To those of you who own ponds and lakes in drought stricken areas during the last half of 2011, congratulations! You are probably getting some relief now. Chances are, though, that you have not seen a full recovery yet, but you probably see some hope for the first time in several months. Some areas suffered 100 degree plus temperatures for more than 90 days, and if the forecasters are right, you are due a mild summer this year. If you took the opportunnity to follow the advice we offered here during the drought, you should have everything in good condition going forward. We know one marina owner who took the opportunity to rebuild his existing docks and slips, and add several more slips. This will pay off  in higher earnings for many years to come.

I wanted to list a few things that you should keep in mind while the water is returning to your beleaguered ponds and lakes:

1. Check your pH early and often. Proper pH balance will lead to proper ecosystem balance in your pond or lake, especially if you need to fertilize.
2. Turbidity may be a problem for a while until vegetation returns. Be prepared to flock your pond or lake if needed.
3. Aerify if needed. Low water volume and less vegetation may lead to low dissolved oxygen levels. You may have to stir the water.
4. Vegetation may be needed, both in the lake itself, and especially on the watershed. Make sure that something appropriate is growing both in, and around your pond. For the pond itself, choose non invasive native water loving plants. At least this way, you get to choose.
5. Keep a sharp eye out for invasive exotic weeds. The lower water levels were an advantage if you took the opportunity to exterminate them while the drought conditions existed. Don’t lose that advantage now!
6. It is going to take a lot of water and time to fill the last few feet. Ponds and lakes resemble funnels, it takes very little liquid to fill the spout, but the volume needed increases as the area increases. A foot of water at the bottom of a pond is a lot less water than the top foot.
7. You will lose some of your gains through evaporation and saturation. Some will go back into the water cycle through the clouds, and some through the ground, and remember that the ground around your pond and lake will naturally absorb some water over time. Don’t lose heart as this happens.
8. Due to lower water volume, and shallow water, you will probably experience an outbreak of pond scum. If this happens, take the measures to get rid of it, and start a low volume fertilizer program as soon as possible.
9. If you think you have enough water to restock, make sure that everything else on this list is done first, and then proceed slowly and cautiously until water levels stabilize and conditions return to something resembling normal.
10. As water levels approach normal ranges, be sure to inspect your dam frequently. It would be a shame to lose your water to a leaky dam at this stage.

Share on Facebook

10 things to do for your dried up drought  stricken small lake or pond

Don’t panic!
These things happen from time to time. It is nearly inevitable unless you have a high volume spring feeding your pond or lake. The water will return.

We are having a severe drought, accompanied by a severe heat wave in some parts of the U.S. And many small lakes and ponds (and some very large ones too) are drying up. I know it is sad to see your pond or small lake drying out, and drying up, and I know there is probably little that can be done about it except to wait for the rains to return.

That does not mean that you should do nothing!

While there is little that can be done about the rain, that doesn’t mean you have to just take it as a loss. No, to the contrary, this is a great opportunity to perform maintenance, make improvements, and get your pond or small lake into the best condition possible before it refills. Don’t just set around and mope about it, get out there and do something productive. This opportunity won’t last forever! The water will return, and when it does, you can and should be prepared.

1. If you have a dock, boathouse, or other structures on and directly adjacent to your lake, it is probably more accessible now than it has been in years. This would be the perfect time to do any needed repairs or upgrades. If you have been thinking of adding any of these features to your lake doing it before it refills will save you money.
2. Dam inspection can be done at this time. It may be the only opportunity you have to visually inspect this part of your reservoir from the inside for many years.
3. Overflow pipes can be checked and adjusted as required. Do not raise the level without professional advice about the safety of your dam.
4. Debris removal can be accomplished on a dry like bed without having to fight the water. This is the time to remove that thing, or those things that have been bothering you for years. Who knows what kind of treasure might be out there?
5. Consider making the edges of your pond deeper. Dredging can probably be done with a backhoe or loader at this stage. Making the water deeper at the edges will increase the amount of water your lake contains, and decrease the likelihood of weed and pond scum problems.
6. If you suspect that your pond is leaky, this is also the perfect time to apply bentonite. It can be done with a tractor and spreader in much the same way you would apply fertilizer. The headland setting on your spreader will allow you to make unidirectional applications toward the center to cover areas that might still be to wet for the tractor.
7. If pH has been a problem, this is the perfect chance to apply lime directly to the bottom where it is needed the most. Lime can be applied by tractor and spreader with a headland setting without having to get into marshy areas if the reservoir is dried completely, or nearly dry.
8. If you have unwanted fish species in your pond, it will be easier to eliminate them now than at any other time. If you are like many people in the southern region of the country, it may be possible to physically remove unwanted fish without resorting to other more costly methods. You may need to get some advice from your county agent or from a professional to accomplish fish removal. Once this is done, and the water returns, you can restock with the appropriate species for your pond size and region.
9. Killing and or removing invasive lake weeds should be a little more efficient when the lake bed is dry.If you do this with a chemical, you should still use one that is labeled for aquatic use. Use a systemic weed killer that kills the entire plant to help prevent future infestations.
10. If you have had problems with excessive fertility , start making plans to plant a vegetative barrier at the inlet and anywhere else that large quantities of water flow in. Agricultural and horticultural nutrients have to go somewhere if they are washed from surrounding farm lands or lawns, and that somewhere is probably into your pond or lake unless something is there to absorb them.

