Thank you my friends for the kind complements. We live very rural and no family in the area so its very nice to hear.
To control the algae in the pond I use copper sulfate in the powder form. I try to give the pond a stiff shock in the early spring when the water is clear and weeds are still forming. You MUST excersise extreme care during the application as it displaces the oxygen and will kill old, and small fish, as well as the croakers that I love to hear at night. This pond is about .25-.33 acres and averages about 3'. I only use about 1 small maxwell can of sulfate. Mix it thourghly in a pale and spray into the pond SPreading the use over a couple of weeks is a good practice.
I also use aquashade available at local farm supply shops. Farm and family, agway etc... Aquashade is friendly to use and will not kill. Its a very dense form of food coloring in colors found in natural waterways. When used in high doses ( Which I would recommend if you have allot of algae) it limits the amount of sun to the lower depths, thereby preventing photothynisis. Then use a leaf rake to clean up the algae as it will float to the surface. Try to do this on windy days when it sweeps to one side for less effort.
In these shots the pond is really a mess, I only had given it the sulfate, but recently used the aquashade and the results are very dramatic. 1 gallon of aquashade runs about 38-44.00. 1/4 gallon will suffice at first for a pond my size.
My lab swims in the pond often so I am very leary of any pesticides.
On that note I would like to add in very extreme cases if you have weed growth in the water alone the shores, I have used Roundup. Mixed according to the instructions. There was a study performed some years ago by the U of South Carolina in the use of aquasides. They found that Roundup was a manufacturer of the leading aquaside they used. They performed a chemical breakdown of the more expensive aquacide, and the agricultural family type weed killer Roundup. The analasis was the same for each ingredient. The only difference was the label and price. I think one may be able to find MDS sheets on line for comparison. Anyway I have used round up in the past, in very limited applications due to my dog and other friendly critters I find nearby. I have not forgotten the agent Orange use during the nam campain, and kind of feel round up is almost identical. so the long term exposure is still under question..at least to some.
