Indigenous pond in Grady county Georgia

Hi all. I have been given permission to rehabilitate a neighbor's 1/5 acre pond in Grady county, (SW) Georgia, and I would like to stock only native species. The pond experienced a fish kill last summer and I don't see evidence of any survivors except for some frogs/tadpoles and crayfish. The pond is 4 to 5 feet low at this time and is about 10 feet deep when full. It has a bad watermeal problem but I've already treated for that and we're starting to see it come under control. An aeration system has been installed to help prevent future fish kills.

In a different thread daveneely was very helpful in pointing out that the Green Sunfish I was targeting as the apex predator were not indigenous. With this new information I've switched to Warmouth as the "big fish" for this pond, but the rest is up in the air. For better or for worse Mosquitofish are in all of the surrounding ponds and have not been stocked by the owners. They are also present in the local creeks. I wouldn't choose to stock them, but my guess is that they will stock themselves.

When it comes to stocking the pond I run into a couple of issues:

1. I don't know of a good source of information on native species.

2. I don't have experience or tools for collecting wild fish.

My neighbor has a second pond with a healthy WM population so I can collect them easily by fishing. There are several small creeks nearby that I can access fairly easily, including one which is so low due to drought conditions that it has become a series of stagnant pools.

My purpose in starting this thread is to ask for guidance in this project and also to document it for the pond owner. My hope is that the owner and his family can enjoy fishing for the WM, and that maybe they will find value in having something different than the standard Largemouth Bass/Bluegill pond. Any advice that you can offer to help guide me through this project will be appreciated.




Here are some of the fish I'm collecting from my neighbor's big pond. I've learned to handle them less since these photos were taken.

This sounds like a fun project! What is "watermeal"?

Thanks IM, watermeal is probably the worst aquatic plant to get in your pond. It looks like duckweed at first, but it's very small and feels like coarse cornmeal to the touch. Like duckweed it can double in 24 hours. There is only one treatment that is usually effective and that involves a a chemical found in a product called Sonar. The chemical has the effect of blocking the plant from making chlorophyll, so eventually it dies. It cost over $400 with shipping to buy a pint of Sonar which will treat this pond twice if needed.

What about yellow perch or log perch? Different types of sunfish would be neat also.

What kind of aeration system do you have?

So that is what that stuff is! I got about half a film canisters worth from an LFS last year and put it in my 15 gallon tub outdoors. In less than a week it was a half inch think and 100% covered. Actually in that situation it really helped my system. My tubs were in direct sun and on a raised deck. With all the sunlight and heat bombarding the tub the watermeal helped regulate the system quite nicely and I still had really good submergent plant growth. Really successful leaving the florida flagfish fry in the tub with adults too with all that cover up to. Pain in the but to get it out of the dipnets though when getting fry out. I've actually been trying to find that stuff again for the tubs this year since the LFS didn't have it.

Just the obvious observation here and what I see with pond problems almost 99% of the time...the pond recieves direct sunlight and nutrients. There isn't an ounce of shade and its mowed to the high water mark. Of course its going to have nuissance levels of plants. I understand that land owners like to see their ponds, but plant a willow tree or two! They look nice too! A little shade can't hurt, give the pond some rootwads, cut back on the chemical treatment (treating the symptoms not the problem).

factnfiction101: I didn't think that yellow perch were native to this area. I've never heard of log perch but I'll look into it. I'm really struggling to find information on indigenous species. I'm thinking that anything native to this county will go in if I can get specimens. Here's the aeration system: http://www.aerationt...odONE_Specs.pdf

ashtonmj: Besides all of the sunlight this pond gets runoff from a cow pasture/peanut/cotton field. Like duckweed, watermeal is a sign of excess nutrients. It's unfortunate that we had to use the chemical, but my research indicated that there is no other way to get rid of it. Concerning the trees; I've read that they cause problems of their own. As the leaves fall into the pond they decompose adding extra nutrients and consuming oxygen, but I'm new to pond management so please take what I say with a grain of salt.

I noticed the pond is pretty bare. Do you plan on placing any underwater structures in the pond? Maybe some cinder blocks, rip-rap, etc. Also, I think planting a tree or two around the perimeter would benefit the pond and inhabitants greatly by adding shade.

