# Surface algae....looking for advice



## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Does anyone have any advice for dealing with this? The pond is about 3/4 acre, dammed up gully, 3 to 15 feet deep, and we have been using a bottom type aerator for the past few years...


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## Farmhand (Jul 11, 2011)

Copper sulfate, pour the crystals in a burlap sac tie it to the back of a canoe and row around the pond


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

In California they are using 4" black plastic balls to cover the surface to prevent the algae from forming in water reservoirs. But that's - California land of fruits and nuts.

I'd go the copper sulfate way....


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## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

Snakecharmer said:


> In California they are using 4" black plastic balls to cover the surface to prevent the algae from forming in water reservoirs. But that's - California land of fruits and nuts.
> 
> I'd go the copper sulfate way....


Welcome to the club............this algae problem is just getting started....we were first told by the smart guys in white smocks that is a "Lake Erie"issue or a Grand Lake issue, and they focus all their time and (our) money on things that affect those specific water ways. Now it is showing up in all our ponds, I see it in the creek behind my house, and yesterday I saw it on the Blanchard River in Findlay> I also saw an article today that it is now on the Pacific Ocean off of Canada and Alaska........Pretty scary that the "smart guys" don't have a clue, and it is racing out of control destroying recreational and marine economics across the nation.
This is the first year we have seen it in our pond after 20yrs...and we have been trying to control it with Cutrine Plus, it does seem to knock it down for a short time, but it comes right back after a rain, or the first hot sunny day. Cutrine plus is a liquid we apply with a back pac sprayer supposed to be environmentally safe but for how many times in a season...? Also, the stuff is not cheap....
We need someone to find the "real" cause of this crap, and soon AH2


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## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Dude....you are bitching to a "white smock"...or at least I have trashed a few lab coats over the years... Like the zabra mussels, gobies, purple loosistrife, and Eurasian milfoil....the exact " cuase " doesn't matter....just the fact that it is here. All this algae ( bacteria) needs is nutrients. That's why it is a problem in the lake, and why it is a problem in the ponds/ streams...that run into the lake feeding it nutrients and blue green algae..thus why it is manifesting as a big problem there... I understand that this is a larger regional problem....not too much we can do other than deal with it for now. So, back to the immediate and non political question, Have you tried copper sulfate? Seems to be quite a bit cheaper than Cutrine plus?


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## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Duplicate removed


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## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

boss302 said:


> Dude....you are bitching to a "white smock"...or at least I have trashed a few lab coats over the years... Like the zabra mussels, gobies, purple loosistrife, and Eurasian milfoil....the exact " cuase " doesn't matter....just the fact that it is here. All this algae ( bacteria) needs is nutrients. That's why it is a problem in the lake, and why it is a problem in the ponds/ streams...that run into the lake feeding it nutrients and blue green algae..thus why it is manifesting as a big problem there... I understand that this is a larger regional problem....not too much we can do other than deal with it for now. So, back to the immediate and non political question, Have you tried copper sulfate? Seems to be quite a bit cheaper than Cutrine plus?


Copper sulfate is not cheap either, we use it for rooted plants and moss but this stuff is a surface slime and the granule stuff sinks. The Cutrine is also a copper product and it blends with the surface column of water and has a better chance of neutralizing the crud. Not a solution, just a band aid response for the short term.
The question remains...........why now....? What has changed in the past couple years that this stuff is on us.....? Farmers have been applying fertilizer for decades, I have done nothing different in my pond management over 20 yrs....not a coincidence that I have the same stuff as Erie, reservoirs, rivers, "inland" lakes across the state and the Pacific ocean.........The missing puzzle piece is that "unknown" element that has entered the equation in the last several years.
I see a direct connection to the ash borer problem....where regulatory agencies were asleep at the wheel when the bugs got started and then they dumped all kinds of restrictions on us in a failed attempt to put the toothpaste back in the tube......and expecting us to fix it. I expect that someone will stumble onto the "real cause" of this crap and we will go thru the same process..... asking the same question..." why the H were you guys not aware of this when it got started......


