Midwest 2.5 Acre Pond - NEED HELP !!

[Huntzman]

Hi everyone, I'm in a mess and could really use some help / suggestions on fixing my pond.

I bought a house in Central Illinois that has a very large, two & a half acre pond on it. Unfortunately, the pond is overgrown with algae (probably close to 2/3's of it). The depth is approximately 25 feet in the center.

The previous owner's family said that the pond was clear in the past and that the family had swam / fished in it. It's stocked with several species of fish (including catfish, bass, perch).

I hooked up a pump to start getting some circulation going and my wife began treating it with 'Crystal Blue Copper Sulfate' which was recommended to us by a neighbor who also has a pond on his property. We have been treating it at about a gallon or so every ten days to avoid screwing up the eco-system and risking a fish kill-off.

Attached is a photo showing a small area of the coverage. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have zero experience with ponds and don't want to muck it up, pardon the pun.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[addy1]

Huge "pond" that is more like a lake to me!

Welcome to our group!

The only thing I know about those huge ones is people run large aerators. There are people there that can help you more than me.

@MitchM do you have any suggestions?

 

[JamieB]

Check if there is fertilizer run off going into the pond. Then start adding plants, marginals along the banks, and water lillies to shade the water, you’ve got a surplus of nutrients feeding the algae, and too much sun. Lots of live stock ponds get that way

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @Huntzman ! You may also want to check another site for help - they are more familiar with ponds of your size:

Pond Boss Forum - Forums powered by UBB.threads

Own or building a private pond/lake? Want bigger fish? Got Aquatic Plants or moss? Pond Boss magazine, website & forum have answers. We are land and pond management.

forums.pondboss.com

Good luck!

 

[Huntzman]

Thank you so much for the replies. We were told that based upon the size / depth that it actually does qualify as a lake, primarily because of the depth, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that I own a lake *LOL*

To the best of my knowledge there is no fertilizer run-off and yes, it pretty much gets sun for the entirety of the day.

Thanks for the reference, Lisak1, I will check it out.

 

[j.w]

@Huntzman
Wow that is huge and could be really beautiful w/o all that muck. Let us know if you find a good solution on that other site. Will be neat to see it all cleared up. Where does it get it's water from, rain or is there some underground spring?

 

[Huntzman]

It will look nice when it is finally cleared up. Found a lot of helpful information on that site that Lisa referenced. Basically it is something called Filamentous Algae, starts off at the bottom and then breaks loose and floats to the surface. Need to remove it and then dye the water to prevent the sunlight from reaching down to promote new growth.

To the best of my knowledge it is rain fed.

 

[j.w]

Something like this would be cool but they are pricey. The guy up the road from us has one and I love seeing it on when I walk by. Helps circulate the water also.

 

[Huntzman]

J.W.

That's actually on my long-term list. Told the wife I want it with alternating lights and a continuous loop soundtrack of Sinatra's 'New York, New York'..........

For now I have a 3/4 HP pump running, to start getting stuff circulating, and I sing to myself !!

 

[j.w]

Good for you @Huntzman you are already a happy, happy, joy, joy ponderer but I really think you should start singing out loud

 

[Huntzman]

Might have to wait on the singing part until after I tackle the manual labor !!!

 

[JamieB]

Sing as you work, fish won’t mind!

 

[Lisak1]

Getting the water circulating is going to help a lot! I could see a gorgeous waterfall built on the edge of this "pond" - that would be awesome to see as you gaze across that lovely expanse!

 

[Huntzman]

That's what I am thinking, Lisa. Set up a large fountain in the center to get the water moving around more.

From what the other Forum has filled me in on, Copper Sulfate and Dye early in the season are critical to keeping the FA at bay.

 

[Lisak1]

Well, I know nothing about managing a big pond so I will defer to their knowledge... however, I do know that copper in particular is toxic to fish at a high enough level. So I would proceed with caution on that particular one. Dye makes some sense, but all the dye in the world won't stop a pond with too many nutrients from filling up with algae. The algae is there feeding on something in the pond. It doesn't feed on sunlight alone. It may be a bigger body of water, but I would assume the same rules apply.