A floating rope, polypro floats I believe, can be useful if slowly dragged across the water to "corral" the watermeal into an area where it can be dipnetted out.
Barley straw added to a pond will release H2O2, which will inhibit algae growth, do not know if it will work for watermeal.

Also carbon will bind with nitrogen, and make it less available, possibly add dry leaf matter or equivalent.

These are just ideas, research on your own.

BTW logperch are not suited to the environment, and yellow perch in a ten foot pond in Georgia are not likely to thrive either.

Yes 4WheelVFR, I'll be adding structure. My neighbor has a good supply of surplus materials from 50+ years of farming so I'll see what I can find. I do understand the aesthetic value of trees, but I'm not convinced that they would make a huge difference in the health of this pond.

Skipjack: Watermeal can't be effectively removed by mechanical means. If you leave any behind at all it will reproduce extremely quickly. Also this plant is small enough to pass through window screen. I used a fine mesh pool skimmer and (inefficiently) took out about 400 lbs of it once. It was a lot of work and the only reason I did it was because I had already treated with Sonar so I felt that what I took out wouldn't be replaced with new plants. The 400 lbs I took out wasn't even noticable. There was easily several tons of watermeal in that little pond. Anyway, I'm happy to say that the watermeal is mostly gone now. At this point there isn't any algae. As a matter of fact I don't see any aquatic plants other than the watermeal which has dominated the pond for a year.

Edit: Here's an article I found when I was researching watermeal. http://www.btny.purd...APM/APM-2-W.pdf

Yes 4WheelVFR, I'll be adding structure. My neighbor has a good supply of surplus materials from 50+ years of farming so I'll see what I can find. I do understand the aesthetic value of trees, but I'm not convinced that they would make a huge difference in the health of this pond.

Skipjack: Watermeal can't be effectively removed by mechanical means. If you leave any behind at all it will reproduce extremely quickly. Also this plant is small enough to pass through window screen. I used a fine mesh pool skimmer and (inefficiently) took out about 400 lbs of it once. It was a lot of work and the only reason I did it was because I had already treated with Sonar so I felt that what I took out wouldn't be replaced with new plants. The 400 lbs I took out wasn't even noticable. There was easily several tons of watermeal in that little pond. Anyway, I'm happy to say that the watermeal is mostly gone now. At this point there isn't any algae. As a matter of fact I don't see any aquatic plants other than the watermeal which has dominated the pond for a year.

Edit: Here's an article I found when I was researching watermeal. http://www.btny.purd...APM/APM-2-W.pdf

I think I would add some creek gravel in one of the corners and a patch of rip-rap in the other corner. Add a christmas tree or two in the middle, or plant a cyprus tree, get some cattail growing. Just some ideas I would think about if I were doing that. So many cool things to do with a small pond. Adding the aerator was a great idea. Keep us updated as you make changes. It should be an interesting project.

All of your suggestions sound good 4WheelVFR. What do you think about tractor tires? I was considering laying some flat in the shallowest section and filling them with sand or pea gravel for spawning beds. I also have some pallets and a heavy wooden 3 X 3 crate that was used to ship marble tiles.

factnfiction101: I didn't think that yellow perch were native to this area. I've never heard of log perch but I'll look into it. I'm really struggling to find information on indigenous species.

I thought they were everywhere. I'm starting to realize that you want only indigenous fish...

Lower Chattahoochee has pirate perch, redbreasted sunfish, redear sunfish, and spotted sunfish. I don't know which would be good for a pond. You can check here for more information about what fish are in your area.

BTW logperch are not suited to the environment, and yellow perch in a ten foot pond in Georgia are not likely to thrive either.

Why is that? Is it because they need the flow of a river or stream or is it because of the heat...

All of your suggestions sound good 4WheelVFR. What do you think about tractor tires? I was considering laying some flat in the shallowest section and filling them with sand or pea gravel for spawning beds. I also have some pallets and a heavy wooden 3 X 3 crate that was used to ship marble tiles.

I think that's an excellent idea.

Logperch (big darters) definitely need cool, clear, flowing water and yellow perch do best if they have access to deeper, cooler holes. A south Georgia pond wouldn't work for either. Local sunfish are your best bet.

