Rose Cottage Ltd

Yesterday I wrote about my concerns regarding all this early hot weather, lack of rain, and potential problems for lakes and ponds this summer.

Preferred view…

I mentioned water meal as a pond invader and provided an image of the stuff. Below is a picture of “blooming” algae:

Algae blooms

I’ve spent time the last 3 days scooping this stuff from the lake. It is really nasty. But, if I don’t do something about it now, it WILL add to the breathing problems the lake’s fish will have this year and drastically increase the chance of a major fish kill. I lost around 8 dozen fish in 2007 – I don’t want to see this again.

The fountain, which you can see running at the upper edge of the image, is running 24/7. This will provide the fish with at least one area of the lake that gets additional aeration. It does little to stop the algae though on this 4-acre lake.

Bluegill and Crappie seem most prone to lack of oxygen in pond or lake water. If you see any of them floating dead on the lake surface, you already have a problem. Do whatever you can to keep your pond clear in warm weather months – it’s about all you can do, and sure beats doing nothing. Keep as much debris out of the water as possible, and if you feed your fish, cut back on their food when the weather gets hot.

Here’s a comprehensive link I found about diagnosing problems with lake and pond water year-round. Maybe a windmill is in my future?

Good luck….

I’m less enthused about Summer months than I used to be. I don’t care what the current thoughts are about global warming or not, the air we are breathing is worse than it used to be – high temperatures just make it even worse.

The Piedmont area of North Carolina has already had August weather in May. Way too many days have been in the 90s or upper 90s – at least 15 degrees above normal. We’re also starting this season 2011 the way we did in 2007 which was a drought year. Not good for the lake – or the fish.

I wrote an article on the web site about fish kills and what causes them. I will not be surprised if, despite my efforts, there is another die-off this Summer. I’ve already taken about 3, 5-gallon buckets worth of water meal from the lake’s surface and yesterday, spent a fair amount of time removing large algae blooms. I haven’t seen much string algae on the lake since 2007 so this is not good news. This infiltration of algae and water meal steals or traps oxygen from the lake’s water. Eventually the fish will not be able to breathe and will begin to float towards the surface. In their weakened condition, unable to stay submerged, they will appear floating flat on the surface and then die.

We had a brief respite from the heat most of this week – which was actually just getting back to normal temperatures for this time of year. By Monday coming, we’re back to a high of 97 degrees and the rain we were expecting yesterday never arrived.

I’m going to be running the fountain 24/7 for awhile and will keep removing as much algae and water meal from the lake as is possible. I’ll take some photos today of the algae. Here is an image of the water meal, up close and personal. I didn’t know what this stuff was at first so this picture may help anyone trying to identify the exact nature of their pond’s green slime:

The dreaded water meal…

While I’m out on the boat for the next week or so in hot weather doing this skimming process, I am going to put my mind back to January when the activity for the week was simply splitting firewood and carrying it in to feed the wood stove. No snakes, no ticks, no mosquitoes, no water meal. Just me and my Makita.

Is it Labor Day yet?

From the Royal Horticultural Society.

Great tips for small ponds…

Forgot to mention one or two things about pond management in warm weather that might be useful to other pond owners…

Now that North Carolina is in H-O-T weather season, I am leaving my fountain on nearly 24/7. Other times of the year it runs from early morning to around 10:00am and then comes back on in the evening around 6:00pm and shuts off at midnight. This is even more important with the sudden thunderstorms we’ve been getting lately. These storms add water to the lake which is good, but also add a fair amount of additional acid from the trees nearby – not good.

Evening rain puts a heavy burden on the oxygen levels – which often begins to impact fish during the night and early the next morning.
Many fish I found in my traumatic Summer of 2007 seemed to be gasping their last early in the morning so this early AM boost of fountain-induced oxygen can’t hurt.

I feed my fish, (Big Strike from Southern States). As the temperatures rise and conditions deteriorate, cutting back on feeding is another good way to help fish survive. The more they eat, the more they “go” – adding to the over-nutrient levels in the water. Having spoiled rotten every animal I have ever “owned”, I believe my catfish are purposely trying to make me feel guilty over this food rationing. They swim near their normal feeding area at the normal feeding time and splash around in the water – as if I didn’t know they are there waiting for more food. “It’s for your own good,” is what I tell them…Maybe I need to get out more often!!

