Pond Maintenance Principles

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Pond Maintenance Principles

• Aquatic Plants and Algae
• Water Quality
• Fisheries
• Miscellaneous Problems
• Structural Maintenance

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Aquatic Plants and Algae
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Aquatic Plant and Algae Control

• Physical/Mechanical Control
• Biological Control
• Chemical Control

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Physical/Mechanical Control

• frequently overlooked!
• cutting, raking, mowing, digging, pulling
• most effective for small quantities near shore
• usually need to repeat several times per year
• need to harvest plants and algae if possible
• mechanical harvesters for larger lakes ()
• drawdown
• best during freezing temperatures
• aeration
• most effective on algae

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Draw Down
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Aeration
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Biological Control

• triploid grass carp (white amur)
• prefer submerged aquatic plants
• pondweeds, naiads, elodea, coontail, muskgrass
• little control of algae and other plants
• thrive in warm water (68F)
• can reach 25 pounds or more
• may cause discoloration of water by waste
• sterile fish must be stocked
• permit required (1 to 15 per acre)
• koi, carp not recommended

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Grass Carp
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Chemical Control

• widely used (and abused!!)
• must carefully calculate pond area or volume
• identify target plant/algae
• select appropriate herbicide
• obtain state permit
• read and follow label carefully!
• treat lt 50 of pond area or spot treat
• start in shallowest part of pond
• may cause fish kills in sensitive species

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Chemical Control
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For use in PA waters, a chemical must be

• EPA registered as a pesticide
• PA Dept. Agriculture listed
• Labeled for aquatic use

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Permit to Apply a Herbicide

• joint PAFBC and DEP permit
• name and location of water body
• use of water
• species of fish present
• total and treated area of water
• average depth of water body
• name of plant (or fish) to be controlled
• commercial and manufactures name of chemical
• dosage of chemical to be applied (label)
• number of treatments to be made in year
• output of water body
• required for private or public waters
• effective for current calendar year

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Chemical Control Identify Your Problem

• Algae
• Submerged Aquatic Plants
• Emergent Plants
• Floating Plants

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Filamentous Algae
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Chara
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Algae Control

• Copper Compounds
• very effective at 0.25 to 0.5 ppm
• disrupts cell membrane
• more toxic in soft and acidic water
• may kill sensitive fish (trout, catfish, carp)
• Dyes
• block sunlight (blue/yellow dyes)
• preventative
• safe for fish but artificial appearance

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Floating-leaf Pondweed
Curly-leaf Pondweed
Large-leaf Pondweed
Thin-leaf Pondweed
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Coontail-top / watermilfoil - bottom
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Elodea
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Bladderwort
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Submerged Plant Control

• Hydrothol 191 (monopotassium endothall)
• Aquathol-K (dipotassium endothall)
• contact stops photosynthesis, cant eat fish-3
  days
• Weedtrine-D (diquat dibromide)
• Reward (diquat dibromide)
• absorbed and stops photosynthesis, degrades fast
• Sonar SRP (fluridone)
• absorbed by leaves and roots, inhibits carotene
• Komeen (elemental copper)
• inhibits cell growth

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Cattails
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Phragmites
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Purple Loosestrife
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Emergent Plant Control

• Rodeo (glyphosate)
• moves through plant from contact to roots
• eventually causes death of plant
• Weedtrine (2,4-D)
• plant cells divide rapidly exhausting food source
  
• roots lose ability to take up nutrients
• death from several disturbances of plant

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Spatterdock
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Water Lily
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Watermeal
Duckweed
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Floating Plant Control

• Rodeo (glyphosate)
• moves through plant from contact to roots
• eventually causes death of plant
• AquaKleen/Aquacide/Navigate (2,4-D)
• plant cells divide rapidly exhausting food source
  
• roots lose ability to take up nutrients
• death from several disturbances of plant
• Sonar A.S. (fluridone)
• absorbed by leaves and roots, inhibits carotene

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Chemical Control - Summary

• Algae
• copper compounds or dyes
• Submerged Aquatic Plants
• endothall, diquat, fluridone, copper?
• Emergent Plants
• glyphosate, 2,4-D
• Floating Plants
• glyphosate, 2,4-D, fluridone

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• READ AND FOLLOW
• THE
• PRODUCT LABEL !!!!

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Trade Name vs. Active Ingredient

• 2,4-D
• AquaKleen, Aquacide, Navigate, Weedtrine II
• Glyphosate
• Rodeo
• Fluridone
• Sonar, Sonar AS
• Elemental Copper
• Cutrine Plus, Earthtec, K-Tea, Lescocide-Plus
• Diquat
• Reward, Weedtrine

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Pond Water Quality
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Pond Water Quality

• controlled by
• source of water (spring, stream, surface runoff)
• geology, soils
• land-use and other nearby activities
• water quality requirements depend on pond use
• human or animal drinking water
• swimming
• fishing
• aesthetics

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Ponds for Drinking Water

• not a common source of drinking water in PA
• all ponds will require treatment for drinking
• coliform bacteria occur in all ponds
• from soil, septic system, animal waste, wildlife
• some bacteria may cause gastrointestinal
  illnesses
• disinfection is necessary

