duck weed

[ncstargazer]

Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina, became
covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this year?
Marc

[BenignVanilla]

"ncstargazer" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina, became
> covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this year?
> Marc

With a few koi and some goldfish, I can't keep the stuff in my pond at all.
Of course, my pond is much smaller, but the point is...you need to find a
natural enemy to duckweed. Koi and Goldfish are them!

BV.

[Sam Hopkins]

Stock only koi and not carp and only if you have bass there. Koi are nothing
more than gold carp. Bass eat any babies that the koi have very easily
because they are usually orange and easily to locate.

However, since koi are carp they root around in the mud looking for food.
This makes your water muddy. With that in mind you won't want to throw in 50
koi. For 1.33 acre I'd start with 5 koi and add more if the problem doesn't
fix itself.

You have to remember though that once the duckweed is gone the koi will have
to eat something. They'll move down the line of other aquatic vegatation.

If you have existing bass you'll want to stock with 11-15" koi. Zetts fish
farm has them for $15.00 each and will UPS them to you. 1-814-345-5357.

Sam

"ncstargazer" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina, became
> covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this year?
> Marc
>
>

[ncstargazer]

Thanks BV & Sam. This sounds like the answer I was looking for. Pond is well
stocked and established (over tens years) with Bass, Bream and a few
channel cats. I had been afraid of introducing carp into the system and
didn't realize that koi were "different".
Marc

"ncstargazer" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina, became
> covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this year?
> Marc
>
>

[Rasputin]

Rough guess would be you would have to spend about $1500 on Koi for a 1.33
acre pond and I'm pretty sure that you aren't gonna see the results that you
want. The left over duckweed will die in the winter and sink to the bottom.
The duckweed will then start to decay and use up Oxygen as it decays. Too
much duckweed decaying in your pond and your fish will run out of Oxygen(you
will see them coming to the surface for air) If you have a hard winter and
your pond actually ices over( not likely in your locale) you will have a
huge fish kill. There are commercial herbicides available, but duck weed
can be pretty tough to kill. Until you get the duck weed under control I
would suggest removing as much duck weed as possible by hand. This link has
a skimmer that works pretty well.
http://www.nativefish.org/duckweed.index.html I'm sorry if it seems like
I'm being a little negative on the outcome. My father-in-law had a complete
fish kill in his pond due to duckweed and he still hasn't gotten rid of it.
Good Luck and if you come across some miracle cure please let me know.

Just my $0.02




"Sam Hopkins" > wrote in message
.. .
> Stock only koi and not carp and only if you have bass there. Koi are
nothing
> more than gold carp. Bass eat any babies that the koi have very easily
> because they are usually orange and easily to locate.
>
> However, since koi are carp they root around in the mud looking for food.
> This makes your water muddy. With that in mind you won't want to throw in
50
> koi. For 1.33 acre I'd start with 5 koi and add more if the problem
doesn't
> fix itself.
>
> You have to remember though that once the duckweed is gone the koi will
have
> to eat something. They'll move down the line of other aquatic vegatation.
>
> If you have existing bass you'll want to stock with 11-15" koi. Zetts fish
> farm has them for $15.00 each and will UPS them to you. 1-814-345-5357.
>
> Sam
>
> "ncstargazer" > wrote in message
> link.net...
> > Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina,
became
> > covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this
year?
> > Marc
> >
> >
>
>

[Wayne]

You should sell the duckweed. My goldfish love it and I can't find enough
of it. They eat it up as fast as I put it in the pond. I wish that you
lived near me in the Charlotte area.... I could use some of that duckweed.

"Rasputin" > wrote in message
...
> Rough guess would be you would have to spend about $1500 on Koi for a 1.33
> acre pond and I'm pretty sure that you aren't gonna see the results that
you
> want. The left over duckweed will die in the winter and sink to the
bottom.
> The duckweed will then start to decay and use up Oxygen as it decays. Too
> much duckweed decaying in your pond and your fish will run out of
Oxygen(you
> will see them coming to the surface for air) If you have a hard winter
and
> your pond actually ices over( not likely in your locale) you will have a
> huge fish kill. There are commercial herbicides available, but duck weed
> can be pretty tough to kill. Until you get the duck weed under control I
> would suggest removing as much duck weed as possible by hand. This link
has
> a skimmer that works pretty well.
> http://www.nativefish.org/duckweed.index.html I'm sorry if it seems like
> I'm being a little negative on the outcome. My father-in-law had a
complete
> fish kill in his pond due to duckweed and he still hasn't gotten rid of
it.
> Good Luck and if you come across some miracle cure please let me know.
>
> Just my $0.02
>
>
>
>
> "Sam Hopkins" > wrote in message
> .. .
> > Stock only koi and not carp and only if you have bass there. Koi are
> nothing
> > more than gold carp. Bass eat any babies that the koi have very easily
> > because they are usually orange and easily to locate.
> >
> > However, since koi are carp they root around in the mud looking for
food.
> > This makes your water muddy. With that in mind you won't want to throw
in
> 50
> > koi. For 1.33 acre I'd start with 5 koi and add more if the problem
> doesn't
> > fix itself.
> >
> > You have to remember though that once the duckweed is gone the koi will
> have
> > to eat something. They'll move down the line of other aquatic
vegatation.
> >
> > If you have existing bass you'll want to stock with 11-15" koi. Zetts
fish
> > farm has them for $15.00 each and will UPS them to you. 1-814-345-5357.
> >
> > Sam
> >
> > "ncstargazer" > wrote in message
> > link.net...
> > > Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina,
> became
> > > covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this
> year?
> > > Marc
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[THE Old Man]

