dyeing your pond

[don123]

how many people do this? i use Crystal Blue from tractor supply and it does wonders on my 2 acre pond. instead of a muddy brown color, it turns it a natural blue.

 

[Thomas]

The state of New Hampshire has real stiff laws on such a thing..yikes.

My father try that w/his fish pond number of years ago,the pond was nice blue also the brook. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Can you post a picture of the pond after the dye was put in?

 

[don123]

this product is sold to decrease the unwanted weed growth in southern ponds. another product is called Aqua Shade. these in no way harm fish/fowl,ect.

i will stain it today and take before/after photos.
btw, how do you post photos??

 

[BillG_in_TX]

To see how to post photos, look in "FAQ" in the main index at the top of the page.

 

[PaulT]

I just bought some aqua-shade. I think the regs in NY are that it is considered a herbicide, because it kills algae from lack of sunlight. Aqua-shade is the only colorant that is EPA approved for aquatic plant control. this link to applied biochemists (the manaufacturer) web page.

My first exposure to it was when I first bought my property. There was a 1 acre pond on it, and the owner left me 1/2 of a gallon bottle of aquashade. We used it for 2 more years, until it ran out. It worked very well, because for the previous 2 years, we have not used it, and we have had a LOT of algae growth. I ordered some from a web site that charged me $45/gallon, which is mush less than I've found it anywhere else. I don't believe it is illegal to use it, since it is EPA approved. But I own my pond. I do believe that it is illegal to SELL it in NYS to someone who is not licensed to purchase controlled herbicides. It also MAY be illegal to use any other non-epa approved dye in ponds connected to wetlands (even if you own the land they are on). My suggestion is mail order it from a state that is legally selling it, and use Aquashade, the only EPA approved dye. The only argument for using other dyes is money, but at the price I was able to pay, that argument disappeared. Although I paid less than $45/gallon including shipping, I could only find it for $49 before shipping on this go-round. I coudn't remember the name of the company I bought it from. Maybe they raised their prices. Anyway, don't pay more than about $50/gallon (MSRP seems to be around $80).

 

[MDNY]

Paul,

That is good advice. Maybe they should bring in truck loads worth for Onondaga Lake to help with the algae (and smell) of the lake.

But seriously when we build this year I was planning on a small pond in the next year or so. I want wildlife and water fowl to be able to have a spot to get a drink and I don't want them having any problems. So it is nice to know it is safe for wildlife too.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

MDNY

<font color=blue>So it is nice to know it is safe for wildlife too.</font color=blue>

If a duck swims in it, will he have blue feet? (Okay, I know it's a dumb question, but I mean-- if its a DYE.) How long does it continue to dye things? this has some interesting pranking possibilities.

SHF

 

[PaulT]

It is REALLY concentrated in the bottle, so you could dye just about anything (including YOU if you get any on you while you're pouring). Once in the water, it dissipates pretty quickly. You can swim in the water immediately, though I think I would avoid the spot where it is spreading from for a while. Once the water is blue, you can't really see the color on you when you get out and dry off. I haven't noticed any blue feathers on the water fowl yet/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

 

[don123]

the white ducks swam thru the concentrated area yesterday.
i checked them this morning and they were still white, not a trace of blue.

still trying to post pics

 

[don123]

the white ducks swam thru the concentrated area yesterday.
i checked them this morning and they were still white, not a trace of blue.

still trying to post pics ( if the file is too large {3meg camera} will it not load????)

 

[PaulT]

There is a 150k size limit on the pictures for posting. If you have a 3meg picture file, its probably too large for viewing here, anyway (It would only display a small part over the entire screen, as if the picture was 4 or 5 times larger than your monitor/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif). If you open your file in a picture editor, first see what size it is (probably in the 1600x1200 range, or even bigger). Use your software of choice to reduce the size, save the file and see how big it is now. To give you an idea of the "right"size for a picture, my monitor is set to 1024x768, so a picture at 600x400 would be roughly one quarter of my screen - probably a reasonable size.

 

[Mrwurm]

Paul, the local stores sell tons of aquashade around my home in Michigan. I used to buy it myself and put it in my now-defunct pond. I never saw it priced higher than $39 a gallon. Sometimes it was even on sale for less. My pond dried up and I no longer need it. You can see pictures of my sad pond in the photos forum titled "JD650 and more". Oh yeah, now that I think of it, the John Deere, being just sold, is now sort of defunct also.
Jerry

 

[PaulT]

The guy I mail ordered it from was in Michigan. It was the best price I could find on the web that day. Most of the other prices were over $65/gallon. Probably because they know guys like me can't get it in NYS, so they are trying to get a premium. I thought that the price was good enough. There gets to be apoint where looking for a better price costs you more in time than you will eventually save /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif. Like THEY say, better is the enemy of good enough/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Mrwurm]

Paul, I checked the mail order company that I am familiar with (www.thepondguy.com). He's selling an 'aquashade' competitor for about $35 plus shipping. I also did a search on the web and found an aquashade source for the price you mentioned. Maybe the price went up on this stuff. I have'nt bought any for about a year. I'll keep my eyes open for a cheaper mail order source and let you know.

Also, regarding competing products, they sell other pond dyes around here that are supposed to do the same thing as aquashade. They are usually about $5 cheaper. I never used one of the knock-offs so I can't recommend one.

Jerry