The Pond Weed Is Coming!

[tim armstrong]

Hi all,

Maybe this has been done before but, we have a large pond that has become invested with the dreaded green pond weed of the dense bottlebrush variety that spreads under the surface. It seems to grow by the minute and strangles everything. Does anyone know of a non chemical or safe way of dealing with it other than pulling it out by hand. We have lotus and some fish in the pond, which is concrete lined. If there is a fish that eats the weed but not other fish that would be great. Its almost a daily ritual to try and rake the stuff I can reach. All ideas much appreciated. Tim

[Pond Life]

I have no idea how to get rid of it, but if youre stuck with it then make use of it in the garden.

Either add it to the compost heap or just dump it around tree's & plants.

Will ducks eat it ?

[chownah]

Grass carp?

Seems like there is alot of nutrient in the pond water....maybe changing the water with fresh would reduce the nutrient content and thus keep the growth in check....but I don't really know since I know nothing about ponds.

chownah

[tim armstrong]

I have no idea how to get rid of it, but if youre stuck with it then make use of it in the garden.

Either add it to the compost heap or just dump it around tree's & plants.

Will ducks eat it ?

Thanks to you both. I might try ducks and carp. It could be a nutrient problem, although its also in some small conrete ponds near our house.

Tim

[bina]

is that duck weed??

cause if so, then recently the manager of our bio sewage plant on the kibbutz brought me dried duckweed to feed our chickens and ducks. he claims that it is full of protein (?); have yet to check it out but thought it might interest someone.

i had considered it to feed to the goats but not sure if it meets their requirements.

he also says that in third world countries (southeast asia?) it is used as a food source for poultry etc.

he takes it out of the two pools (processed sewage water) and dries it in the sun and then it looks rather like powdered ganja or oregano. we mix it with the duck feed (bought mixed chicken feed for layers actually) and thats that. he thought of us when it became apparent that the stuff was overrunning the pools.

bina

israel

forgot to add- he wanted ducks to keep the amount down, but not all species (cheap species) eat vegetation and also the mongooses do the ducks in ...

Edited November 6, 2007 by bina

[plachon]

As Chownah suggests, try grass carp (pla kin yaa), available from the bigger fish hatcheries. If you can't get them, try stocking a lot of pla tapien (looks like a roach) or the non-native pacu (pla joramet nam-jeud). They both chomp pretty well on any soft weeds and grow like the clappers with enough food. At the moment it sounds like its understocked with herbivore fish only, so stock some more and it should solve the problem fairly quickly.

[tim armstrong]

As Chownah suggests, try grass carp (pla kin yaa), available from the bigger fish hatcheries. If you can't get them, try stocking a lot of pla tapien (looks like a roach) or the non-native pacu (pla joramet nam-jeud). They both chomp pretty well on any soft weeds and grow like the clappers with enough food. At the moment it sounds like its understocked with herbivore fish only, so stock some more and it should solve the problem fairly quickly.

thanks for that. we're going to try the carp. I'm not sure if the weed is duckweed, I'll do some searching

[phibunmike]

As Chownah suggests, try grass carp (pla kin yaa), available from the bigger fish hatcheries. If you can't get them, try stocking a lot of pla tapien (looks like a roach) or the non-native pacu (pla joramet nam-jeud). They both chomp pretty well on any soft weeds and grow like the clappers with enough food. At the moment it sounds like its understocked with herbivore fish only, so stock some more and it should solve the problem fairly quickly.

thanks for that. we're going to try the carp. I'm not sure if the weed is duckweed, I'll do some searching

As described it is not duckweed, which is tiny floating leaves with dangling roots, but more like what in England is called "Canadian pond weed" or similar (bottle brushes).

[tim armstrong]

As Chownah suggests, try grass carp (pla kin yaa), available from the bigger fish hatcheries. If you can't get them, try stocking a lot of pla tapien (looks like a roach) or the non-native pacu (pla joramet nam-jeud). They both chomp pretty well on any soft weeds and grow like the clappers with enough food. At the moment it sounds like its understocked with herbivore fish only, so stock some more and it should solve the problem fairly quickly.

thanks for that. we're going to try the carp. I'm not sure if the weed is duckweed, I'll do some searching

As described it is not duckweed, which is tiny floating leaves with dangling roots, but more like what in England is called "Canadian pond weed" or similar (bottle brushes).

Its definitely not floating leaves with dangling roots. Its submerged, but near the surface is very dense and just grows while you watch. I suspect it also uses a lot of oxygen, which is why some of our fish have disappeared. Or perhaps its eaten the fish!?