Am I Getting the Right Product?

Introduction

Lake Restoration is here to help with your aquatic weed control needs. We have all the tools and tips you need to purchase the correct product for the issues you are having with your lake or pond.

Included here all the steps involved in finding aquatic weed herbicides and an animal safe algaecide, including using Lake Restoration’s aquatic weed identification tool on our website, such as the Reverse Image Search Aquatic Plant Identifier tool, and the Aquatic Plant Identifier Digital Field Guide. These two tools will be essential in figuring out what product you need, because the first step in finding the right product is to know which plant(s) you are up against.

The next step will be thinking about what types of herbicides and algaecides you would prefer to use when treating your lakeshore or pond. Finally, the last step will be choosing the herbicide and or algaecide that is best for you.

Identify Weeds/Algae

It is important to know which plant(s) you are combating. But you may be asking yourself: How do you identify what plants you have? Are they even aquatic weeds? Is it pond algae? Lake algae? That is what our Plant Identifier Digital Field Guide is for!

This tool can be found by hovering over the Resources tab at the top of the page and selecting Aquatic Plant ID. If you have an idea as to which kind of plant you are dealing with, but you want to be sure, you can use our search bar under Search Aquatic Plants. This will populate a picture and the name of the plant searched, along with any subspecies that has the word searched for in the name.

For example, searching “pondweed” will bring up all the different types of pondweed there are. Clicking on the plants will give you more details and more pictures of that specific plant so you can compare what you have with what is being shown for the plant you selected.

If you have no idea what the plant is called, that’s okay! You can select the different filters underneath the search bar to narrow down what the plant is based on how it looks. These filters include, but are not limited to, leaf shape, leaf size, flowers, submerged weeds, floating weeds, etc.

The Reverse Image Search Aquatic Plant Identifier is a fantastic tool on this same page that allows you to just upload a photo of a plant and possible matches will show up. All you need to do is click the grey box and add the image(s) of the plant(s) you want to get rid of. You can even just drag the image(s) over the grey box to upload it as well.

Once you’ve added your first image it will immediately start to populate results for what the plant is. You can continue to add more images, which can help narrow down the results. The best images to add are close up photos.

If you can pull some of the plants out of the water and get clear pictures of their leaves/stems, this will help the Reverse Image Search Aquatic Plant Identifier tool in getting the most accurate results.

Once you have identified which plant(s) you have and you are on a specific plant’s description page, there will be a big blue box on the right side of the screen that says, “Management Options.” If you click that box, it will open a weed control page that shows which products are recommended to treat the plant with, as well as which products are best for a lake or a pond.

If you are still unsure of which aquatic weed killer is needed, or what to use for pond algae control, call our team of specialists at 763-428-9777, or email Plants@LakeRestoration.com. The most helpful photos are close up pictures that clearly show any leaves, stems, or flowers the plant(s) may have.

Choose Herbicides

Once the plants are identified, the next step to getting the right product is choosing an herbicide. Herbicides are products used to control various vegetation such as submerged or floating weeds.

Which herbicide is needed depends mostly on what plant species are being targeted and your preferred application technique. All the herbicides we sell are fish safe herbicides as long as you only treat one third to half the pond at a time and wait two weeks between treatments. This is done to avoid oxygen levels from dropping too quickly as all the plants die at once.

Three of our most popular herbicides that are used for aquatic weed removal are Dibrox, Spritflo, and Hydrothol. These products all do a fantastic job at controlling a wide variety of both submerged and floating weeds. The table below shows differences and similarities of the three.

	Dibrox	Spritflo	Hydrothol
Form	Liquid	Liquid	Granules
Use where	Ponds or lakes	Ponds only	Lakes only
Application	Spray over surface, product sinks down where sprayed	Pour directly in, product disperses throughout entire body of water	Broadcast granules directly over weeds
Results	17-21 days	30-45 days	17-21 days
Re-treat	When weeds re-grow, typically 4-6 weeks later	Up to two treatments allowed at 45 ppb rate	When weeds re-grow, typically 4-6 weeks later
Other	Fast-acting and can be used in moving waters	For enclosed ponds only (no outflow) – treats entire body of water. Longer lasting control.	Fast-acting and can be used in moving waters

 

Before making a decision, a few questions to ask yourself include: Do I want a liquid or granular herbicide? Should this product be used in a pond or lake? How long will it take to see results, and how often will I need to retreat? What size area am I treating? How does cost factor in?

Lake Restoration’s product experts can help answer these questions through email or a phone conversation. We will identify your weeds and go through the above questions with you to determine the best solution for your specific needs.

Choose Algaecides

If you don’t have submerged or floating weeds, or you have algae in addition to weeds, a pond algae treatment will be needed. Copper algaecides are the most effective, and they come in liquid or granular form. If your pond has koi, trout, or channel catfish, then you will need a fish safe algaecide that does not have copper in it. These specific types of fish are sensitive to copper.

The chart below shows our most popular algaecides: Mizzen, copper sulfate, and Cape Furl. All three of these work great against many different types of algae.

	Mizzen	Copper Sulfate	Cape Furl
Form	Liquid	Powder or crystals	Powder
Use where	Ponds or lakes	Ponds or lakes	Ponds
Application	Spray over surface, product sinks down where sprayed	Broadcast directly over algae	Broadcast directly over algae
Results	7-14 days	7-14 days	Almost immediate
Re-treat	As needed when algae bloom again	As needed when algae bloom again	As needed when algae bloom again
Other	Do not use in ponds with trout, koi, or channel catfish	Do not use in ponds with trout, koi, or channel catfish	Safe for all fish, including trout, koi, and channel catfish

 

You will once again want to ask yourself a few questions: Do I want to apply a liquid or granular algaecide? What kind of fish do I have in my pond, and are they sensitive to copper in the water? Lake algae control can be achieved through the use of a copper algaecide such as Mizzen or copper sulfate. Getting rid of pond algae depends on if you have copper-sensitive fish or not. If you don’t have koi, trout, or channel catfish, a copper algaecide is recommended.

Conclusion

Finding the right product involves three main steps: first identify the plant, then consider which type of product you prefer to use, finally, choose the herbicide or algaecide that is best for you. If you are still unsure of what plants you have or products you need, call us at 763-428-9777 or email photos to Plants@LakeRestoration.com. Now that you know that you are getting the right product, you are on your way to once again having your lake or pond clear and beautiful.