How I Treat Algae In A Large Pond
Vložit
- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- How do I treat algae in a large pond? On any given day I'll get this question at least a handful of times (and often more) so this is a very basic summary of what I would tell someone when they contact me.
I shot this over lunch on my backyard deck so you'll hear a lot of birds chattering about. It's a relaxing place to take a break but it has it's share of feathered distractions! Bear with me and my bird friends as we go through this.
The idea is very basic. Algae is not the problem, but a symptom of the problem...which is high or excessive nutrients in the water. These drivers of algae are what we target with this eco-friendly approach.
In my mind you have to start by considering aeration. If it's present, you move on to beneficial microbes. If you don't have it, it's worthy of more investigation. Typically though, one of these two things, either alone or in combination, will help in many instances.
For really large ponds and lakes, where microbes or chemicals may be more cost prohibitive, we might consider ultrasound to control the algae.
And finally, if we still need a bit more help to bring the algae under control, we might consider an algaecide of some sort.
To learn more about each of these topics you can click on any of the links below for more information.
Pond Aeration - tinyurl.com/yv...
Beneficial Microbes - tinyurl.com/2w...
Ultrasonic Algae Control - tinyurl.com/2r...
Algaecide Treatments - tinyurl.com/2t...
For additional questions please visit us at pondalgaesolut...
Hello Mark, thank you for all this valuable information in your videos. Here is my situation, we are in Canada, north of Montreal on an old echological lake 1.2 miles long, we are at the end of a bay. The temperature in summer is around 75 to 85 degrees during the day. The lake in the center is approximately 15' deep. Our bay is approximately 200' wide and 300' long. The depth of the bay in the center is about 5'...lots of muck and not much water circulation. Filamental algae begins to form in July. The lake association does not allow the use of organic or chemical products. Tell me if you need more details and thank you in advance for your valuable advice...Dan
Hi Dan...thanks for the kind words. So there are a couple of ways to go here. Normally aerating a portion of a lake or large water body, isn't going to do too much...it may help fish a bit in that area but for water quality, algae, it may not do much. You could work on muck reduction using peletized bacteria which can be spot treated to good effect. Another option might be ultrasound...but it really depends on the algae you have in there...the species I mean, as well as the type but some filamentous algae can be treated in areas or zones. Get in touch with me through the website at Pondalgaesolutions.com and we can dig into this a bit more if you'd like. Thanks again!
Excellent. Thank you. I have an idea. Place a fine diffuser near bottom under a pipe vertically suspended that rises to just under the water surface and you get the oxygenation efficiency of the fine diffuser and the water moving characteristic of the coarse diffuser. It should pull more water off the bottom, oxygenate it, and deposit it at the surface. Should flip the pond over time.
Thats another way to do it. I would avoid going too shallow with the placement though...you still want some depth to provide coverage of the diffuser...meaning the deeper it is placed the more pond area it will affect. I think just getting it off the bottom a few feet can be quite hepful, especially in very old, very mucky ponds.
@@klmponds Rodger that. Thank you.
Another excellent, understandable video. Thank you. Have you thought about a nutrient prevention video having to do with site conditions like fertilizers or animal waste? Or is that not in your wheelhouse? I can imagine you going to a site and thinking...uh oh...that's an issue to do with the outside of the pond.
Thanks Wayne...yes, there are certainly some things you can do externally...a good topic to cover and one I'll address in an upcoming video. Thanks for the suggestion!
Fantastic info. Really informative video. I have a small pond/lake in front of my house 1300x 300feet and 10 feet deep. How many small aerators I need to resolve the blue green algae problem? Thank again you so much.
Howdy Be Fab...thanks for the kind words. I think due to the size of the pond it might be better if you contact me through email...we should probably do an aerial mapping on it to see what would cover it. Plus while I like aeration for help with all algae types, it may not work in every case so I want to give you a few ideas on what else might be worth looking at. Email me the location of the pond so I can find it on google earth, note some depths throughout, and where power might be near the pond. That will get us started. mark at klmsolutions.com . Thanks again for asking!
What about putting in flotating plant to remove nutrients
Hi Vlad...that's a good question. So typically for smaller ponds...yes, I suggest using plants of various kinds. On larger ponds some of these plants like lilies...that would work well in a small backyard pond...can become troublesome in a larger one...getting out of hand or taking over a lot of space. For nutrient management this isn't a bad thing but many people are looking to take them out or check their growth so it's kind of a two edged sword. But no doubt, the idea is sound and it works...you just have to pick a plant you like and can maintain easily and I think some people would be happy with that.
Does algae die off in the winter? Bottomline: Am I better off calling it a loss this summer and start in the spring? I don’t recall it ever being this bad (and I grew up around this pond 🤷♀️)
Yes, usually it does. If it gets cold enough or you are far enough north, then it almost always does. I have seen algae grow in the spring under ice (in Iowa) in March but you don't typically see it in the winter. Keep in mind it's always related to nutrients and those change over the years...every pond, as it ages or gets older, will get accumulation of something organic in it....and at some point there may be enough for algae to bloom...couple that of course with the sunlight and you have a great combination to grow plants. Not a bad thing for flowers or crops but not so good for algae. As far as treatment or working on it...that's really up to you. I have had ponds that were pretty bad...put an aerator in and it can change in a few weeks to a month. I've had the same happen with the use of beneficial microbes...they aren't always quick but I don't mind doing something at this point. Or spring, early spring can be a good time to get going on such things too before the algae really gets rolling in the late spring and summer.
