Algae tends to grow all year long – even in cold temperatures when ice covers your pond.

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: The weather is getting colder, so can I still treat my pond with chemicals or natural bacteria? – Sara in Washington

A: Algae tends to grow all year long – even in cold temperatures when ice covers your pond. Given the right mix of nutrients, carbon dioxide and sunlight, these little photosynthetic, autotrophic compounds will flourish – regardless of the temperature or time of year.

Whether you can treat the pea soup or filamentous algae depends on the water temperature in your lake or farm pond. When the underwater thermometer drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the effectiveness of both chemicals and natural bacteria begins to drop. So to get the most for your money, we recommend dosing your pond or lake with one of these methods in the fall before the winter chill hits:

Treat with Chemicals: As long as your water temperature is about 50 to 60 degrees F, you can use algaecides, like Pond Logic® Algae Defense® (or Hydrothol if you have koi or goldfish in your pond), to help with late-season algae blooms. Warning: If your lake is stocked with trout, test your carbonate hardness before adding Algae Defense®. If your Water Hardness Test Kit reads less than 50 parts per million (2.79 degrees of hardness), it could be toxic.

Add Some Shade: Regardless of your water temperature, you can also add pond dye to shade your pond or lake during the winter. Throughout the pond industry, experts use dye to minimize the amount of sunlight that reaches the depths of ponds and lakes. This can prevent algae from photosynthesizing – and limit its growth.

Treat Naturally: Beneficial bacteria, like Pond Logic® PondClear™, are also most effective when temperatures are above 50 to 60 degrees F. When used correctly, they will help to keep your pond crystal clear.

POND TALK: Have you experienced a late-season algae bloom in your lake or pond? What did you do to control it?

]]> http://blog.thepondguy.com/2009/11/05/treating-ponds-in-winter-pond-lake-q-a-%e2%80%93-week-ending-november-7th/feed/ 6 thepondguy Algae tends to grow all year long – even in cold temperatures when ice covers your pond. http://blog.thepondguy.com/2009/10/22/should-i-leave-my-bubble-aeration-system-running-in-my-farm-pond-all-winter-long-pond-lake-q-a-%e2%80%93-week-ending-october-24th/ http://blog.thepondguy.com/2009/10/22/should-i-leave-my-bubble-aeration-system-running-in-my-farm-pond-all-winter-long-pond-lake-q-a-%e2%80%93-week-ending-october-24th/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:54:33 +0000 thepondguy http://blog.thepondguy.com/?p=1155 ]]>

To keep your unit working properly, you should plan to inspect it several times per year.

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: What do I need to do to maintain my fountain over the winter? – Roy in Texas

A: Display fountains provide outstanding pond and lake displays – not to mention helping to circulate the top layers of your water column. To keep your unit working properly, you should plan to inspect it several times per year, and what better time to do it when you’re doing your winterizing chores?

Your to-do list will vary depending on where you live and what your fountain’s manufacturer recommends, but here are some basic maintenance tasks to plan for as the cold weather approaches:

1. Remove your fountain – including the motor, floats and hardware components – and wipe off the algae and muck from all the exposed surfaces. If you see algae collecting in the nozzles, clean those out, too, as well as your motor’s intake screen, if necessary.

2. Check all your gaskets, seals and fittings that normally break down over time. If any of these show signs of wear, take your fountain in for service or call us for service parts.

3. If your fountain includes lights, inspect those as well to make sure they’re working properly. Replace any bulbs or fixtures that may have burned out.

4. Check your power cord for nicks or kinks that may have developed over the season.

If you live in an area that doesn’t freeze, you can put the unit back in the water once you’ve scrubbed it down and checked it over. If your pond does freeze over, plan to store your fountain components inside, away from the winter elements. Be sure not to cover your fountain. This will ensure your fountain and power cord are protected against any rodents that would otherwise consider it a cozy home.