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## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Thanks....going to try dragging some copper sulfate behind the ole row boat...

Aquaholic2, I doubt the birds and bugs know what watershed they are in, and this is the simplest of algae -/microscopic to boot.


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## betterthanfrank (Mar 25, 2011)

When I was a kid I heard if you throw a bail of straw in your pond it got rid of algae. So every year i'd snag a bail and chuck it in. Seemed to help quite a bit. Didn't totally get rid of it all. But it made it fishable in summer. Its a small farm pond also. It's definitely worse now that ive moved and stopped doing it. May not work for you but its cheap and worth a shot. At least it might help a little.


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## fishyscience (Apr 14, 2004)

boss302 said:


> Thanks....going to try dragging some copper sulfate behind the ole row boat...
> 
> Aquaholic2, I doubt the birds and bugs know what watershed they are in, and this is the simplest of algae -/microscopic to boot.


Try using a product labeled ' CUTRINE PLUS' in the liquid form. It is a chelated form of copper that is much easier to apply (use a 2 gallon hand sprayer) than rowing around with a burlap bag of copper sulfate (the old way from years ago----dissolve the copper sulfate in a bucket and use a hand sprayer----the powered form is much easier to dissolve than the crystal). This will generally work for most forms of algae. Hard to tell what you have from photos. May be a* Microsystis* form. * Microcystis* is a microcystin-producing genus of freshwater cyanobacteria which includes the harmful algal bloom _*Microcystis*_ aeruginosa.


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## Willyfield (Apr 1, 2007)

fishyscience said:


> Try using a product labeled ' CUTRINE PLUS' in the liquid form. It is a chelated form of copper that is much easier to apply (use a 2 gallon hand sprayer) than rowing around with a burlap bag of copper sulfate (the old way from years ago----dissolve the copper sulfate in a bucket and use a hand sprayer----the powered form is much easier to dissolve than the crystal). This will generally work for most forms of algae. Hard to tell what you have from photos. May be a* Microsystis* form. * Microcystis* is a microcystin-producing genus of freshwater cyanobacteria which includes the harmful algal bloom _*Microcystis*_ aeruginosa.


save some money!!! Cutrine is basically dissolved copper sulfate. I take about 3-4lbs of copper sulfate, and mix it in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I put it in my backpack sprayer and walk around the edge of my 1.5 acre pond and spray it as far as it will go. It doesn't take long for the whole pond to get it mixed with the current and the wind. I have also sprayed it from my canoe if the algae is really bad, but try and not to let it get that bad in the first place. I also keep pond dye mixed into the pond as well. The darker the better. My water is clear to 3-4'.


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## fishyscience (Apr 14, 2004)

Willyfield said:


> save some money!!! Cutrine is basically dissolved copper sulfate. I take about 3-4lbs of copper sulfate, and mix it in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I put it in my backpack sprayer and walk around the edge of my 1.5 acre pond and spray it as far as it will go. It doesn't take long for the whole pond to get it mixed with the current and the wind. I have also sprayed it from my canoe if the algae is really bad, but try and not to let it get that bad in the first place. I also keep pond dye mixed into the pond as well. The darker the better. My water is clear to 3-4'.


Sorry Willy but you are totally wrong. Cutrine Plus is NOT 'simply dissolved copper sulfate'. But WTH-----I'm only a fish biologist and lake/pond management guy----WTH do I know??????????


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## Bassthumb (Aug 22, 2008)

That stuff is on every lake I fish.


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## BASSINONE (Oct 24, 2013)

boss302 said:


> Does anyone have any advice for dealing with this? The pond is about 3/4 acre, dammed up gully, 3 to 15 feet deep, and we have been using a bottom type aerator for the past few years...


Boss, My pond has nothing on it


boss302 said:


> Does anyone have any advice for dealing with this? The pond is about 3/4 acre, dammed uphing gully, 3 to 15 feet deep, and we have been using a bottom type aerator for the past few years...


