# Need help with lilly control.



## dugworm (May 23, 2008)

Here's the deal. I have about a 1ac. pond. Great pond for catching gills and bass (I landed a 5lb'er last summer.) Lilly's get thick in summer. Makes it very difficult to cast from shore. Anyone know of something off the shelf I can apply to get the lilly's under control that won't harm the fish??


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

How deep of water are they growing in? Are you sure it's water lillies?

The only sure way to get rid of them without harming the fish is probably a long reach excavator.


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

Years ago we used copper sulfate to treat our pond for weeds. Treated early in the year befor it got bad and only did 1/2 the pond at a time. That gave the fish clear water and also kept the oxygen levels up. All the dead and dying plant material depleats the oxygen in the water. ?Usually waited two to three weeks between treatments. Check with OSU Coop. Extension. They have bulletins on pond management. There are probably better chemicals available now.


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## stjellyfish (Jun 2, 2008)

We use weed-plex-pro. I'm pretty sure it is a licensed pesticide though. Any thing with diquat dibromide will control lilies. there are many manufacture names for this product. My favorite had always been Reward, but was discontinued a few years ago. Its basically Round Up but approved for aquatics. Just watch the dosage as this stuff can invite a fish kill if to much is used and to frequently. To break down the waxy surface of lilies it is recommended to use a surfactant. I know ebay has had all this stuff before and is fairly reasonable in price.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

I'de HIGHLY recommend using a glysophate products such as AquaPro. Diquat Dibrimoide, such as Reward, is great for use in clear waters and it pretty darn expensive in the long haul. It's important to note that it's a defoiliant, not a systemic herbacide such as glysophate. With plants that have extensive root systems like like Lillys you'll be busting the bank trying to kill the roots via nutrient starvation by constantly defoilating the plant with Reward. I'm a certified aquatic applicator, and do lake management for a living, trust me on this. Go with Aqua Pro.

A quart of the stuff coupled with some Cide-Kick II a surfactant will be the solution to your problem. With that much, which is the smallest container you can purchase, you'll be able to A. Control the lillies to your liking or B. Rid yourself of them entirely.

2oz of Aqua Pro per Gallon of water
2oz of Cide Kick II per gallon of water
Mix well, apply on a nice sunny morning with no rain in the forcast and no dew on the lillys. In a pinch, 3 hours contact time is sufficient, the more the better. Liberallly spray the leaves being careful not to use to high of a pressure/straight of a stream as to not wash the chemical off. In a week or two you'll start to see results. By week 2 and 3 it will be blantanly obvious which plants have been affected and are going to die. Re-apply if neccessary (it more than likely will be) A few minor touch ups might be required to completely rid yourself of them if that's your goal.

Glysophate products are rapidly absorbed in the soil, pose no threat to fish life in the quanitys you'll be using, and do not bioaccumulate in wildlife (you're fish are still just as safe to eat.)

Most systemically active herbacides kill the plants so slowly, there isn't a sudden "burst" of nutrients added to your pond that causes rampant bacterial growth resulting in a fish kill. If you're treating a pond that is 100&#37; covered with it, I would excersize some caution when treating it to avoid this. Treat a 1/3rd of the pond to be safe. But if it's only growing from the bank to 10' out you'll be plenty safe spraying it all at once.

Aquathol, or other salts of endothall, are also extremely effective at defoliating the plants and results in some species can litterally be seen within minutes. I personally sprayed aquathol on american pond weed today, and by the time I reached where I had started it was already dead. Aquathol is cheaper than Reward, more expensive than Aquapro, can be used in muddy water and can also be used on a wide variety of herbacious aquatic growth - regardless Aqua Pro is still better. Go with it, you won't be dissapointed.

If you're dealing with any other marginal aquatic plants like cattails or iris you might as well purchase the gallon as there is a pretty decent price break there, and I reckon a gallon would last most people several years.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

stjellyfish said:


> . My favorite had always been Reward, but was discontinued a few years ago.


This is completely untrue, ironically enough there is actually a shortage on the stuff this year though  I peronsonally sent some chara to it's watery grave today with it mixed with some cutrine 

Cutrines basically a copper sulfate-esque type of weed, but having said that the suggestion of using coppersulfate is completely untrue. It's an algacide and becomes an herbacide to the VAST majority of aquatic vegetation at concentrations deadly to fish.


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## jbrown (Jun 4, 2008)

i know a lot of people use copper-sulfate herbicides for algae... not sure if itll work on lillys or not. it has to be used in moderate amounts though or else the fish will suffer.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Fishman is right about the glysophate products being the best and the effectiveness is directly related on the surfactant getting the chemical into the plant. 

I have done a fair amount of reading on glysophate being pretty safe However the surfactant Cidekick contains 1% Tributyltin oxide and according to the International safety cards it can cause Abdominal cramps. Cough. Diarrea. Labored breathing. Nausea. Sore throat. Vomiting and Skin burns depending on how it's contacted. It also contains Alkyl* dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride at 5% which is considered highly toxic to fish. The product is registered with the EPA for this use so just use as directed and don't drink it.

Copper Sulfate products at recommended rates will not have much if any effect on higher plants such as lillies. This is useful if you were trying to keep the lillies and just get rid of the algae.


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## dugworm (May 23, 2008)

I do appreciate all the input. Is Aquapro available off the shelf? What about the Cide-kick II? What can I expect to pay?? Thanks!


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> However the surfactant Cidekick contains 1% Tributyltin oxide and according to the International safety cards it can cause Abdominal cramps. Cough. Diarrea. Labored breathing. Nausea. Sore throat. Vomiting and Skin burns depending on how it's contacted. It also contains Alkyl* dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride at 5% which is considered highly toxic to fish. The product is registered with the EPA for this use so just use as directed and don't drink it.



lol exactly. As I was reading it I was going, dude it the LD50 is so rediculously high you'de have to be drinking glasses of it, then I read "don't drink it" I busted out laughing. Shame Cide-Kick II smells so good, it's really pretty organic when ya consider it. Smells like Pine Tree's or something evergreen 

I actually didn't know about the "Alkyl* dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride" thing however at 5% of the solution then diluting it into a significant ammount of water makes that 5% once a small percentage of it enters the water since most should be on your target it's laughable the ammount you'de have to put in to cause fish death. I can honestly say, I've never known anyone to kill fish with aquapro cide kick applications.

Would you not agree glysophate is not only the most cost effective and safe solution to lillys?


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Fishman don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against chemicals (we use hundreds of gallons of Roundup on the farm every year) and I think you made the best recommendation. I just wanted to make a point to use it as directed. Odds are that the fish would be far more likely to die from a DO drop before the chemicals would kill them.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

No offense taken, I understand completely what you're saying. Hell, even, I learned something. I was always under the impression that Cide-Kick was completely organic honestly. Because of you're post I actually read the labeling today but there was nothing on there refering to toxic chemicals, however there was a mention of exemption by the FDA for their being no restrictions to it's use. I'm assuming this is because the ammount of chemical in it is so negligible? Regardless, I found your post informative 

I've honestly never seen a fish kill caused by AquaPro/Cide Kick applications be it directly or indirectly related to the plants death.


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