Pond Scum And Lake Weeds The Real Problem

Part 4 in our series on lake and pond interactions

The real pond scum and lake weed problem


 

The problem is sunlight. You can’t do much about that. Specifically, the problem is sunlight reaching the pond bottom, which you can do something about! The common issue for pond scum and lake weeds is sunlight penetrating the water to the bottom of the pond or lake. When this happens, a process begins which will allow lake weeds to grow unchecked, pond scum to develop and start to rise to the top, and the secondary result will be mosquitoes, and even though the plants and algae will produce oxygen, they will at some point cause conditions which will deplete oxygen in the water, and all the while, your fish will be starving. All of this because sunlight reaches the pond bottom!

Preventing lake weeds and pond scum by preventing light penetration

There are a number of ways to prevent light from reaching a pond or lake bottom. You can raise the water level, lower the bottom through dredging, or color the water in some way. Raising the water level can produce good results in some cases, but may not be practical, and it still doesn’t deal with the issue of skinny fish. If the water is deep enough the sunlight cannot penetrate, but something needs to be done to feed the fish if the water is clear to a depth of more than 24 inches, so even if you can raise the water level, or dredge the shallow areas, more is needed. The water needs color to shade the bottom. This can be done with dyes and colorants, but, once again, you still have the issue of skinny fish. There is a product that can resolve both the light penetration issue, and the food supply issue.

Plankton

Plankton is a single cell algae which is suspended in the water of healthy ponds and lakes. It provides oxygen to the water, food for the tiny invertebrates that feed the larger aquatic life, which ultimately feeds the fish in the lake, and provides color for the water helping to prevent the excessive growth of unwanted vegetation and pond scum. This is sometimes called algae bloom.

Producing algae bloom

The reason that plankton does not grow in a pond or lake is lack of fertility. The solution to this problem is to add fertilizer. To learn more about this process see: pond scum prevention and Lake weed prevention Pond scum is filamentous algae, and is also known as blanket weed, pond blanket weed, and a few, less desirable terms.