# Mass snail death



## bassmanmark (May 17, 2005)

Was hoping to order my first batch of redears later this year...had a ton of snails in the pond and heard they love them...well that is no more...I added my usual amount of copper sulfate 2 days ago...walked down there today and it looked like a crazy mad dash of snails to the shoreline...all dead...several thousand more floating around...and man does it stink. Called my local pond experts at Jones and he said I'm in for a giant algae bloom soon...super the exact reason I had the copper sulfate put in in the first place. Guess it's back to Curtrine Plus for me. There any hope of some making through? Was funny...the guy at Jones said congrats at first..."got rid of the snails"...also said I was close to killing my fish...no fish dead...actually seemed to be pretty active today.


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

bassmanmark, I'd bet a lot of them made it.........even if they are living in the grass around the pond. Add the redears, I'm sure they would survive until the snails made a comeback.


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

It sounds like too much copper was used. It is good to have a pond without snails as they serve as host to fish parasites. However, treatment levels higher than the label is a violation of federal law and will kill fish. Go ahead and stock the redears; they can keep your snail population to a minimum.


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## bassmanmark (May 17, 2005)

I put in half of what my neighbor usually puts in.... I used 7.5lbs to my 1acre pond with an average depth of around 6ft...I'm pretty sure that is well within the legal limit...as I read the label. Pond might be a bit over 1 acre...really over 1acre after last nights rain. My pond rose at least a foot maybe 2ft.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

Mark

I was surprised to see experts recommending the copper.

A safer and more permanent fix is a fountain aerator that is permanent and non toxic. The agitation breaks up vegetation and aeration makes the fish healthier and they are more active and grow faster.

Even the blue dye that inhibits sunlight will decrease weed growth.

I have a stranger slant on what is healthy in ponds. One of my favorites has seaweed so thick that birds can walk on it. But that weed supports huge amounts of freshwater shrimp that makes giagantic bluegills.


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## bassmanmark (May 17, 2005)

I've never said an expert put me on the copper sulfate...my neighbor has done it for years and me being pretty new to the pond care world as I just moved to the new house a year ago....I thought I would just do what he did. I looked into the aerator but at this time it is a too expensive way of me to deal with what I have going on (I need 3 seperate pumps as the length of my pond calls for that). And I can't use blue dye because my pond is basically a giant stream. One good rain and the runoff would push it all out. The pond is basically 8 times as long as it is wide. I have a ton of shoreline...woods on one side and the other side had rocks and grass and natural weeds (thistle for the goldfinchs and tiger swallowtails) I have hills on each side which climb to about 100ft on a pretty steady slope. Nice for sledding in the winter for the kids (pending pond freezing).


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

At six acre feet of treatment you were within the treatment levels for copper sulfate. Have you had the water tested? Copper sulfate is more toxic to fish and invertebrates in soft or acidic water; enough so that labeled rates can cause mortality. 

Katfish, copper sulfate is a useful tool for algae control but there is no silver bullet for aquatic vegetation and just killing plants creates an endless cycle of growth and death which has consequences in the long run. We recommend aeration for every pond. Really it comes down to using the proper combination of tools like aeration, chemicals, grass carp, lake dye, and watershed management.


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## bassmanmark (May 17, 2005)

You guys were correct...more than "some" snails made it. Seems like the largest ones made it. Which I guess is good because those are the ones that reproduce.


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