Anyway, this is also a good time to remove any other plants or debris that have entered your pond. Plants can provide oxygen to the water but they can also suck it up as they die. Keep edges trimmed and low hanging branches over but not in the water.

If you have watermeal or duckweed problems, you are probably beginning to see signs of this season’s growth. Unless you want to pour chemicals in your pond, this is a ‘”wait and watch” timeframe. There is only so much gathering you can do until the stuff is bunched enough to skim out of the water. I feel your pain – believe me…

More on aquatic plants that are good for your pond coming soon…

Happy Summer!

Looks like there is help – in some areas, for pond and lake owners with worrisome water issues.

Interesting point in the article about sunfish. I never knew they were a “problem” in some ponds…think my bass must be taking care of them in my pond…

I see they also mention that pesky watermeal…

“Other concerns noted by Neal and DeFazio included fertilizer levels, oxygen depletion and cost of species-specific chemicals to remove plant pests such as water meal (a gallon to treat a small pond can cost $1,500). Chemicals are a last resort, they said; a combination of mechanical and biological approaches usually is urged.”

And that $$ amount tells you why it is worth a couple day’s labor to just remove the stuff as best you can – manually. A 12-pack of beer and a friend or two to help you is much cheaper – and probably just as effective.

Unfortunately, warm weather brings a few potential problems for pond and lake owners.

Plants, underwater and at lake and pond edges, are in full leaf, adding nutrients to the water, which may mean algae growth. My pond has problems with water meal, usually starting in June and lasting through September/October – depending on temperatures. It looks like this:

Watermeal

I put a penny in this shot to give you some idea of the size of the water meal. This is different than duckweed, also a problem this time of year. Duckweed has tiny leaves that are easy to see with the naked eye.

Both duckweed and watermeal stress the pond environment in warm weather at a time when oxygen depletion may already be a factor. See your fish swimming flat on the water’s surface? Chances are there is an oxygen depletion problem.

I wrote an article about oxygen depletion that may be of interest. My response on my 4-acre lake? Install a fountain ASAP.

Fountain – Adding Oxygen

After losing 7 dozen bluegill Summer of 2007, something had to be done and I am not one to run directly for a chemical “solution.” Since I added a fountain to the lake, I’ve lost one or two fish during summer – probably normal attrition – but no massive kills from lack of oxygen.

Symptoms – Oxygen Depletion

Signs of oxygen depletion are easy to see once you know what to look for.

Fish are struggling at the water surface, usually laying flat. They are now too weak to stay deeper in the water where they normally swim. On some fish, you may see a blue tinge around the eye area of dead fish – again, a sure sign of lack of oxygen as cause of death. Other than that, the fish appear healthy. A little “Fish CSI” if you will…

This may all seem like too much work and worry for those with very small ponds, or for those who have not spent time and money stocking their lake with fish. For those who have, seeing several dozen dead fish suddenly floating dead one morning will be a discouraging sight. Knowledge is power, which is why I am referencing again, the article I wrote after my first experience with watermeal and oxygen depletion.

Back to watermeal…

This problem is also not easy to fix. Expensive chemicals are available that supposedly reduce watermeal’s ability to reproduce. Maybe they work. I’m just not adding chemicals to my lake. So, we hold watermeal gathering days on the lake. The stuff floats on the surface so, using long, small-mesh scoops, we scoop it out of the lake and into buckets – many buckets-worth – to try to stay ahead of the problem. I won’t kid you, this is a messy job, especially since the work to clear watermeal is required during the hottest and most humid time of the summer. You will NEVER get all of it out of your pond. Don’t even try. But every tiny piece of the stuff you can remove is another piece that won’t multiply further.

But it works. Watermeal can double on your lake in about 24 hours. Common sense says the more you remove from the lake, the less there is to spread. Watermeal, since it covers the surface, adds to low oxygen problems that may already exist in your lake, compounding problems for your fish.

I wish I had a better solution for watermeal and if anyone does I will be glad to hear it. But you can quickly help your pond and lake fish breathe easier with the addition of a fountain. I got mine from Fountain Mountain and have been very pleased with it. More info on this in the article I referenced above.

The good news?

It seems that a lake with watermeal experiences much LESS string algae – something else many pond owners curse from the sidelines of their ponds each summer. Watermeal isn’t easy to remove, but it is much less messy and evasive than algae.