Boss,my pond has not


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## BASSINONE (Oct 24, 2013)

BASSINONE said:


> Boss, My pond has nothing on it
> 
> Boss,my pond has nothing on it ever. I purchased a pump from jones fish. Pond looks great all year.3/4 hp pump on a 3/4 ac lake.


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## Willyfield (Apr 1, 2007)

fishyscience said:


> Sorry Willy but you are totally wrong. Cutrine Plus is NOT 'simply dissolved copper sulfate'. But WTH-----I'm only a fish biologist and lake/pond management guy----WTH do I know??????????


Let me bow before you in all due respect.


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## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

^^^^The american way.Get being wrong pointed out so say something smart back.


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## fishyscience (Apr 14, 2004)

Cajunsaugeye said:


> ^^^^The american way.Get being wrong pointed out so say something smart back.


Doesn't both me Cajun. I'm simply trying to point out his misinformation so others don't waste time, money and effort. I've had worse said to me before. Comes with the territory.


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## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

fishyscience said:


> Doesn't both me Cajun. I'm simply trying to point out his misinformation so others don't waste time, money and effort. I've had worse said to me before. Comes with the territory.


Update as of November 9th..... our pond in NW Ohio has been algae free since the water cooled off in early October. BUT......we also own property with an acre size pond in southern Ohio ( Perry Co.), surrounded by meadows and woods, far from any streams or agriculture........zero agriculture run off in this one. Guess what...it also had an algae bloom this fall and it still shows up on sunny days in mid November. Now how can anyone suggest nutrients from chemicals in runoff in this one........... Just like the stuff I saw in my pond, on the ditch behind the house, on the Blachard river, on lake Erie, upground reservoirs, the pacific ocean. Like I suggested earlier, this will continue until someone uses some of the "research" money and finds the common link instead of pointing fingers at farmers and other "runoff" targets....AH2


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

It does not matter if you have creeks/drainages connected to your pond, if you have a heavy nutrient load you will have some form of algae. I have found if I limit the amount of leaves blowing into the pond and/or rake them out in the spring I have far less problems with algae during the summer. Aquashade or other dyes also help limit the algae blooms. There is no single magic bullet, spraying cutrine or copper sulfate will kill the algae but unless it is removed it will continue to be part of the nutrient load.


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## aquaholic2 (Feb 17, 2010)

swantucky said:


> It does not matter if you have creeks/drainages connected to your pond, if you have a heavy nutrient load you will have some form of algae. I have found if I limit the amount of leaves blowing into the pond and/or rake them out in the spring I have far less problems with algae during the summer. Aquashade or other dyes also help limit the algae blooms. There is no single magic bullet, spraying cutrine or copper sulfate will kill the algae but unless it is removed it will continue to be part of the nutrient load.


First algae bloom of the season.......!
Well.......it's back already. My wife keeps a small 15' "frog pond" in her flower garden well away from our farm pond, today ( 3/10/16) an algae bloom developed, looks just like the crap that plagued our big pond all last summer ( and in Boss's photos). Interesting that it has only been ice free for a couple weeks, and been crystal clear so the water is still cold. I was home and around the pond several times thru the morning, and early afternoon and observed it rising as usual with the moderate rain here in Hancock Co. Then about 3pm, on a trip past it, BAM.....full of pea green algae developed in less than an hour between observations. No runoff in this one, no possibility of artificial nutrient loading.....what the H is in the rain to cause this..? Fishyscience can you send me an e-mail at ( [email protected]) thank you, Dick in Findlay


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## s.a.m (Feb 22, 2016)

swantucky said:


> It does not matter if you have creeks/drainages connected to your pond, if you have a heavy nutrient load you will have some form of algae. I have found if I limit the amount of leaves blowing into the pond and/or rake them out in the spring I have far less problems with algae during the summer. Aquashade or other dyes also help limit the algae blooms. There is no single magic bullet, spraying cutrine or copper sulfate will kill the algae but unless it is removed it will continue to be part of the nutrient load.


 correct if using copper or cutrean the nutrient is just put back into the system. aeriate during low temp. {air temp} with a bacteria. just like your septic system. fish poop,leave,grass all add to the problem.


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