Breaking the Ice: How The Ice Eater Keeps Your Water Accessible and Thriving
Winter can be a challenging time for boat owners, marina operators, and anyone living by the water. The sight of ice forming around boats, docks,
BLOGS
You know the feeling. You’ve changed into your swimwear, and the sun is shining, the birds are singing — it’s a picture-perfect day. The water is that sublime kind of cool you crave on a hot afternoon. You take a few steps in, and the water meets you.
And then it happens. It feels like an old record player sounds when you drag the needle across the vinyl. You’ve stepped into the Ooze Zone layer. You now have that slimy sludge stuck to the bottom of your feet.
You move faster, trying to skid it off when abruptly you are hit with the next insult: slimy, fishy-smelling weeds. You try to gracefully free yourself, but this is not your day all of a sudden. The mood is gone, and you make a snap decision. The weeds are on notice, and they’re taking that repulsive sludge with them.
Bob Willard of Pond Perfections recommends 8 ways and methods of taking care of your sludge and aquatic lake weeds removal issues. Some are mechanical, and others are biological. Let’s take a look at the different lake weed control tools and methods available so you can make an informed decision about what will work best for your pond or lake.
Types of Aquatic Weeds
The aquatic vegetation is an essential part of the ecosystem. Still, it may become harmful to the aquatic life when they overgrow.
When aquatic weeds cover more than 25% of the surface of the water, it is considered overgrowth and will harm the health of the lake, which will hinder the fun of swimming!
Different aquatic weed species grow in the lakes and ponds, and each specie of such weed has different characteristics and grows in various areas of the pond or lake. Aquatic weeds can also vary in color, from bright green to yellow. And each plant life requires a method of aquatic weed control that suits the plant’s characteristics.
Algae
Algae is a type of plant, but not the kind you’re probably thinking of. The algae that grow in a lake are plant-like organisms that have no roots or leaves and can range in color from green, red, or brown. They grow in ponds and lakes, which can often be seen on the surface of the water or on rocks near the shoreline.
Algae reproduce quickly and can create large mats on the water’s surface. They get their energy from sunlight and other sources like dissolved carbon dioxide and nutrients in fresh water.
There main types of algae in Canada are:
- Filamentous algae
- Planktonic algae
- Chara algae
Each type of algae has a different effect on a pond or lake ecosystem. Harmful algae can cause problems when they grow out of control.
However, you can control harmful algae growth by shading your lake and blocking the sunlight from reaching the algae. you can also physically remove them with a filter, or net.
Floating Weeds
These plants are just what they sound like. They grow on the surface of the water and don’t have roots resulting in moving freely around the lake or pond with the wind. Some of these floating aquatic vegetations can have beautiful flowers. Still, they can quickly take over the pond if not kept in check and eventually spread across the lake, resulting in a total block of sunlight and oxygen from reaching anything below. These types of plants are easy to remove by hand, but they will grow back quickly. You can also use a net to remove them from your pond. Here are some types of the floating aquatic weeds:
- Water Lettuce
- Duckweed
- Watermeal
- Water Hyacinth
- Water Lilies
Submerged Weeds
Submerged weeds are rooted in the pond or lake bottom. They have long, thin leaves that grow up to the surface of the water. The upper part has very soft stems that float on the water’s surface but don’t rise above the surface. Take notice that submerged weeds can become invasive. You can cut such stems by manual methods such as a roller or razer. Also, you may consider shading the lake with water dyes or planting some trees to hinder the dense growth. Some of the submerged aquatic vegetations are:
- Milfoil
- Coontail
- Sago Pondweed
- Curly-Leaf Pondweed
- Hydrilla
- Clasping-Leaf Pondweed
Emergent Weeds
Emergent weeds also are rooted in the small lake bottom, but their leaves and stems grow out of the water. They can be found along the shoreline or in shallow areas of the lake. Such plants are considered invasive species as they grow rapidly and spread via rhizomes. As these invasive species can grow to be very tall when you leave them without trimming, they block access to your lake. There are various methods to remove such weeds, including hand pulling, lake weed razers, and aeration. Removing them at the right time of the year will affect their growth significantly. Also, aquatic herbicides are effective for shoreline aquatic vegetations with deep roots. Some common types of emergent plants are:
- Cattails
- Water-shield
- Phragmites
- Bulrush
Manual Methods
You may consider the manual weed removal method, including pulling and seasonal cutting for aquatic vegetations.
Manual tools are an excellent way to remove lake weeds without using harsh chemicals. There are a few different manual tools that you can use so your lake becomes weed free.
Aquatic Weed Roller
These lake weed removal products are enormously popular. It is the most aggressive lake weed, algae, and sludge reduction tool on the market!
