# Lack of weeds



## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

This 150 acre lake has absolutely no weeds due to an erradication progam about 6 years ago. Both herbicide & Amurs were used and we have a bunch of Amurs left. I have two questions. First am I wrong in believing that a certain amount of weeds are necessary to promte oxygen? Second is there a way to return at least some of the weed growth?


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Catch the amurs and bank them. I like weedy lakes like Mogadore and Nimi used to be. That's where the big fish live.
Also Nimi used to be crystal clear till a few years ago when the weed growth dropped off. Now it's as turbid as West Branch is (or almost as turbid).


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## BigTripp (Oct 1, 2010)

Tell you what, come down to my pond and you can have all the weeds you want. Haha. I'm no expert but I don't think oxygen levels will be a problem in a lake that size.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

You don't need weeds to grow fish. Planktonic algae is what makes most of the oxygen and is the base of the food chain not the submerged/emergent plants. Without sunlight plants use oxygen as does decomposing plant material, the primary cause of winterkill. They do have benefits offering refuge for young fish and other critters and ambush sites for predator fish and take up nutrients increasing water clarity due to both a reduction in planktonic algae and sometimes reducing turbidity. Weeds can become a problem if more than 15% of the water has weeds by reducing O2 levels as noted above and actually cause a fish kill. If they tie up too many nutrients that planktonic algae is starved and fish growth can actually decrease. It's really about balance. Keeping a healthy planktonic bloom is far more important than having submerged weeds.


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