Thanks IM, watermeal is probably the worst aquatic plant to get in your pond. It looks like duckweed at first, but it's very small and feels like coarse cornmeal to the touch. Like duckweed it can double in 24 hours. There is only one treatment that is usually effective and that involves a a chemical found in a product called Sonar. The chemical has the effect of blocking the plant from making chlorophyll, so eventually it dies. It cost over $400 with shipping to buy a pint of Sonar which will treat this pond twice if needed.

AquaMaster by Monsanto
http://www.monsanto..../aquamaster.asp
uses the same active ingredient (glyphosate) as RoundUp but has no surfactants (added chemicals designed to make it stick to surfaces). It is recommended for use for weed control in aquatic environments, including drinking water supply reservoirs. It is non-toxic to humans, fish, etc. It is only toxic to green vegetation. It breaks down very quickly in the environment. I have not purchased it, but our clients have safely used it in drinking water supply reservoirs. I would imagine it is significantly less than $400/pint.

factnfiction101, thanks for that link.

fundulus, sunfish sound good to me.

Part of my inspiration to try a native fish pond was a 1977 NANFA article I stumbled across by Ross Brock, Swamping through Georgia and Florida.

AquaMaster by Monsanto
http://www.monsanto..../aquamaster.asp
uses the same active ingredient (glyphosate) as RoundUp but has no surfactants (added chemicals designed to make it stick to surfaces). It is recommended for use for weed control in aquatic environments, including drinking water supply reservoirs. It is non-toxic to humans, fish, etc. It is only toxic to green vegetation. It breaks down very quickly in the environment. I have not purchased it, but our clients have safely used it in drinking water supply reservoirs. I would imagine it is significantly less than $400/pint.

I used both chemicals actually. Reward is diquat, one of the two chemicals mentioned in the watermeal article I linked to above. The reason it doesn't work well by itself is that you must spray every individual plant to kill it. If you miss a few it will just come back. Sonar (Fluridone) is not a contact herbicide and works by treating the entire body of water so no plants are missed with the exception of those that are on the damp soil along the shoreline. That's where I used Reward give the best chance at a total treatment.

Sonar does seem expensive when you consider the small volume you're buying, but it's not all that bad when you consider cost/benefit ratio. It took $200 to treat this pond which may be the only time it's needed. The other half of the pint is held in reserve for possible future treatments.

Also Sonar is safe for fish, and swimming is acceptable after 24 hours.

Of course, if a watermeal-laden duck should land in the pond in the future, you've got the same problem all over again. Plus, you probably don't want to be killing all the aquatic plants in there as they provide great cover and foraging places.

A better idea might be to plant some trees around the pond. This will benefit the pond in multiple ways. Watermeal, duckweed, and azolla (all little floating plants) will not thrive in shade. There would be enough light for it to be around somewhere, but it won't coat the surface of a shady pond.

Second, the shade will keep the pond cool, much better for the fish.

The trees will provide organic matter - leaves and fallen branches - that will provide food and cover for both fish and invertebrates.

PLUS, some shade would make that pond a lot more comfortable to fish at!

You might also consider (in addition to trees) planting some indigenous waterside plants that would help create more habitat.

nativeplanter, I would appreciate any suggestions about aquatic plants to use in this pond. Once the watermeal is gone the pond will be completely without plants.

You're right about future exposure to watermeal from pond hopping birds, but if the fertility of the pond is in balance there is a good chance it won't re-establish. Watermeal requires an overly fertile environment to thrive, so with proper management I can avoid runaway growth. Sonar continues to work for several months assuming the water doesn't flow out excessively. Also if I see it coming back I can re-treat with a low dose of Sonar.

I hesitate to continue addressing adding trees to the pond. It isn't my pond and I don't believe the owner is interested in adding any. I still have doubts that adding trees has no downside. I belong to a forum of pond owners, managers, and builders and the concensus there is that the downsides out weigh the advantages. People there still opt to leave or add trees to their shorelines for aesthetic purposes, but they do so with the understanding that they will have to deal with the disadvantages. If anyone would like to link to some scientific data that confirms the environmental advantage of adding trees I will try to keep an open mind.

OK, I had to hunt around a bit, but now I see watermeal = Wolffia. I used to buy that stuff from a grower in Florida - my fish would eat it all in a few days. It looks neat in an aquarium. I had no idea it was a pond pest.