Share on Facebook

From our readers responses, and the words and phrases you use to find our website, we can tell that the biggest problems for pond and lake owners are these:

• Lake weed control
• Pond scum control
• Skinny fish
• Mosquitoes

Lake problems: The cause

It is interesting to note that all of these problems can be treated using the same measures, and even though they may seem vastly different, they have the same primary cause.

We want to say at the start that before you embark on what we are about to suggest, you should:

• Clear out the existing lake weed problems by mechanical or chemical means.
• Get rid of the pond scum by mechanical or chemical means.
• Check the pH of your pond or lake and adjust as needed it should be between 6.8 and 8.6.
• Do a secchi depth reading to be sure that this is the problem. Light should penetrate no deeper than 24 inches.

In most cases, the cause of skinny fish, mosquitoes, pond scum, and lake weeds is a lack of fertility. If the pond is not fertile, phytoplankton cannot grow, and phytoplankton is needed for:

• Shading the water to keep lake weeds and pond scum from getting the light that they need to initiate growth at the bottom.
• Preventing a perfect nesting area for mosquitoes, and eliminating the cover they use to avoid being eaten by fish.
• Initiating the cycle we know as the food chain, which culminates in well fed fish.

Lake problems: The solution

In order to provide proper fertility for your pond or lake, you should first follow through on all the suggestions mentioned above, and then do the following:

Add about 8 pounds of phosphorous fertilizer per acre to the pond either by broadcasting or in a bucket with holes submerged in the water. There are pre prepaired products of this type. That should be 8 pounds of the phosphorus itself, so, for instance, if the fertilizer you use is 50% phosphorus, you would need 16 pounds of the product per acre of water. this should be done as needed to keep the secchi depth between 18 and 24 inches during the summer months. See also: Lake Fertilization

To Recap

1. Get rid of the lake weeds
2. Get rid of the pond scum
3. Check pH and modify if needed
4. Check the secchi depth
5. Fertilze the lake

Share on Facebook

There is a lot of land in the United States That is not being used. Some of this land is native habitat, and conservation land, and that is great. Such lands serve multiple purposes meeting important needs like preserving native habitats for maintaining biodiversity, wildlife preservation, erosion control, and aesthetics, to mention only a few. I consider this to be productive, and this is not what I am talking about.

The fact is, that much of the land mass of the United States is owned by people who do not use the land to produce anything, but who bought the land with some vague vestigial sense of an agrarian lifestyle, but who have little concept of what that entails. The same is true with ponds and lakes.

There is an indelible imprint on the human psyche urging us to posses land and live near water even though modern technology has solved most of our agricultural and water delivery needs in most of the western world. It is primal self preservation which spurs us on.

I will be the first to say that there is nothing wrong with this, and in fact, it may be wise in the event of a tragedy of some type, (don’t think that such a tragedy cannot happen) but what do we do with that land, and those bodies of water if you are not quite ready or able to plow yourself right into farming?

Even if you are just saving the land for the day when some great disaster strikes, or until retirement, whichever comes first, you can’t just let acres of land and water sit idle. They will revert, and what they revert to will not be pretty! They must be maintained, just as our homes and lawns must be maintained, and most of us lack the knowledge, skills, and equipment to handle more than an acre or two of land or water.

Your options are, to do nothing, to do the work yourself, to pay someone to do the work, or to find creative ways to handle the opportunity. That’s where Home And Garden Press can help!