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Median Coliform Bacteria in Ponds
(Hill et al. 1962)
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How Common are the Problems?
(Hill et al. 1962)
unless treated with copper herbicides
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Ponds for Drinking Water

• protozoans
• giardia, cryptosporidium
• nitrate
• from fertilizers, manure, septic systems
• drinking water standard 10 mg/L as NO3-N
• pesticides
• highest during or shortly after application due
  to drift or surface runoff
• blue green algae
• treat with algacide but follow label directions

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Aesthetic Drinking Water Problems

• odor and taste
• usually due to decay of organic material
• muddy water
• find source, chemical additions, or filtration
• metals (iron, manganese)
• pH
• recommend 6.5 to 8.5 (low more common than high)
• low pH may cause corrosive water
• hardness
• calcium and magnesium (especially high pH ponds)

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Ponds for Animal Watering

• similar problems but less stringent standards
• nitrate-N should be less than 100 mg/L
• fecal coliform bacteria
• lt10 per 100 ml for adults, absent for calves
• blue-green algae - toxins
• pH should be 5.1 to 9.0 for dairy cows
• watch use of aquatic herbicides (copper)
• iron and manganese - taste problem
• sulfate lt 250 mg/L (mining)

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Pond Water Quality for Fish

• temperature
• all fish have temperature preferences and lethal
  thresholds
• Difficult to control - match fish to temperature
  regime
• used to determine fish spawning times
• dissolved oxygen
• normal 10-15 mg/L
• warmwater fish like D.O. gt 3 mg/L
• coldwater fish like D.O. gt 5 mg/L
• depletion caused by decay of organic matter
• most common cause of fish kills in ponds

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Pond Water Quality for Fish

• pH
• can be treated with occasional chemical additions
• warmwater fish (pH 6 to 9), coldwater (pH 5 to 9)
• low pH may cause stunted growth of fish
• aquatic herbicides
• can be toxic to fish (especially young fish)
• obtain a permit and read the label carefully
• herbicide runoff
• some very toxic to fish
• especially high following first rain after
  application

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Pond Water Quality for Swimming

• coliform bacteria
• 2000 total coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water
• 200 fecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml
• odor
• turbidity
• swimmers itch
• free swimming parasite
• controlled with copper sulfate

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Water Quality for Aquatic Herbicides

• hardness
• affects dose of some chemicals
• temperature
• some labels recommend temperature
• 60 to 75 F
• can be used to predict fish spawning

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Pond Water Quality for Aesthetics

• odor
• occurs in about 5 of ponds usually during summer
• increases with depth water taken from
• usually from anaerobic decay of plants, algae
• muddy water
• most common problem, especially in new ponds
• other causes - muskrats, crayfish, fish,
  livestock, waterfowl, zooplankton and wind action
• control - remove the source?
• If control is not possible, chemicals may work
  (ground limestone, hydrated lime, gypsum, alum)

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Water Testing Options

• use DEP certified labs
• drinking (human or animal)
• coliform bacteria, pH, nitrate, hardness,
  pesticides?
• swimming
• fecal and total coliform bacteria
• fishing
• temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, pesticides?
• aquatic herbicides
• hardness, temperature

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What Can You Do?

• strictly limit activities on pond watershed
• maintain vegetated buffer strip around pond
• limit fertilizer, manure and pesticide use near
  pond
• properly site and maintain septic systems
• use diversion ditches and land grading to divert
  contaminated surface water
• use aquatic herbicides with care
• aeration may be helpful in some cases
• water treatment works in some cases
• get water tested

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Water Quality - Summary

• Use of water critical!
• Temperature
• affects spawning and provides clue of when newly
  hatched fish are present
• vital for trout
• important for use of chemicals (60F - 75F)
• Dissolved Oxygen
• critical for fish survival
• normal 10-15 mg/L, fish require 3 to 5 mg/L
• low DO - fish gulp at surface, snails/crayfish
  leave water

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Water Quality - Summary

• pH
• less important than DO
• optimum 6.5 to 8.5, fish survive in 5 to 9
• low pH linked to stunted growth of fish
• Nutrients
• cause plant and algae growth
• Hardness
• influences effectiveness of herbicides
• Agricultural Chemicals
• drift or runoff of especially insecticides a
  problem
• proper timing of spraying and buffer strips help

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Nutrient Management

• N and P cause increased plant and algae growth
• Sources
• runoff from barnyards, cropland, feedlots
• sewage systems
• managed turf (golf courses, developments)
• Control (BMPs) - impact will not be immediate!
• redirect runoff
• reduce fertilizer use
• buffer strips (tall grass or forests)
• maintain on-lot septic systems

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Nutrient Input
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Pond Fisheries Management
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Bass-Bluegill Ponds

• most common and most successful option
• thrive in warmer water (77 - 86 F)
• dissolved oxygen gt 3 mg/L, pH 6 to 9
• stocking (per acre)
• 100 largemouth fingerlings (2 year old)
• 400 bluegill fingerlings (1 year old)
• stock in the fall
• requires management!