Most manufacturers recommend replacing the oil (on oil cooled units) every 2-3 years of operation. This can prevent costly repairs in the future. For more information on fountain maintenance, call The Pond Guy® (Service Department: Monday—Friday: 9am—5pm | Phone: 810-765-9665) or visit the manufacturer’s website.

Doing these simple tasks can extend the life of your decorative display fountain and allow you to enjoy them for years to come!

Please Note: The Pond Guy® is an authorized service center for most fountains and aerators. Please feel free to call us at 810-765-9665 for maintenance parts or repair.

POND TALK: What do you do to extend the life of your floating display fountain?

To aerate all winter long or not to aerate, that is the question.

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: Should I leave my bubble aeration system running in my farm pond all winter long? – Steve in Minnesota

A: The short answer: Yes, you should keep your aeration system running all winter long. No matter the season, for the health of your fish, you want to breathe that life-giving oxygen into your pond or lake. A bubble aeration system, like the Airmax® Aeration System, keeps the oxygen well-dispersed throughout the water column and prevents the water from stratifying; it also keeps a hole in the ice to allow harmful gasses to escape.

Stir Up the Strata

As the summer cools to winter, a shift happens below your pond’s surface. If the water is not circulated, it naturally separates by temperature: In the summer, the warm oxygen-rich water sits on the top while the cool water, thick with toxic gasses, sits at the bottom. As winter approaches, those different pools of water will flip. The cool water – and all the gasses – rises to the top while the warm water sinks. The pools of water mix – and in extreme cases – this stratification, seasonal shift, and toxic gas distribution can cause a winter fish kill.

A bubbler aeration system prevents that. If the water is churned and moved all year long, it will not stratify. The water at the top and bottom will remain the same temperature, oxygen will be saturated throughout the entire water column, and the gasses will not build up. That makes for an ideal environment for the fish.

Keeps a Hole in the Ice

If your pond freezes over completely and there is no hole in the ice, the decaying matter in your pond (all the fish waste and detritus that naturally break down beneath the surface) releases deadly gasses that are trapped underneath the ice. Prolonged, this will cause a winter fish kill. A bubbler aeration system stops this from happening. The moving and cycling water creates a hole in the ice, allowing the harmful gasses to escape while allowing healthy oxygen in.

A word of caution: If you want to ice skate on your pond and you’re not concerned about fish throughout the winter, we recommend you turn off your aeration system completely. That way, the pond will freeze solid and you’ll be safe while you have some winter fun.

POND TALK: Do you keep your aeration system on all winter long?

Winter is coming, are your fish ready?

Pond & Lake Q & A

Recently, someone asked me a fantastic question regarding winter aeration and if it can “super-cool” your pond in the winter, possibly causing harm to your fish. I had one of our expert Fisheries Biologists, Justin McLeod, answer this question. Below are some easy solutions that he suggests to ensure a fish-safe winter for those of you in the colder climates. – Jason Blake, The Pond Guy®

Winter aeration (bubblers) can be very important in areas where ponds can freeze over. Along the Northern US border and into Canada, mid-winter temperatures dip well below freezing for prolonged amounts of time. This can put your fish into jeopardy if the pond freezes completely over. To answer your question regarding “Super-Cooling your pond, extremely cold surface temperatures cause ponds to stratify in the opposite way of the summer. Because water is most dense at 39 degrees Fahrenheit, the water beneath the winter thermocline stays around that 39 degree mark, while the water above the thermocline drops down near the 32 degree mark. This is a small difference, but it could mean life or death to a fish.

A “super-cooled” condition is created generally when surface aeration (fountains, High Volume Surface aerators, or really anything pump or pushing water into the atmosphere) is used during winter months. “Super-Cooling” happens when the colder water on the top is circulated to the bottom, leaving no warmer water refuge for the fish. Although it is uncommon to see “Super-Cooling” with sub-surface aeration (bottom bubblers), there have been instances when it has happened. With that said, I would never let this stop me from operating my aerator in the winter – my fish are just too important to me!