“This works like an underwater rototiller,” Bob explains. The Aquatic Weed Roller is an aquatic weed reduction tool that reduces sludge, muck, rooted weeds, and vegetation along your shoreline. Anyone can easily use the roller and remove lake weed species around docks, along shorelines, ponds, and swimming areas.
The roller has six custom blades for cutting and ripping out green stuff such as lily pads and Chara algae. And it includes five 4-foot-long handle sections you can attach quickly with a simple push of a spring in the handles.
Weed Razer
The Weed Razer helps you with rooted weeds removal in just minutes. It is a unique V-shaped lake weed cutter with razor-sharp blades designed to be the most efficient and effective tool to cut weeds in deep pond or lake water. As a result, it cuts and shears almost any type of rooted plants at the lake bottom, such as water milfoil, water lilies, sago pondweed, and coontail.
Cottage owners can shear aquatic weeds such as water lilies with ease by using the Weed Razer, which can also cut cattails. This is the ideal tool to remove lake weeds in deeper water, which typically only grow tall enough to be a nuisance towards the end of summer. We recommend that you remove the cut weeds from the water with a weed net once you cut or shear the pond or lake weeds, as decaying vegetation will provide nutrients that can stimulate new pond or lake weeds.
Custom Aquatic Weed Net
This type of net is designed to remove pond and lake weeds cut with the Weed Razer. The net has a long handle to reach the plants even if they are in deep water and catch a lot of plants at one time.
As the cut lake weeds are full of oxygen, they quickly float to the top. Nets save you time and your back! It is effortless and a must for pond and cottage owners around docks and shorelines.
For easy removal, you may use the Custom-Made Aquatic Weed Net. It is simple and ten times faster at taking out floating plants and algae.
Mechanical Methods
Mechanical methods are those in which you use some type of machinery or equipment to remove the plants. Some aquatic plants are better and easier to remove with specialized equipment such as an aquatic weed blower or aerators.
Mechanical tools can be a good option if you don’t have that much time and do not want to spend hours pulling weeds out by hand. They are greatly helpful in aquatic weed control if you want a clean and healthy swimming area.
Ice Eater / Weeds Away our Weed Blower
Weeds Away our Aquatic Weed Blower is a machine that blows weeds, plants, and debris away from your dock or beach area up to 100 feet away. The blower is an effortless and efficient way to remove floating pond weeds and debris from your lake shoreline or pond swimming area. As it circulates the water, the growth of aquatic weeds will be hindered due to the fast-moving water.
The ice eater is designed to prevent ice formation around boats, marinas, boat lifts, and boathouses, and keep pond water open to prevent fish kill. But in summer, lake or pond owners can use it as an aquatic weed blower to blow floating weeds and plants, such as milfoil, aquatic plants, and floating debris away from your dock or lakeshore.
Dock Mounting System
You may consider the heavy-duty steel and galvanized Dock Mounting System. It perfectly fits the Ice Eater / Aquatic Weed Blower and Weeds Away, which adds flexibility to the angling blower direction. It moves in a full 360 degrees to cover as many areas as possible with six different angles for various uses. Also, it’s easy to install and includes a 6’ steel galvanized pipe to reach the lake bottom as lower as you need.
You can use the Dock Mounting System in summers to blow the aquatic vegetation such as lily pads and debris from your swim area and help you cover the shallow or deep waters.
Shallow Water Portable Mount System
You can support your Ice Eater or Weeds Away by placing the heavy-duty Portable Mount System in not-so-deep water. You can easily move it with the two 8″ wheels along the shoreline of your lake to clear the floating weed and debris.
The heavy-duty Portable Mount system can be placed in shallow water to support your ice eater / aquatic weed blower. It can be easily moved or slid along the shoreline to clear debris and other weeds in summer and ice in winter by your dock, swim area, or lake frontage.
We recommend choosing the correct cord length when purchasing your unit to meet your needs. This blower is easy to install and rotates 360 degrees; also, it includes a 36” galvanized steel pipe for controlling the height.
Aeration Kit
Pond Perfections offers beautiful floating fountains or surface aerators to keep water moving and fresh. Additionally, an Aeration Kit is a device that uses the power of air to speed stir up the decomposition of the sediment in ponds and lakes, which helps reduce lake weeds.
Various aeration kits are easy to install and come with an air compressor, diffuser, tubing, and all the necessary fittings. You can use it in summer to help you with weed control in ponds by reducing the growth of aquatic weeds, and in winter to prevent fish kill.
