duckweed control suggestions

[thendrix]

We have a small pond (about 1\2 to 3\4 acre) that duck weed has taken over and completely covered. It is a VERY slow moving pond and I need a way to aggitate it once we get the duck weed killed off as duck weed thrives in slow moving waters. I would like some sort of a floating, solar powered pump that I can anchor to the bottom and let it do its thing. Any suggestions? There are chemicals available that will kill the duck weed but they are expensive. Anybody know of another way to kill it?

 

[TexasBred]

Copper sulfate will kill it. Treat about 25% of the surface area every 3-4 days until you've covered the entire pond.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Having been there done that and given up. I too would be interested too in a successful treatment.
On the copper sulfate.......... I thought that just colored the water so algea didn't get the light it needed to grow.
And tell more about the specifics of treating- how much and how do you apply?

Heres what I have learned-
Killing it off is easy, but it comes right back(reseeds itself). I tried killing it off for three years, the fourth year I skipped and its right back where it started. I even drained the pond and left it dry the whole summer the first year. I think my main problem is that I have trees around three sides of the pond(bought it that way) and too many nutrients are getting into the pond.

I may take one more shot at it next year. I am going to kill it off and have 20-30 carp ready to go in(have a buddy that says he can net them for me). Hopefully when it reseeds the carp can eat it fast enough to keep it from taking the pond.

Believe it or not there is a market for duckweed, idiots buy it by the lb to feed to Koi Fish. I have not yet found a dealer that doesn't have it own plentiful supply though
I have thought about taking a sample and having it tested for its feed value. It may be worth harvesting

 

[Beefy]

one or two grass carp would clean that up in no time.

 

[thendrix]

I wish we could feed it. We've got enough to keep an army giong I believe. My grandpa tried the grass carp thing a few years ago but the pond moves so slow and theres so little oxygen in the water that they all died out before they could make a diffrence. The spring that feeds this pond used to have enough water for 3 houses and this pond and it moved enough and had enough oxygen that there were some nice blue gill in it. But when the spring all but dried up or got turned due to construction or whatever, in came the duck weed. It didn't help that there was a chicken house about 300 feet away with its fans pointed, you guessed it, straight at the pond. Nitrogen rich water = duck weed/algae. I would like to get this stuff killed and put in a pump so that maybe we could fish it again someday.

 

[TexasBred]

Having been there done that and given up. I too would be interested too in a successful treatment.
On the copper sulfate.......... I thought that just colored the water so algea didn't get the light it needed to grow.
And tell more about the specifics of treating- how much and how do you apply?

Heres what I have learned-
Killing it off is easy, but it comes right back(reseeds itself). I tried killing it off for three years, the fourth year I skipped and its right back where it started. I even drained the pond and left it dry the whole summer the first year. I think my main problem is that I have trees around three sides of the pond(bought it that way) and too many nutrients are getting into the pond.

I may take one more shot at it next year. I am going to kill it off and have 20-30 carp ready to go in(have a buddy that says he can net them for me). Hopefully when it reseeds the carp can eat it fast enough to keep it from taking the pond.

Believe it or not there is a market for duckweed, idiots buy it by the lb to feed to Koi Fish. I have not yet found a dealer that doesn't have it own plentiful supply though
I have thought about taking a sample and having it tested for its feed value. It may be worth harvesting

dig a little hole next to one of your nice trees and put a cup of copper sulfate in it and cover it up. See what happens to your tree. It will be letting in a lot of light shortly. I treated my pond simply by broadcasting it on the water by hand. Nothing scientific about it. Hardly changed the color or the water at all. Used 25 lbs. to about a quarter acre.

 

[thendrix]

I breifly looked into the copper sulfate. Seems reasonable. I may have to try it. Thanks to all for your help. Any suggestions on a solar pump? What size (gph) would you use for a 1\2 to 3\4 acre pond? 250 gph enough?

 

[papavillars]

Copper sulfate or blue stone will definitely do the trick. It is readily available at most feed/hardware farm stores. I also spread it by hand, bought a couple of solar powered fountains from harbor freight and anchored them with gallon cans of cement. I attached a long piece of trot line to each so they could float around. They held up for about five years but need to be replaced now.

 

[thendrix]

Copper sulfate or blue stone will definitely do the trick. It is readily available at most feed/hardware farm stores. I also spread it by hand, bought a couple of solar powered fountains from harbor freight and anchored them with gallon cans of cement. I attached a long piece of trot line to each so they could float around. They held up for about five years but need to be replaced now.

How large is your pond?

 

[thendrix]

Thought I would bump this back to the top and see if somebody had a suggestion for solar pumps or aerators that can keep a 1\2 - 3\4 acre pond moving

 

[hurleyjd]

http://www.koenderswindmills.com/ Talipia supposed to be good for duck weed control.

 

[thendrix]

Windmills! Never thought about that. Good idea as long as the wind blows

 

[dun]

What about grass carp? They sure keep our ponds clean except for the annual algae bloom in the middle of summer.

 

[thendrix]

We tried grass carp once before but the water moves so slowly and there is so little oxygen in the water that they die out before they can do much good