Here are some tips to make sure you get the most out of your aeration system and possibly avoid the chance of “Super-Cooling”:

1. If you have multiple diffuser plates, it is ok to run only 50% of your diffusers. Even though the mixing power of your system is decreased, it will still add oxygen to the pond and allow gases to escape out through the hole it creates in the ice. Note: You only need 10% of your water surface open in the winter for gas exchange.

2. If your pond is extremely small (1/8 acre or less), you may want to move your plate(s) out from the deepest area into a shallower spot. This will leave room for fish to winter in the deeper water.

POND TALK: What do you do to prepare your lake fish for winter?

If your pond looks cloudy like this, then this article is for you!

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: How do I prevent my pond from clouding up when it rains? – Dave in Missouri

A; When the skies cloud up and the rain starts to fall, it’s almost a guarantee that your farm pond or lake will cloud up, too. Muddy runoff, along with nutrients like grass clippings, twigs, trees, livestock waste, yard and farm fertilizers drain into the water, feeding the dreaded algae and triggering a bloom. Before you know it, your pristine pond turns into a cloudy green mess.

With some preventative steps, however, this can be avoided. Try these tips to keep your pond clean and clear when the rain starts falling:

Install a pond-wide aeration system: By churning and roiling the water in your lake with a Pond Aeration System, the sediment and debris disperses throughout the water column, allowing the beneficial bacteria, like those found in PondClear®, to consume it and get rid of it. The aeration system also breathes life-giving oxygen into the water, which your fish and pond inhabitants will appreciate!

Create a fertilizer-free ring around the pond: Sure, some fertilizer may make its way into your pond, especially if it’s on a farm or near livestock, but if you establish a perimeter around the pond that you leave fertilizer-free, it will cut down on the nutrient load going into the water and feeding the algae. You can also try using organic or low-phosphorus fertilizers.

Boost your beneficial bacteria: When you know rainfall is in the forecast, add some natural beneficial bacteria, in anticipation of the storm. The bacteria will become established and ready to gobble through nitrates, breaking down fish waste, leaves and other organics that accumulate in the pond and naturally improving the water clarity.

Don’t despair when the skies turn stormy. With some planning, you can have a pristine pond all year long despite what the weather forecaster predicts!

POND TALK: What do you do to prevent cloudy water in your pond or lake when it rains?

3 Prey Fish to every 1 Predator Fish.

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: I’m thinking of stocking my farm pond with fish. What’s the best ratio of predator to prey fish to keep the population growth steady? – Hoyt in Florida

A: When stocking your farm pond with fish, it’s always a good idea to keep in mind the ratio of predator to prey fish. If you’re an angler, you want those trophy fish to grow healthy and strong, and the only way to do that is to provide prey fish, like perch, hybrid bluegill or sunfish, for food.

The rule of thumb that we recommend is 3 prey fish to every 1 predator fish. So for instance, if you toss in 10 large-mouth bass or walleye, you’ll want to include at least 30 perch or bluegill to keep the predator fish healthy and their bellies full. When you first stock your farm pond, however, we recommend you add some fathead minnows to feed the predator fish while the prey fish get established. You may also want to feed the fish with a pellet food, like Pond Logic® Game Fish Food, and use an automated feeder, like Aqua Pro®’s 40-Gallon Ground Level Directional Feeder, to make feeding easy.

To keep the population of both predator and prey fish healthy, make sure your water is well aerated, too. If you don’t already have an air diffuser or aeration system set up in your pond, now is a good time to add one. When you introduce new fish to a pond or lake, they’ll be adding waste – something that can cause an algae bloom or pH shift and possible a fish kill. An aeration system will decrease toxic gases, increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, and prevent harmful stratification from occurring.