In our sections on Land Management, and Lake Management, we deal with these issues, and offer advice and creative solutions for the perplexing problems of property owners.

Share on Facebook

Reviewing the questions we receive,  I find that there are still a lot of misunderstandings about the nature of filamentous pond algae. It is really pretty simple, but you have to take a serious look at cause and effect, and the differences between the types of algae present in pond and lake water.

Pond algae causes problems and cures

There is algae of a variety of types present in most untreated water. There is one cause for outbreaks of filamentous algae on the surface of ponds and lakes, and that is the penetration of sunlight to the lake bed. Filamentous algae in small quantities does no harm, and is usually limited to a small strip around the pond, and in some shallow areas. Pond algae becomes a problem when it takes over a large portion of a body of water. There are several problems related to excess pond scum.

Problems caused by excessive pond algae

Mosquitoes

Fish eat mosquitoes and mosquito larvae in large enough quantities to prevent them from becoming a serious problem in normal pond and lake situations. When filamentous algae and lake weeds become over abundant, the mosquitoes and their larvae are protected from the fish and can produce at near uncontrollable rates.

Oxygen

Pond algae, like any other plant, inhales carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen, but that is only part of the story. During the late afternoon in the summer, the opposite can occur, leaving fish to come to the surface to fight for air. When the algae dies and begins to rot, further dissolved oxygen depletion occurs.

Access

Too much filamentous pond algae can make any aquatic recreational activity difficult.
-Aesthetics. Lake algae looks bad. It can also produce an unattractive odor. It’s just not something that most people want to be around.

The real pond algae problem

Most importantly though, pond scum is a symptom of another problem, and that problem is fertility. In some cases excessive algae growth occurs as a result of excessive fertility. In my experience, this is rare. When excessive fertility is involved, it usually results in an over abundance of plankton like, unattached single cells resembling a pea soup. In the vast majority of cases, the opposite is true. If there is not enough fertility present in the water, plankton, or algae bloom does not occur, and because the water lacks the sunlight filtering shading properties which phytoplankton provides, sunlight reaches the bottom, and a crop of filamentous algae results. This algae starts at the bottom, and gradually gains buoyancy and floats to the top under the influence of it’s own oxygen production. Blanket weed pond scum is the first noticeable indication that something is seriously wrong with a pond, and that something is the lack of phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton produces shading that prevents the sunlight from initiating the growth of  pond scum, but more importantly, it is the beginning of the food chain in your pond, and without a healthy algae bloom, your fish go hungry, and the life cycle is slowed or halted.

Solving pond algae problems

To prevent blanket weed, and to kick start the food chain, all that is needed is additional fertility. Test the pH of your water, amend it if needed, and start a regular fertility program. You will be amazed at the results. Your pond will be properly colored, and pond algae kept to a minimum, and your fish will be healthier.

To learn more about pond algae causes problems and cures see: The Lake Management section of this site, and How To Fertilize A Pond Or Lake.

Share on Facebook

We include tons of lake and pond advice at Home And Garden Press, but we can’t cover everything that you might need to know on the subject of pond and lake management,. Lucky for you, there is an online resource that can take up some of the slack in the area of pond and lake care.

LakeAdvice.com offers information on all aspects of pond and lake management, including lake weed and pond algae control, adjusting pH, water clarity issues, and fertilization among many others.

Share on Facebook

We get this question a lot: What is the best aquatic weed killer? That is a great question, but unfortunately, it is not that simple. It is sort of like asking: What’s the best saw? Aquatic herbicides, like saws, have different purposes, and work on different weeds. Just as there are small thin perfectly tuned little dovetail saws for meticulous and extremely accurate work, and chainsaws for very heavy rough work, one lake weed killer may be made for getting rid of submersed thin weeds, and another may be specifically formulated for large broad leaf plants above the water level.

There are some aquatic weed killers that do many jobs, for instance, contact weed killers like diquat (Reward) destroy any plant tissue they come in contact with, but only the material they come in contact with. If you are treating an infestation of annual weeds, this will work well. In fact, diquat may be the best overall aquatic weed killer on the market for submersed and emergent weeds, if you pay close attention to the follow up process. See: Lake Management Lake Weed Control Water Depth Secchi Depth

If the weeds you are trying to rid your pond of are perennials, a systemic aquatic herbicide like “Rodeo” or 2,4-D may be more appropriate. Even within this distinction there are limitations. 2,4-D works well on lily pads, but is restricted in some areas, and for some purposes. On hot still days, it can volatilize and float off target. Glyphosates, no matter how much surfactant you use, seem to bead on waxy plants like water Lillis, and don’t work as well. Glyphosates work very well on both broad leaf and grassy weeds in general, as a general purpose non selective systemic herbicide, but they can’t kill what they can’t penetrate.