Mr Mark good evening, 1/4 acre pond about 9ft deep at center, algae started growing like crazy bout 1 month ago, south texas humid Hot 105 F weather, help me out please Thank you Sir
Hi Christian...thanks for reaching out! If you want, send me a quick email mark at klmsolutions.com and we can go over some things that would be specific for you. Generally speaking if you don't have aeration I would start with that if you can. If you have fish, we'd want to go over how to start an aerator up due to the heat and all. If you have aeration already, I would suggest trying a microbial treatment to help lower nutrients that are feeding the growth. I would only do this, or use any kind of treatment, ie algaecides, if you have aeration going, and if fish are any importance to you. They would already be pretty stressed just due to the hot temps. But we can dig into this a bit more and give you some ideas....reach out anytime!
Hey there! I’m looking for a solution for an acre-sized farm pond which receives virtually constant sun exposure during the day. I’d prefer not to have electric outlet-powered machinery, so was looking at alternatives like fish-safe algaecides, sterile triploid carp and solar-powered aeration. I like the algaecide idea, but should I look into buying a small aerator as well, with the copper algaecides/dying algae removing necessary oxygen from the water?
What’re your thoughts?
Thank you!
Hi AJ...I replied to your email but a quick summary for other readers. I start with aeration typically because it can help with many things including algae blooms. If you can turn something around without a treatment I'm all for it. I would not say there is such a thing as a fish safe algaecide...all treatments have the potential to cause issues for fish, and usually its how they are applied. Algaecides or any treatment that kills a plant quickly will cause an oxygen drop in the water due to the plant die-off...so aeration is protective of fish if you do decide to treat the problem with a chemical. Beneficial microbes are my preferred route to manage algae or at least my first go to treatment...they too work best with good levels of dissolved oxygen in the water...so aeration is helpful here too. Thanks for the questions!
Thank you so much for this video!
What’s the best way to prevent cat tails? We just dug a new pond about a half acre and aprox 8” deep in northeast Ohio which freezes in the winter. What suggestions on brands or type of fountain and aeration would you suggest? We would like to add both for the healthiest pond we can get. I also really want fish but am worried they may freeze to death, would aeration and the fountain make it possible in an 8” pond?
Hi Jamy...thank you for the questions. So for cattails, probably the best way, or easiest way to manage them is with a product called CattPlex, combined with a surfactant. Here is the link: amzn.to/3wn5DhD . Shore Klear is another brand that is targeted to things like cattails. For the aerator, I would use a bottom diffuser, maybe off center a bit in the winter...the goal is just to keep a hole in the ice open for oxygena and gass exchange. Now I should clarifier this just to be sure but is your depth 8 inches or 8 feet?
Thanks again!
Mark
We've been fighting this war in our 1 1/2 acre pond for 11 years now primarily with capture and herbacides. We just installed aeration and are moving to pond dye and liquid microbial bacteria this week. Advice?
Hi Jim...I guess my main advice would be to be liberal with the microbial...of course you want to dose at at a base level, to your pond volume...whatever the label calls for. But you also have to account for the nutrient loading too...if you have a lot of algae I would assume that is pretty high, so most often i will actually double the recommended amount for the first month or so...look for changes in the growth...any reaction or reduction would indicate you are affecting nutrient levels enough to curb the growth. I only do this for a month or two to evaluate. If I don't see significant change, after that time, or if I want to just test this early on, I'll have a phosphorous test done to see where that level is at. If that is particularly high, a phos binder may be called for just to help everything shift into better balance.
@@BirdLife365project Thanks for your quick response. I discovered I left out some important info: our pond is fed by a natural spring, about 4 farm tiles, and two overland waterways off farm fields. Even if we can diminish the compost pile on the bottom of the pond, do we stand a chance against the nutrient load coming in from neighboring farm fields growing corn (for the last 12 years without rotation)?
Reducing organic build up at the bottom of the pond is always helpful but it is a slow process, but it can be done. I would say if you are getting a lot of run off from surrounding ag fields, think about creating some vegetative buffer strips around the pond that could absorb some runoff nutrients...and for any incoming streams, I would investigate the idea of creating vegetation bogs which could help filter and clean the water a bit before it gets into the pond. Its really all about nutrient management and doing your best to curb the effects of that on the pond in whatever way is practical for you.
@@klmponds We have followed your microbial advice, doubling the dosage for the first month, added 2 aerator pads, and have kept the pond dyed. No fibrous algae pads now and for the most part the pond looks so much better. The water is clear, but has a micro thin sheet of what appears to be short strands of algae on the top of the water. Each strand is about a quarter inch long, and very thin. The strands look gray in the morning, then green in the afternoon and brown in the evening. Is this fibrous algae that can't implant on the bottom to form pads and instead floats on the surface?
Good to hear things are looking better for you. So it sounds like a form of algae...probably coming to the surface to pick up some sunlight and then dying off pretty quick. Or it could just be coming off some stuff down below as the nutrients continue to balance out. My inclination is just to keep the course for a bit longer...if you feel you want to add another round of biological it may continue to improve things, or this could be a short lived event as things continue to progress. I would say the positive thing here is you did see measurable improvement with aeration and microbes so that's where I'd keep my focus for awhile. There is no free-floating algae that is immune from this approach...although another nutrient like phosphorus could, if it's quite high, be less affected in the short term by microbial treatments.
Hey I need some help are you available?
You bet. Best route to go is to visit the website and send a quick note over with details on the pond and what you're seeing. www.pondalgaesolutions.com/contact.html . With a bit of information we can give a few ideas on how to improve things.