around, which would then die off and kill everything in the pond, except bream cus they'll suck air from the top water. now he's got stable ponds with a good mix of bass and bream and catfish in there.
 
What about Plecousmeus fish or algae eaters as they call them go buy a couple at a fish store see what happens. They have them all over the canals in south Florida as well as Carp
 
I HATE PONIES said:
Not really sure on the science.

Alot of the older farmers around here do it for remote cattle ponds.

Seems to work good.
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Barley straw has been known to help manage algae blooms in ponds. You can buy forms of it for residential decorative ponds.
 
Glad this popped up - did you ever get this cleared up?

Was visiting my dad's (RIP) wife and checking on their pond while helping her out with some stuff and saw this...
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It's not thick at all.

There is a small windmill aerator that is working and the pond is usually pretty clear. She said this started up about 6 weeks ago. Anyone know what would cause such a quick change? I've been dumping minnows and sunfish to get things back on track the last 2 springs. Bass have been healthy and definitely growing. Through a frog out for kicks even though it was mid day and no action.

I HATE PONIES said:
Throw a round bale of hay in it. Add another each year at hay time and it will clear up the algae.
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Anyone know if this really works?
Thefishguy77 said:
Buddy did one that is just direct solar. No battery required. Only drawback is it only works with the sun period.
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do you have info on it and is it lasting?
 
Swayzeexpress said:
Glad this popped up - did you ever get this cleared up?

Was visiting my dad's (RIP) wife and checking on their pond while helping her out with some stuff and saw this...
1000028942.jpg


1000028943.jpg


It's not thick at all.

There is a small windmill aerator that is working and the pond is usually pretty clear. She said this started up about 6 weeks ago. Anyone know what would cause such a quick change? I've been dumping minnows and sunfish to get things back on track the last 2 springs. Bass have been healthy and definitely growing. Through a frog out for kicks even though it was mid day and no action.


Anyone know if this really works?

do you have info on it and is it lasting?
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I will get the details. He only installed it around July so its pretty new as far as longevity goes.
 
Swayzeexpress said:
That's good info thank you. Is his pond like the one in the pics on Amazon link?
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I will post a puc or 2 tomorrow with any luck.

His pond is pretty big and gets lots of sun. Its spring feed from multiple local springs. And it stays clean compared to most ponds. It s stocked with fish and he feeds them for fun.
 
👈 soil and water nerd.

junkytj is correct on the nuts and bolts of what's going on, more specifically in a fresh water system, phosphorous is predominantly the limiting nutrient. Figure out when, where, why, how you've got excess nutrients (phosphorous) in the pond and mitigate it.

Drummer79 is also correct, though while there are toxic algae, I think he's talking about eutrophication which isn't a toxin, it's the microbes decomposing all the dead algae post bloom, using up all of the oxygen, which suffocates the fish. That's what's happening in the Chesapeake and Gulf of Mexico.
 
Inlaws put some grass carp in a 22 acre lake that was covered up in mossy looking junk. I dont remember the number but im sure it was recommended by the hatchery. The carp had it nearly cleaned up in a year. I believe they have finally died out but got pretty good size before they did.
The young carp eat like crazy so it doesnt take long to clean one up.
 
Socsmm6 said:
Inlaws put some grass carp in a 22 acre lake that was covered up in mossy looking junk. I dont remember the number but im sure it was recommended by the hatchery. The carp had it nearly cleaned up in a year. I believe they have finally died out but got pretty good size before they did.
The young carp eat like crazy so it doesnt take long to clean one up.
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Was it at Bonnie Doon? Dad loved catching carp at Bonnie Doon!
 
i've been researching pond aeration and came across this video of a guy killing his fish with an aerator.



There is also a lot of good information in the comments for this video
 
Socsmm6 said:
O, it was in prentiss co, Ms.
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Well that was part of the problem I'm sure. Water and air do not move there. The fish have adapted to stagnant black water with zero oxygen and 98% bacteria levels. You start moving shit around and adding air and cleaning things up and they all die. Those fish have evolved to breath legionella not oxygen.

:flipoff2:
 
I watch this youtube once in a while. Guy built a 5 acre pond and goes into some pretty good detail (I have no idea if they are correct, I did not sleep at a holiday in before watching) about adding fish and keeping the water clear (he did have an algae bloom)but he seems to have a successful pond with a decent eco system.

 
Bump; closed on this purchase this week, I’ve got a consult scheduled with a guy to evaluate the dam condition and will see if he’s got any input.

If no input to the contrary I’d probably add an algae killer after leaves finish falling and add a couple grass carp in the spring.

I started bush hogging around it- no after pic yet, here’s before
IMG_4688.jpeg

Also almost had to find a pair of clean shorts when this dinosaur surfaced on the downside of the spillway: ( trash can lid size with radiator hose sized arms :eek: ) it really makes me pause to wonder what other giant reptiles might be hiding below the green scum.
IMG_4692.jpeg
 
WTF? said:
Also almost had to find a pair of clean shorts when this dinosaur surfaced on the downside of the spillway: ( trash can lid size with radiator hose sized arms :eek: ) it really makes me pause to wonder what other giant reptiles might be hiding below the green scum.
IMG_4692.jpeg
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They're only fun when they're babies. My kids carried this one all over the house, played with it for an hour before we took him down to the creek and let him go.

The adult ones are assholes.

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45acp said:
They're only fun when they're babies. My kids carried this one all over the house, played with it for an hour before we took him down to the creek and let him go.

The adult ones are assholes.
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Well consensus is apparently my monster seems like it’s probably just a big cooter [giggity] {is phrasing still not a thing?}
Which is an herbivore.
en.wikipedia.org

River cooter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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Not sure but the shell looks like a snapper. It's imprinted in my head from fishing a pond at a cemetery as a kid with my dad. Hooked into one and thought it was a carp. He said I never climbed a tree so fast :laughing: Thing looked like a demon from he'll hissing and pissed.

We keep the population under control with head shots while floating in the pond every 4 years or so.

Fun fact I learned the first time I took my now wife fishing at sunset in an old canoe. She loves turtles. Got a funny look from my pops as we headed out. He had been cleaning em up a few days prior, they sink right away then float back up in 2-3 days. I was dodging em and pointing at the sunset for a good hour :lmao:
 
WTF? said:
I’ve got a consult scheduled with a guy to evaluate the dam condition and will see if he’s got any input.

If no input to the contrary I’d probably add an algae killer after leaves finish falling and add a couple grass carp in the spring.

I started bush hogging around it- no after pic yet, here’s before
IMG_4688.jpeg
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Grading and pond specialist said the dam looks OK, and we found a preliminary plan to raise the level of the other pond on the low side of the dam which if filled up would be double the area of the first one. :smokin:

he spoke highly of the chemical duckweed killers, so once leaves have finished falling for the season i'll dump some of that in there to see about clearing the green funk up.




I've been making steady progress on the clearing it up with a tractor , bush hog, and chainsaws:
day 1
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week 2:
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Month 1:

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i've figured out a trick with the polesaw to relief cut the pondside of the trees and leave hinge-wood on the landside then hook and yank them over;
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and that went swell til i got the bar tangled up. :homer:

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as i have gotten bolder with the size trees im slicing with that pole saw, i'm learning new tricks and rope techniques to pull over bigger stuff so education is well worth the cost of the ~$20 bar & chain and thousands ahead of the cost to hire it out.
 
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