In short, you need to know the weed and the conditions before selecting an aquatic weed killer. Aquaplant is a great little tool for plant identification, and for choosing the right method of dealing with it, including the best herbicide for each plant.

Share on Facebook

This article is on loan from Lake Advice

We are all aware that pond scum may be the fuel production plant of the future, but in the mean time, it is probably not something you want in your recreational fishing pond. For one thing, it is ugly, for another, it is often stinky, and to make matters worse, it can do harm to other forms of aquatic life, and harbor potential disease carriers like mosquitoes.

Different types of pond algae

So, is all algae bad? The answer is a resounding NO! In fact, the best means of preventing pond scum, or filamentous algae, is by producing another type of algae. Plankton. This single cell algae will remain suspended in water, providing food for the tiny animals that provide food for the larger life forms, which in turn, provide food for your fish, and, if you are a successful angler, food for you.

Pond algae control using algae

Not only does this type of algae feed the fish, it also colors the water. That nice green or blue green tint that you see in healthy ponds and lakes is suspended algae, and one of the best services it provides is tinting the water, thereby preventing sunlight from reaching the bottom of the lake or pond, preventing the growth of unwanted vegetation, and providing  pond algae control.

Yes, pond scum, like most aquatic plant life, gets it's start at the bottom of the pond, and as it gains oxygen, it floats to the top where it produces all sorts of undesirable conditions, like the ones mentioned above, and including lousy fishing conditions, oxygen deprived fish, and frustration.

Algae for tinting the water

Getting rid of pond scum can be a difficult task, and if the conditions that allowed it are not changed, it will return. Remember, the problem is sunlight reaching the bottom of the pond, so something must be done to prevent it from doing so. This could include raising the water level, which may not be possible in all cases, dredging or otherwise making the lake deeper, or coloring the water. The last, is usually the chosen option. There are dyes which can color the water, but, if fish production is what you desire, remember that dyes do not feed the fish. In small ponds for catfish production, where regular feedings occur, this may work, but where no feeding takes place, or where other types of fish are desired, dyes are not the answer. Once again, plankton is needed to continue the life chain, and prevent the pond scum problem.

How to produce plankton to prevent pond algae

So, how do we produce this plankton? The answer is simple: Fertilize the pond. Now before you start thinking that it is a crazy idea, let me do a little explaining. Fertilizer, usually a fertilizer high in phosphorous, will encourage algae production through a process known as algae bloom, and this will produce the coloring needed to stop pond scum. There are a few things you need to check before you fertilize.

• First, get rid of the existing pond scum, and give it time to decompose.
• Second, test the water pH. Anything higher than 8.6, and you need lime to lower the pH. Something between 6.8, and 8.6 is ideal. If it needs correcting, correct it before proceeding.
• Third, check the secchi depth. It should be between 18 and 24 inches. If the secchi depth is less than 18 inches, there is another problem. If it is more than 24, begin fertilizing as soon as possible, and continue the process throughout the summer, or until the depth is less than 18 inches.

Other factors

There are other factors, like muddy water, which will need to be solved before treatment, and you will need to know the details like how to use a secchi disk, and how much fertilizer, which are covered in these articles:

Lake Management | Pond Algae Pond Scum

Lake Management Lake Weed Control Water Depth Secchi Depth

Flocking Reducing Sediment In Lakes

Preventing Pond Scum In Farm Ponds

Making A Fish Pond From A Farm Pond

Share on Facebook

Answer:

Yes, too many weeds can spoil your favorite fishing hole. I know bass and many other game fish like cover, but too much cover makes it difficult to get a lure through to them, and may make it difficult for them to forage. The result can be skinny fish that you can’t get to anyway!

Often excessive vegetation can cause problems for fish, and for fishing. It can in some cases take oxygen from the water. At times plants take in carbon dioxide, and exhale oxygen, but on still evenings, the opposite can happen. Too much vegetation can make it hard for foraging fish like bass to get to their prey, and there are about a dozen other reasons.

