What's wrong with our pond?

Dances In Woods · #1 09/21/04, 10:25 PM

Hi,

Over the last week or so our 1.5 acre pond looks like it has a "film" on the top in places. Looks like swirls of pollen or something. It has been fine until now. The fish are doing good as ever, coming up to eat and being active, no dead fish either.

It has a few weeks since our last rain, could this be the problem? This pond is creek fed and has a few small springs also. We have waterfowl but only 3 ducks and 4 geese on it.

Any ideas on what this could be? or what I need to buy to clear it up?

Thanks for your help.

agmantoo · #2 09/21/04, 10:58 PM

If the "stuff" is green I expect it is an algae bloom. When it rains it will diminish.

insanity · #3 09/22/04, 01:05 AM

Id also guess algae bloom.
Heres a link.Some where on this site there is some fantastic pond management articles.I looked all over for them but couldn't find them,they are there somewhere but the site is huge!
Great how to articles on bass fishing!

http://www.bassresource.com/html/contents.html

I have tons of fishing links if you want somemore.

mtman · #4 09/22/04, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dances In Woods

Hi,

Over the last week or so our 1.5 acre pond looks like it has a "film" on the top in places. Looks like swirls of pollen or something. It has been fine until now. The fish are doing good as ever, coming up to eat and being active, no dead fish either.

It has a few weeks since our last rain, could this be the problem? This pond is creek fed and has a few small springs also. We have waterfowl but only 3 ducks and 4 geese on it.

Any ideas on what this could be? or what I need to buy to clear it up?

Thanks for your help.

throw a couple bales of barley straw in it will clear up then the straw will just sink to the bottom

Dances In Woods · #5 09/22/04, 07:38 AM

Barley straw? where do I get it? is this something our local feed store would carry or should I look at something from TRactor Supply.

I do need something that is safe for the geese/ducks and catfish/bass.
I was standing on the pier last evening but the "swirls" were not close enough for me to tell if it was algae or not.

This is the first time the pond has ever done this in the 3yrs we've been living here. I just don't want to lose all my fish in there.

any more ideas...keep em coming.
thanks!

mtman · #6 09/22/04, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dances In Woods

Barley straw? where do I get it? is this something our local feed store would carry or should I look at something from TRactor Supply.

I do need something that is safe for the geese/ducks and catfish/bass.
I was standing on the pier last evening but the "swirls" were not close enough for me to tell if it was algae or not.

This is the first time the pond has ever done this in the 3yrs we've been living here. I just don't want to lose all my fish in there.

any more ideas...keep em coming.
thanks!

im not shure you can try tractor supply or they might know i use the barley extract for our small pond but the extract would be to much money for a pond that size

Ravenlost · #7 09/22/04, 09:29 AM

Sounds like pollen to me. Today is the first day of Autumn...it's Ragweed season!

mtman · #8 09/22/04, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

Sounds like pollen to me. Today is the first day of Autumn...it's Ragweed season!

dont i know it have been sneezing for 2 days

Little Quacker in OR · #9 09/22/04, 03:00 PM

Hi! I am wondering about pollen also. The only noticable pollen bloom here is in the spring but I am in a different area than you.

If your pond has a constant supply of water coming in I don't think you have anything to worry about. Mine is spring fed also and has anywhere from 6 to 20 ducks on it at anyone time. I do see pollen on the surface when the conifers bloom and that's about it.

Of course, how much life you can keep in and on it does depend on the size of the pond.

good luck with it...LQ

Ravenlost · #10 09/22/04, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtman

dont i know it have been sneezing for 2 days

So has my poor son. I'd so love to pick a big bouquet of Goldenrod and put it on the table, but it isn't worth almost killing the men in the house!

mtman · #11 09/22/04, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

So has my poor son. I'd so love to pick a big bouquet of Goldenrod and put it on the table, but it isn't worth almost killing the men in the house!

it is pretty but that aint nice

Ravenlost · #12 09/22/04, 03:54 PM

Nope, we just have to enjoy the beauty of the Goldenrod from a distance.

