How To Prevent Fall Algal Blooms: Long-term Algae Control Solutions For Lakes And Ponds

By Author: Erica Ronchetti
Total Articles: 738
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Algae control and pond weed control can be accomplished by reducing plant nutrients in a body of water. These plant nutrients are typically fertilizers, including phosphorous, nitrogen, and sometimes sulfur. Other various micronutrients contributing to algal blooms include manganese, iron, zinc, magnesium, cobalt, molybdenum, etc… These fertilizers make algae control and pond weed control a challenge—algae removal via algaecides often results in weed growth and weed control via herbicides can contribute to later heavy algal blooms.

Any nutrients that find their way into a body of water will either be used by pond weeds or into algae. Algae shades the water so weeds do not grow—if weed growth becomes a problem and grow in excess, all nutrients are depleted and pond algae cannot grow. It’s important to keep in mind that lake and pond ecosystems do shift from pond weeds to algae growth, whichever is first established in the beginning of a season.

If you’re looking for a method of algae control or for pond weeds, you may have considered algaecides. Many references ...
... indicate that the excessive copper and alum from algaecides can turn a pond or lake into a toxic body of water and kill fish and other aquatic animals, interfering with reproduction as well. These copper compounds also kill beneficial lake bacteria that feed on organic bottom sediment. Alum in algaecides can also leave an aluminum hydroxide flocculent on a lake bottom that could potentially interfere with the reproduction of fish and beneficial bacteria and insects that feed on pond muck (bottom organic sediment). Copper compounds can destroy the quality of your water. As dead algae decompose, they release nitrogen and phosphorous, consuming oxygen. This lack of oxygen causes fish and other aquatic animals to suffer—algaecides and pond weed chemicals do nothing to actively improve the health and growth of pond and lake ecosystems, and do nothing to reduce the amounts of muck and sediment on the bottom. These copper compounds also create toxic sediment at the bottom, as well as copper carbonate which prevents natural bacterial decomposition of sediment and alters fish reproduction.



If you are trying to control algae or pond weeds by algaecides, you may succeed in removing all the algae from a lake but plant nutrients will still be in the water—the cause of your algal bloom. Eventually algae will return, unless pond weeds take in the nutrients before algae can grow. Then you will have a lake full of weeds.

Lochness Pond and Lake Dye is available in blue and black colors—these dyes are effective in algae control and pond weed control and can safely retard the sun’s ability to penetrate lakes and ponds, reducing photosynthesis. This dye is not recommended for fast flowing bodies of water but can serve as an effective method for pond weed control in lagoons, sewage runoff, or shallow/muddy lakes and ponds.

In order to develop a long-term water quality plan for pond weed control, nutrient levels must be reduced. Oxygen is a key component in algae control—it’s essential to the health of all aquatic organisms. Without oxygen at the bottom of a lake or pond, harmful anaerobic bacteria produce a toxic environment that is detrimental to animals, plants, and other organisms. Learn more about lake aeration and how it can be a solution for pond weeds and algae control—visit Clean FLO online.

Erica Ronchetti is a freelance writer for CLEAN-FLO International. The CLEAN-FLO Process of Water and algae control and pond weeds provides a custom solution for providing aeration in your water-body from bottom to top. Learn more by visiting Clean-flo.com.