The problem could be excessive fertility, or the exact opposite. Too much fertility will cause excessive plant growth, ponds and lakes that receive a lot of runoff from farms, ranches, dairies, or even lawns can have this problem. Too little fertility will prevent algae bloom, and allow the water to become so clear that the sunlight reaches the bottom where most aquatic plants start. In most cases, fertility and water depth are the keys to bringing the lake into balance.

On another front, if you travel from lake to lake to fish, there are some nasty exotic weeds out there that can reproduce themselves from fragments, so please clean your boat, trailer, and other gear before moving on to the next fishing hole. Some of these invaders can reproduce under almost any condition, and could close down your favorite fishing spot if they get a start. Taking care to clean up is good for all of us.

For more details on pond and lake management see:

Lake management

Lake advice

Help! My pond is covered in algae (pond scum)! What can I do?

Answer:

This is a pretty common problem, and with the numbers of e mails we have been getting on the subject, we thought we would respond on the blog. Please read the last part, it is the most important part.

Algae or pond scum treatment

The best method for treating algae is to use a combination of  diquat and a  liquid copper product at a rate of about a gallon per acre (depending on the product) of each. If the coverage is heavy, the treatment should be limited to about 1/3 of the area, giving the first treatment long enough to work and long enough for the algae to drop and degrade before making a second application. If you don’t allow the waiting period, you could kill fish due to lack of oxygen caused by decomposing algae.

Follow the label directions!

Follow the label directions carefully, because the label is the law, and following the directions will give the best results.

Preventing future problems:The most important part

The most important thing to do, is after the algae is gone, something should be done to prevent further problems. This link should help: http://homeandgardenpress.com/category/lake-management/ there is a lot of information on pond and lake management there and it will make the job easier.

Share on Facebook

Preventing Pond Scum In Farm Ponds

If you have a lot of sunlight on your pond, and if your pond is shallow, and, if your pond has low fertility, there is about a 100% chance that you will have a problem with filamentous algae. Almost all farm ponds suffer from this problem.

The importance of controlling pond scum

Controlling pond scum, or filamentous algae is important for many reasons. Here are just a few:

• It is ugly
• It is smelly
• It can deprive the water of oxygen that fish need to survive
• It serves as cover for mosquitoes to reproduce

Pond scum control

The key to controlling pond scum is light. That is it in a nutshell. Pond scum starts at the bottom and if light can not penetrate to the bottom, it can not start. Plain and simple.

In order to prevent pond scum, you must prevent light from getting to the bottom of your pond. This can be done in one of several ways, but it is best if you can use all of them.

Deeper water

• The water level can be raised
• The pond bottom can be dredged
• The water can be shaded, or tinted

Tinting pond water

If you can not raise the water level in your pond, or cannot dredge the pond, then you will need to color the water.

Artificial colorants

Water color can be changed to reduce the depth that sunlight will reach by artificial colors, which are not recommended if you want to have the proper food chain for fish to be healthy and grow. The colorant disrupts the aquatic life at the very basic level, and prevents production of the things fish eat.

Algae bloom

Water color can be changed by allowing the natural production of another form of algae, a single cell algae that does not form long chains of cells, and will remain suspended in the water, producing a uniform green tint to the water. This is plankton.

Plankton can be encouraged by the use of fertilizer in the pond, which causes a condition known as algae bloom.

Secchi depth

To test your water, you can use a tool called a secchi disk, which will help you determine the depth that light penetrates through your pond water. 18 to 24 inches is about right, anything deeper, and you need to fertilize, anything less, and you have too much fertility. See also: Lake Management Lake Depth Secchi Disk and Lake Management Lake Weed Control Water Depth Secchi Depth

Sunlight and other aquatic plants

What is true of pond scum, is also true of other forms of aquatic vegetation, particularly, submersed pond weeds and emergent pond weeds. The best way to prevent them is to reduce the chances that sunlight can reach the bottom of your pond.

Other factors to consider

If you have a pond scum control problem, there are other things you should consider. These are things that contribute to the overall health and balance of your pond.

Test your water for proper pH

This can be done with a simple pool testing kit from a department store. If the test reveals the need for lime, liming the pond will produce better results than using fertilizers alone.

See also:

• Barley Straw Pond Algae Treatment
• Lake Management | Pond Algae Pond Scum
• Making A Fish Pond From A Farm Pond

Share on Facebook