Can we talk lake maintence?

[Tracylhl]

We have a decent sized lake on our property (we bought it last Sept) that needs some love. Actually, the lake straddles my property and my neighbor's. That's a bit of a problem because the neighbors feel strongly that leaving it alone is the best way to go. Fine except that years of leaving it alone and taking from it without nurturing it (fishing out the fish, tossing stuff in, etc - nothing horrible or toxic, just neglect) have left it filled with reeds and not much else. The water is very murky and clearly has a lot of algae in it. The neighbors have one pair of ducks and in the past have stocked it with Talapia and catfish but it would appear that maybe just a few catfish remain and no Talapia.

So... with 5 little ones, I really need to be able to safely see how can I remove some of these reeds? Is the best way to wade in and pull at the base? I can only remove what is on my side of the lake but that will be sufficient for my needs (although, I'm sure they'll grow back with the neighbors allowing them to take over). Should I consider stocking more fish to help clean or should I clean until the water is at a certain point first? More ducks maybe? I'd love to have a windmill-powered aeration at some point, but that's expensive and will have to wait. Also, it's annoying to know that I'll have to foot the bill for enough aeration to care for the whole lake when only 1/2 of it is on my property. Wouldn't I? I mean, having only 1/2 of it aerated wouldn't be terribly useful would it? I would love for my kids to be able to swim in it but with as warm as the water gets here in southwest florida, the bacteria becomes dangerous if it's not aerated.

Do you have any websites you can share? I wasn't able to find anything other than "we'll dump chemicals in your lake for you for a heavy price".

 

[sylvie]

I have a large pond(lake) in which I have been battling reeds. I began a thread that discusses here:
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2495

Someone mentioned Pondboss :
http://www.pondboss.com/

A neighbor drained his pond, had a backhoe and bulldozer dig out the reeds and resurface the bottom. Around here we need a clay liner because the shale rock fractures easily and lets ponds leak away. That was more drastic than I wanted to do, so I began with mechanical removal with a shovel as you want to do. Way too much work, so I am spraying and seeing good results.

With reeds you must get the entire root. Wear heavy gloves because the reeds will slice your hands like paper cuts. Mine were not easy and the root pieces I missed produced more reeds. Not sure what type you have in Florida.

The fish we use to eat vegetation are White Amurs(sterilized grass carp)which we buy through our county Soil and Water Dept. They don't touch the species of reed that we have.
Your best bet would be to contact your Soil and Water Conservation District:
http://www.allthingspolitical.org/special_districts/florida_soil_and_water_conservation.htm
for suggestions for your specific geographic area regarding all your questions.
When I wanted to build my pond they came out and determined the best site, best type fish that would thrive, procedures for weed control, all for free.

I have seen a sump pump rigged to aerate a large pond on a timer with good results. We have a lot of pond clinics here in the summer that I attend. They are kinda fun and very informative-ask your Soil and Water office about these, too.

 

[Buster]

A windmill aerator won't aerate the entire lake, only the local area. Obviously the oxygen will dissipate throughout the lake eventually, but the most oxygen rich water will be that closest to your windmill.

I have a very large pond as well and want to raise catfish (it is already full of bass and perch, but I don't like the taste of bass). By aerating I will be creating a nice pocket for the catfish to thrive in, and that will in turn improve their taste. Fish without adequate oxygen will have a muddy taste to them. Maybe that's why my bass taste so nasty. I haven't installed the aerator yet, but will soon.

I have no answer for the reed issue.

 

[ducks4you]

I would start with contacting the attorney who handled the closing for you, to discuss your property rights before you do ANYTHING. Law suits by other owners can get tricky if you overstep your legal bounds. Sometimes people must get work permits to change parts of their property. Witness the recent case in California, where the state is demanding that a couple remove a picnic table, small shed and built in outdoor gas grill on THEIR beachfront acreage because they didn't apply for a permit and just built it.
I understand your dilemmas. I live adjacent to the borders of my tiny town. We LOOK like we're inside of the town because we have one neightbor north, one neighbor south, and 6 neighbors across the street, but our zoning is AG2, and this enables us to keep farm animals on our 5 acres. Still, after 10 years there, we try VERY HARD NOT to pxss off any of our neighbors!!

JUST MHO, in hopes to save you some future grief. It sounds like your pond neighbors are low-lifes! ...maybe they'll move...