The aerator gives you millions of tiny bubbles that rise to the water surface. This process is called airlifting, which allows oxygenation of the water and foul gasses to escape. The bottom aeration systems move large amounts of water from the bottom of the pond to the top. Mixing the oxygen throughout the pond is the perfect method for a weed free pond.
Biological Methods
Pond owners can use biological methods for weed control in ponds. Bob advises spreading environmentally friendly solutions and pellets for the complete approach before using the roller. The roller will push the pellets deeper into the sludge, again increasing the decomposition of the sludge. “Over time, the bottom will become more solid and sandier and weed growth almost disappears.”
Sludge Reduction Pellets
In 2013 Pond Perfections worked with Great Lakes BioSystems to develop a Canadian blend of pellets specifically for colder water and brought it to our customers in Canada. This blend of beneficial bacteria, trace minerals, and amino acids consumes the sludge and prevents excessive weed growth.
When you broadcast the Sludge Reduction Pellets over the outer area of the lake, the pond, and the shoreline, it reduces the lake bottom sludge and muck. These pellets are simple to use, and when you throw them around the water’s surface, they fall to the lake bottom and start solving the problem.
Also, you can use the pellets on the edges of the lakeshores and pond beaches for the purpose of algae and aquatic weed control due to lesser muck for weeds and algae to grow in.
Pond Clarifier Beneficial Bacteria Packets
Great Lakes BioSystems, leaders in bacteria and enzyme cultures, manufactured Pond Clarifier Beneficial Bacteria for Pond Perfections. Ponds have a natural level of good bacteria that helps clean and improve water quality. Numerous dead plants cause high nutrients in ponds and lakes. Algae and oxygen deprivation affect this natural bacteria sufficiency in the ponds that help you have a healthy pond. Pond Clarifier Beneficial Bacteria Packets of beneficial bacteria aid in restoring and maintaining these levels for a pond’s good health.
You can use them to reduce the e-coli in swimming ponds and dugouts to improve water quality. On a calm day, spread Pond Clarifier Beneficial Bacteria across the water’s surface. They will work like magic in improving the quality of the water and the visibility and removing floating weeds resulting in a lower nutrient load.
Shading & Water Dyes
Sunlight is essential for the growth of surface algae and submerged plants such as sago pondweed, milfoil, and coontail. By shading the pond or lake, you can block sunlight that enters the water.
A proven solution we recommend is to add either a Blue or Black Lake and Pond dye. The products we endorse are a proprietary blend of environmentally friendly, nontoxic, water-soluble dyes formulated to reduce sunlight penetration and impart a natural blue color when applied to ponds, lakes, and fountains.
TRUE BLUE EZ SoluPaks and Jet Black EZ SoluPaks are protected by a unique, waterproof, foil-lined over pack to prevent accidental staining while handling. TRUE BLUE, and its water-soluble packaging, dissolve quickly and are nontoxic to turf grass, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, or other aquatic species. Irrigation, swimming, and other recreational uses are approved during and following the use of this product.
The TRUE BLUE Liquid product is the same quality blend of environmentally friendly, nontoxic, water-soluble dye. True Blue Liquid is available in a 4L jug that can be added in spots around the edge of smaller ponds, providing flexibility to add lesser amounts then contained in the packets.
True Blue Pond Dyes, developed by Precision Laboratories is used widely in North America in ponds, lakes, golf courses, and campgrounds.
In summary, the aquatic weed removal tools and methods recommended will keep your swim area free of muck and vegetation. You will be impressed when you see the results! We are eager to aid you in having a balanced and healthy swimming pond or lakefront.
Pond Perfections has the answer to all of your weed woes. If you’re tired of spending hours each week trying to get rid of pesky aquatic vegetation or want to enjoy swimming without worrying about slimy lake weeds, give us a call. We can help you take care of your pond or lakeshore so that it’s perfect for swimming, fishing, and kayaking – without any unsightly weeds getting in the way. So, what are you waiting for? Give us a call today and let Pond Perfections take care of the rest!
Related Posts
9 Things to Consider Before Building your Pond: Expert Advice from the Pond Doctor
BLOGS 9 Things to Consider Before Building your Pond: Expert Advice from the Pond Doctor If you’re reading this, you are probably thinking about building
8 Tools and Methods for Weed Removal and Control in Ponds and Lakes: Create a Weed-Free Swimming Area
BLOGS 8 Tools and Methods for Weed Removal and Control in Ponds and Lakes: Create a Weed-Free Swimming Area You know the feeling. You’ve changed
Muskrat Proofing Your Fountain: How to get rid of muskrats in ponds
BLOGS Muskrat Proofing Your Fountain: How to get rid of muskrats in ponds If you have a fountain or other water feature in your yard,