On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 01:01:45 GMT, "Wayne" > wrote:

>You should sell the duckweed. My goldfish love it and I can't find enough
>of it. They eat it up as fast as I put it in the pond. I wish that you
>lived near me in the Charlotte area.... I could use some of that duckweed.
>
>
About 25 years ago I had a preformed pond in my back yard. It was
about 75 gals as best as I can recall. We had elephant ears around
it and some kinds of plants in post in it and some anacharis. The 4
gold fish we had made a quick meal of the anacharis and were working
on the other plants. My son suggested we drive down near a canal that
drains into the Gulf of Mexico as he had seen some sloughs off it that
had just worlds of duck weed. To get to the weed required wading thru
mud and you would sink up 1/2 to knees in it. I took a bucket and
started out to the duckweed, which was about 15 or 20 yards out.
About 1/2 my son said he had forgotten to tell me about the alligator
he had seen out there. Alligators can travel across mud a lot quicker
than a man can wade as they travel on their flat bellies and their
outstretched legs and webbed feet really help. I was thinking that he
had seen a baby or smaller gator but when I asked him he said it was
about the length of our mini-pickup bed. There is one boot and a
bucket out there somewhere as I made a quick turn and played "pick 'em
up and lay 'em down" getting back to shore. That was a long time ago
and just thinking of it made my heart rate pick up.

I thought you might [Y A W N ] like that little tale.
Donald from Mississippi
(That's South of Canada)

[Sam Hopkins]

LOL =)

"THE Old Man" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 01:01:45 GMT, "Wayne" > wrote:
>
> >You should sell the duckweed. My goldfish love it and I can't find
enough
> >of it. They eat it up as fast as I put it in the pond. I wish that you
> >lived near me in the Charlotte area.... I could use some of that
duckweed.
> >
> >
> About 25 years ago I had a preformed pond in my back yard. It was
> about 75 gals as best as I can recall. We had elephant ears around
> it and some kinds of plants in post in it and some anacharis. The 4
> gold fish we had made a quick meal of the anacharis and were working
> on the other plants. My son suggested we drive down near a canal that
> drains into the Gulf of Mexico as he had seen some sloughs off it that
> had just worlds of duck weed. To get to the weed required wading thru
> mud and you would sink up 1/2 to knees in it. I took a bucket and
> started out to the duckweed, which was about 15 or 20 yards out.
> About 1/2 my son said he had forgotten to tell me about the alligator
> he had seen out there. Alligators can travel across mud a lot quicker
> than a man can wade as they travel on their flat bellies and their
> outstretched legs and webbed feet really help. I was thinking that he
> had seen a baby or smaller gator but when I asked him he said it was
> about the length of our mini-pickup bed. There is one boot and a
> bucket out there somewhere as I made a quick turn and played "pick 'em
> up and lay 'em down" getting back to shore. That was a long time ago
> and just thinking of it made my heart rate pick up.
>
> I thought you might [Y A W N ] like that little tale.
> Donald from Mississippi
> (That's South of Canada)

[Sam Hopkins]

The problem with carp is that they are brown and therefore camouflaged which
makes them hard for the bass to find. The bright colors of the koi make them
stand out like a sore thumb and easy for the bass to spot and to control. I
like to fish for carp because they're so big but I wouldnt want them in my
pond.

Good luck!

Sam


"ncstargazer" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Thanks BV & Sam. This sounds like the answer I was looking for. Pond is
well
> stocked and established (over tens years) with Bass, Bream and a few
> channel cats. I had been afraid of introducing carp into the system and
> didn't realize that koi were "different".
> Marc
>
> "ncstargazer" > wrote in message
> link.net...
> > Last year our pond (1.33 acres) located in central North Carolina,
became
> > covered with duck weed. Any suggestions as to how to control it this
year?
> > Marc
> >
> >
>
>