Once your population is established, you can enjoy the many reasons why you wanted to stock your pond in the first place – like fishing! A pond stocked with bass and walleye also keeps the frog and leech populations under control, too.

POND TALK: When you first stocked your farm pond, what ratio of predator to prey fish did you use?

Float for 30 minutes.

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: What’s the best way to acclimate new fish to my pond? – Lafayette in Maryland

A: So, you’ve been to the fish farm, picked out your fingerlings, brought them home, and now they’re sitting in plastic bags or tubs waiting to dive into your farm pond. Unfortunately, you can’t just pour them in. In order for these little fish to survive and thrive, you’ll want to slowly acclimate them to your pond’s water and its temperature.

Here are some tips to make it easy:

Remember, take it slow: Patience is critical when acclimating your fish to the pond’s new water temperature. Rapid changes in temperature may weaken the immune systems of your fish and make them prone to infection or – worst case – cause the fish to die immediately.

POND TALK: How have you acclimated fish to your farm pond or lake?

No Algae Here!

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: How do I control floating and bottom-growing algae in my lake? – Tom in New York

A: Whether it’s floating or submerged, algae can turn a lake into a green mess in no time. It’s unsightly, it’s sometimes stinky and in extreme cases, it can cause a fish kill. The good news is that algae can be controlled no matter what time of year. It starts with controlling the population and ends with a long-term management plan.

Before we dive in, it’s important to understand the difference between algae and weeds. The term “algae” refers to a wide range of single and multi-celled organisms that live in the water and metabolize carbon dioxide into oxygen via photosynthesis, just like plants. They differ from plants or weeds in that they don’t have true leaves, roots or stems.

In lakes and ponds, the most common varieties of algae include: Green floating algae that creates a “pea soup” appearance; Chara or Stonewort, which are a bottom-growing, seaweed-looking type that can be mistaken for weeds, and string or filamentous algae, which are actually long strings of algae connected together.

Sometimes, pond and lake owners may mistake duckweed for floating algae, but if you look very closely, you’ll find that it’s actually duckweed or watermeal. Check out this blog entry to learn more about controlling this invasive weed.

Population Check

If your pond is coated in pea soup or the bottom is carpeted in Chara or string algae, you can knock back the population with a chemical herbicide like Algae Defense®. It provides quick results and it’s formulated to get a pond under control – especially during the hot summer months. Do not use if your pond or lake is stocked with koi or goldfish. If your pond has trout, check your carbonate hardness with a water hardness test kit, like the Laguna® Quick Dip Multi-Test Strips, and make sure the carbonate hardness is above 50 parts per million (ppm) before using Algae Defense®.

Long-Term Strategy

Algae Defense® by Pond Logic® will solve a crisis, but to keep your pond or lake looking clean and clear, you’ll need to be proactive and develop a plan to manage the algae. The most successful approach centers on cutting off the algae’s food supply – nutrients.

Nutrients can come from a wide variety of sources, like grass clippings, twigs, trees, fish waste, yard and farm fertilizers and runoff. As these nutrients break down, they produce ammonia, which triggers the nitrogen cycle. Nitrifying bacteria surround the ammonia, turning it into nitrites and then into nitrates (nutrients) – which then feed the algae.

So, how do you reduce the nutrients in your pond?
Try these tips:

That green gunk can be controlled in your pond or lake. It just takes a little planning and some proactive management. When you see the results, it’ll be worth it!

POND TALK: When was your worst algae bloom and how did you control it?

Airmax® Aeration

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: Why is it important to aerate my lake during the summer? – Eric in Texas

A: Though the hottest days of summer are nearly behind us, your pond or lake still needs proper aeration – especially as we approach fall, when temperatures shift and your pond water will turn over. An aerated pond is a healthy pond, and a healthy pond is one you’ll enjoy all year long.

Why Aerate?