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I have lots of small bluegill and just a few
large bass

• cause bass over-harvest, bluegill under-harvest
• large bass were continually removed allowing more
  bluegill to survive which in turn eat bass eggs
  and fry until they become limited by food
• remedy
• encourage bluegill harvest and limit bass harvest
• limit bass harvest to fish gt 15 inches
• harvest 15 bluegill per bass (6 pounds bluegill
  per pound bass)
• stock 50-100 bass fingerlings per year until
  better

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Other Options

• bass only
• 150-200 fall fingerlings
• add 8-10 adults bass in spring before spawn
• great for lots of 9-12 inch bass
• bass/shiner
• summer stocking 100 bass, 400 golden shiners
• faster bass growth, aquatic plants helpful
• bass/catfish
• 500 catfish, 1,000 fathead minnows in Feb-Mar
• 100 bass fingerlings added in May-July

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Other Fish Species

• shiners - need to be continually stocked
• perch - prolific, spawn before bass, ice fishing!
• pike, muskie, walleye - not for ponds
• channel catfish spawning and survival
  unpredictable
• sunfish - lower winter survival, slower growing
• bullhead catfish -prone to stunting and
  overcrowding, may muddy the water
• crappie - some success in PA

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Trout in Ponds

• not well suited to most PA ponds
• like cold water with dissolved oxygen gt 5 mg/L
  and pH of 5 to 9
• cannot compete with warmwater fish
• put and take option
• stock catchable size trout in spring
• fish them out before water warms (June)

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Kinds of Trout

• brook trout
• like colder water (50-60F)
• easier to catch, better eating?
• rainbow trout
• better fighting fish
• moderately easy to catch
• brown trout
• can withstand warmer water
• much harder to catch

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Permanent Trout Ponds

• need the right kind of pond
• reliable source of cool water
• shaded, 10 to 15 feet of depth
• stock only trout!
• stock 600 fall fingerlings or 2,000 spring
• natural losses of nearly 100 in three years
• stock fall fingerlings every two years
• will not reproduce

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Average Fish Growth in Ponds
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Miscellaneous Topics

• supplemental feeding
• liming/fertilization
• pond regulations
• adding fish structure

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Fish Kills in Ponds

• oxygen depletion
• most common cause
• typically from decay of organic material
• pesticides
• runoff or drift from fields after rain
• improper treatment with aquatic herbicide
• cotton wool disease
• occurs in spring around spawning time
• soil bacteria infects bluegill, bullhead, crappie
• winter kill
• shallow ponds with persistent ice and snow cover
  

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Other Miscellaneous Problems
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Pond Leaks

• Avoid with proper design and construction!
• Sealing products
• Bentonite (one pound/ft2)
• disc into soil 3 or 4 inches, swells when wet
• better for coarse textured soils
• Sodium polyphosphate (0.05 lbs./ft2)
• white granular form, mix to 8 then compact
• breaks soil into fine particles
• blanket of clay
• 6 inches in depth and compact, refill pond quickly

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Muskrats

• build dens in banks 6-18 below surface
• burrow extends upward into bank
• may cause leaks and collapse in poorly designed
  ponds
• riprapping shoreline with large gravel from one
  foot above to 3 feet below water surface
• may be killed for property destruction in PA

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Muddy Water

• common especially in new ponds (exposed soil)
• other reasons - muskrats, crayfish, fish,
  livestock, waterfowl, zooplankton, wind action,
  etc.
• control - remove cause?
• precipitating by chemical addition (per acre)
• 1,000 lbs. ground agricultural limestone
• 740 lbs. hydrated lime
• 1,000 lbs. agricultural gypsum (not as good)
• 250 lbs. aluminum sulfate (alum)
• 2 lbs. copper sulfate (zooplankton)

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Swimmers Itch

• not common but occasionally found in PA
• free-swimming parasite that burrows under skin
  and causes itch and rash
• develops mostly in snails in pond
• must control snails
• redear sunfish (shellcrackers)
• Copper sulfate at 4 mg/L will kill snails but
  also kills fish

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Ducks and Geese

• provide viewing pleasure
• and control some plants
• coliform bacteria from waste can be a problem for
  swimming
• try to maintain lt2 ducks/geese per acre
• eliminate if using for water supply
• migrational stops generally not a problem

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Leeches

• flat, dark-colored, parasite
• attach to swimmers, fish, birds
• harmless but frightening and detract from
  swimming use
• need 5 mg/L of copper sulfate treatment
• this treatment will kill fish!
• partial treatment (lt 20 of pond area) of
  swimming area best but temporary

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Pond Structural Maintenance
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Pond Maintenance

• Conduct a routine inspection of the pond
• Check dam structure
• Ensure complete grass cover
• Fix any erosion
• Cut grass and keep weeds, brush, and trees from
  growing on the dam
• Check for signs of minor leaks before they get
  big!
• Remove floating debris
• Check overflow inlet and outlet for debris
• Check for and repair erosion on spillway
• Inspect and repair any fences around pond
• Maintain roads for vehicle access (fire)

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Pond Construction