Landlocked Lill · #13 09/22/04, 04:03 PM

I agree it is probably an algae bloom, but describe it further, can you take a boat out to it an "capture" some? Take the captured stuff into your extension agent and they will tell you what to do about it!

Dances In Woods · #14 09/23/04, 12:25 PM

Well.....went to the feed store and asked for barley straw. The man looked at me like I was crazy...lol so dead end there.

I haven't taken the boat out in there I call it the (Titanic) cause it has a leak in it that hubby hasn't fixed yet & I ain't about to get out in it. :haha:

Went to Tractor supply and they had all their pond treatments on sale 30% off but only had 2 different kinds left. Didn't have anything left for algae treatment.

I'll check next week. The man at the feed store said he had heard of people putting cornmeal in burlap bags and sinking them to clear it up. But heck....I'd go broke trying to buy that much cornmeal.

So I think we're supposed to be getting rain this weekend and we'll see if that helps.
thanks

Little Quacker in OR · #15 09/23/04, 09:16 PM

For anyone who might be interested, this is a good site on using Barley Straw.

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/barley.htm

I will add though if you are dealing with ponds that have heavy animal waste in them...fish, ducks,etc, it is useless. In that case there is no magic cure other than cleaning and adding fresh water.

good luck with your pond, I hope the rain helps.

LQ

Dances In Woods · #16 09/24/04, 09:12 PM

I'm with you Little Quacker, the people I've talked to so far don't think 4 geese & 3 ducks on 1.5acre pond is too much.
We got a heavy rain today so I hope it cleared it up or helped. Could be ragweed, I know my nose is stirred up. Hopefully, I can see it before dark tomorrow i work 12.5hr days.

Looks like if I need barley straw we'll have to order it. No feed store in town has any.

insanity · #17 09/25/04, 02:46 PM

I meant to say dont use chemicals on it in my other post.But i forgot.Thank goodness they didn't have what you wanted.It will kill it for the time being only!In the next year or so,it will come back twice as strong and thick.Moss/Algae feeds off waste from fish/ducks/run off fertilizer from field/crops and dead algae/moss (among other things).If you kill what is in there now when it comes back it has lots of food to grow fast.
Ive seen this twice myself.trust me it makes it worse in the long run.
Its fine to have a little growing,it actually helps cycle the water better.Water bugs eat it fish eat the bugs and it.So you dont want to kill it all off.

I have forgotten most of what i had read about pond management,but its out there on the net somewhere.You can think of a pond as being a big fish tank.There isn't much difference,other than cleaning it.

As far as i no the only time iv heard of people using barley straw is if the water green in color do to the algae.Is it green?Or does it have a lot of moss in it?

I'm thinking the pollen guess is right.I missed that in you first post and didn't think about that.I think this is the time of year that a neighbors pond get covered in the stuff off of some kinda trees growing there.If you try and fish in it,it will tangle around your line/rod guides.It looks like cotton of feathers.This stuff sucks but it will go away shortly.

mtman · #18 09/25/04, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insanity

I meant to say dont use chemicals on it in my other post.But i forgot.Thank goodness they didn't have what you wanted.It will kill it for the time being only!In the next year or so,it will come back twice as strong and thick.Moss/Algae feeds off waste from fish/ducks/run off fertilizer from field/crops and dead algae/moss (among other things).If you kill what is in there now when it comes back it has lots of food to grow fast.
Ive seen this twice myself.trust me it makes it worse in the long run.
Its fine to have a little growing,it actually helps cycle the water better.Water bugs eat it fish eat the bugs and it.So you dont want to kill it all off.

I have forgotten most of what i had read about pond management,but its out there on the net somewhere.You can think of a pond as being a big fish tank.There isn't much difference,other than cleaning it.

As far as i no the only time iv heard of people using barley straw is if the water green in color do to the algae.Is it green?Or does it have a lot of moss in it?

I'm thinking the pollen guess is right.I missed that in you first post and didn't think about that.I think this is the time of year that a neighbors pond get covered in the stuff off of some kinda trees growing there.If you try and fish in it,it will tangle around your line/rod guides.It looks like cotton of feathers.This stuff sucks but it will go away shortly.

your right i thought it was green in color iff not dont bother a little mossy is healthy