Duck Weed

[SkinMan]

I've got a 2 1/2 acre pond that duckweed has just about taken over. I didn't realize it had gotten so bad until today. The wind has been blowing the last few weeks keeping it pushed to one side. Today, there was no breeze. The duckweed covered about 90% of the pond. I have grass carp. Had a few die out last year, and I put 5 more in last May.
How do you get rid of it? Herbicide?

 

[stocky]

Skinman, One thing that keeps all the duckweed and algae out here in sw Missouri is crawdads, or crayfish. They will eat all vegetation. The only problem here is that if the pond is not springfed, they run out of oxygen in the winter and die. So without a spring they wont live when the pond freezes over. I am sure you dont have that problem in Louisiana. The crawdads bury in the mud over the winter and lay there eggs and come out in the spring and the second year, there will be enough to keep your pond clean with no chemicals and you can seine soft craws for fish bait all summer.

 

[Beefy]

hmm, the grasscarp should really tear that stuff up. how many total/acre would you say are in there? if you have any otters they will make fast work of grasscarp, being that they are slow moving and sweet-tasting.

 

[grannysoo]

Grass carp work. It just doesn't happen overnight. Normally takes several years to get it all.

 

[MikeC]

Use....."Sonar".


http://www.sepro.com/default.php?page=sonar

 

[arkcowman]

I used to own property in Arkansas and had a 1 acre pond that when purchased was full of duckweed and other stuff.
I purchaed three 8-10 inch grass carp (named them Manny, Mo, and Jack - some of you will get that) and turned them loose. Within one year the pond was cleaned up nice and the carp were probably 8-10 pounds !

 

[MissouriExile]

Skinman, One thing that keeps all the duckweed and algae out here in sw Missouri is crawdads, or crayfish. They will eat all vegetation. The only problem here is that if the pond is not springfed, they run out of oxygen in the winter and die. So without a spring they wont live when the pond freezes over. I am sure you dont have that problem in Louisiana. The crawdads bury in the mud over the winter and lay there eggs and come out in the spring and the second year, there will be enough to keep your pond clean with no chemicals and you can seine soft craws for fish bait all summer.

Stocky;

If a non-springfed pond is aerated (bubbler or ?) will it support crawdads?

Jon

 

[MikeC]

I'm confused.

I've always been told that "spring" water and "well" water have little oxygen available to fish.

Plankton(plantlife) and Rain is what adds oxygen to ponds.................besides aerating.


Mississippi Sate Univ
"In standing water, most oxygen comes from photosynthesis of plants, both rooted aquatic plants (macrophytes) and algae. Algae includes readily visible growths on substrates such as rocks and wood, as well as suspended microscopic phytoplankton. Flowing and turbulent water contains higher levels of oxygen because the water is constantly mixing with the oxygen in the atmosphere.

Just as oxygen is added to water, it can also be removed. Respiration of fish and other aquatic animals depletes the oxygen in water. Decomposing organisms and aquatic plants, whether macrophytes (green plants) or phytoplankton, also deplete oxygen. During the day, photosynthesis exceeds respiration and oxygen levels increase; at night, or when light cannot penetrate the water, oxygen levels decline as respiration and decomposition continues.

Two final notes, seemingly exceptions to the above information about flowing water, are worth remembering. First, water from underground springs has no oxygen. Where springs enter a lake or stream, no oxygen is present unless that spring water has been aerated by flowing above ground before entering the stream or lake."

 

[dun]

I used to own property in Arkansas and had a 1 acre pond that when purchased was full of duckweed and other stuff.
I purchaed three 8-10 inch grass carp (named them Manny, Mo, and Jack - some of you will get that) and turned them loose. Within one year the pond was cleaned up nice and the carp were probably 8-10 pounds !

Why not Larry, Mo and Curly

 

[stocky]

I dont know the scientifics of the crawdads in the ponds. The reality is that I have a dozen ponds that were built below springs--in most of them (but not all)the water does run above ground before entering the ponds. Each of them, I put a few hundred crawdads into the pond in the fall and they hatch out and the ponds have been full of them ever since. I have stocked the 20 plus ponds with no spring and in every one of those ponds, the crawdads have died over the winter if the pond was frozen over for any length of time. The first pond we stocked was over 40 years ago and it still is full of crawdads. The others range from 3 years to 40 years, depending on the age of the pond.
Jon, my uncle used to keep an aerator in a pond to keep the cattle a place to drink. The crawdads lived in that pond for the 10 years or so that he did that. When he stopped the aerator, the crawdads all died that winter.
Mike C. These are my experiences. I wish I had crawdads in every pond, but they dont make it through the winter unless there is a spring.

 

[BusterBrown]

Use....."Sonar".


http://www.sepro.com/default.php?page=sonar

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The requested URL could not be retrieved

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[MikeC]

Use....."Sonar".


http://www.sepro.com/default.php?page=sonar

What's this?

The requested URL could not be retrieved

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While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.sepro.com/default.php?

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Server Failure: The name server was unable to process this query.
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Your cache administrator is support.

Can't say. Worked fine for me this morning.

Here's another:
http://www.midwestaquacare.com/item/sonar


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[MikeC]

Use....."Sonar".


http://www.sepro.com/default.php?page=sonar

What's this?

The requested URL could not be retrieved

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While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.sepro.com/default.php?

The following error was encountered:

Unable to determine IP address from host name for http://www.sepro.com
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Server Failure: The name server was unable to process this query.
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Check if the address is correct.
Your cache administrator is support.



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Generated Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:04:43 GMT by slip-proxy1.safepages.com (squid/2.5.STABLE11)

Can't say? Worked fine for me this morning.

Here's another:

http://www.midwestaquacare.com/item/sonar