Ponds and lakes go through two stages of life: Stage 1, when the pond has just been excavated and Stage 2, when the pond has had a chance to become established. During Stage 1, which may only last a year, the pond is virtually nutrient-free. It has little or no leaf and plant debris, the fish have produced little waste and the environment has leached almost nothing into the water. It’s like the honeymoon stage of your pond – all the beauty with little maintenance.

After a season or two, the pond enters into Stage 2. Nutrients, like leaves, plants, fish waste and plant fertilizers, build up in the pond. You’ll start to see large amounts of algae and weed growth. Under the surface, the water column becomes murky with debris; at the bottom of the pond, muck will start to develop. This decomposing organic waste adds even more nutrients to the water – which can cause even more algae and weed growth. Talk about a vicious cycle!

At the same time, all those decomposing nutrients create a rise in toxic gas levels. Ammonia and nitrites build up in the water while the oxygen level plummets, especially in the deeper depths of the pond. Because ponds without aeration can become thermally stratified, the toxic gases created on the bottom build up in the cool water underneath. A change in temperature, a heavy rain or sometimes even high winds can turn the water over allowing the toxic, oxygen-deprived water at the bottom to mix into the top layer leaving your fish without oxygen and causing a fish kill.

The Solution

Many pond owners will turn to fountain aeration or surface aerators to churn the water. While fountains are aesthetically pleasing, they will only draw surface water, leaving the bottom of the pond uncirculated and doing nothing to eliminate toxic gases underneath.

A bottom bubbler, however, will circulate the entire water column from the bottom up and eliminate the thermal layers that form in the pond or lake. In a permanent state of motion, the action caused by the bubbler will continuously vent gasses and provide oxygen to the bottom sediments, allowing the beneficial bacteria to break down the toxic gasses and muck and give off a little oxygen in return.

The best option for a bottom bubbler is the Airmax® Aeration system. In combination with aerobic muck-eating bacteria, like MuckAway™ Pellets or PondClear™ Packets, the system can eliminate up to 5 inches of muck per year – and keep your pond or lake healthy no matter the season.

POND TALK: Why do you aerate your pond or lake?

Pond clarity results with MuckAway and PondClear

Pond & Lake Q & A

Q: What’s the difference between PondClear and MuckAway? – Barry in Oklahoma

A: We can summarize the difference between the two in one sentence: PondClear works to remove excess nutrients from the surface down; Muck Away works to remove excess nutrients from the bottom up. Seems simple – or is it?

In general, water clarity problems occur when excess amounts of rotting vegetation, leaves, twigs and fish waste accumulate in the pond or lake. These tiny particles are either suspended in the water column, or they settle to the bottom of the pond.

PondClear packets, which are made of beneficial bacteria, are designed to break down waste and suspended organics in the water column. Imagine thousands of hungry bacteria, which multiply every 20 to 40 minutes, swimming through your pond or lake and gobbling through the excess nutrients. After just a few weeks of use, chemical-free PondClear will begin to clear up your water and dissipate any lingering odors.

PondClear comes in easy-to-use, pre-measured water-soluble packets that you simply toss into your pond or lake every two weeks. One pail of PondClear will treat a quarter-acre pond for up to six months. It’s safe for use around horses, livestock, birds, fish, pets and wildlife.

MuckAway pellets, which are also made of beneficial bacteria, are designed to sink to the bottom of a pond or lake to digest the detritus, which are their natural food source. As the bacteria start to work, the muck will begin to break down, noxious odors will dissipate and the water clarity will improve. It’s great for spot-treating troublesome areas, like beaches and shorelines.

When used as directed, MuckAway will break down up to 5 inches of muck per year. One pail of MuckAway will treat up to 16,000 square feet of pond. It’s safe for use around horses, livestock, birds, fish, pets and wildlife, too.

Whether you use PondClear or MuckAway, be sure to use when water temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If you use an algaecide or herbicide treatment, wait at least three days before adding the beneficial bacteria.

POND TALK: What successes have you had with beneficial bacteria in your pond or lake?