Large algae blooms, in addition to being unsightly, can cause a myriad of problems for pond or lake health such as:

• Ruin a beautiful views in only a couple days of growth.
• Monopolizing the oxygen your fish need to survive
• Making it difficult or impossible to use your pond for swimming, boating, or fishing.

Unfortunately, some types of algae can be even more of a menace than they at first appear and can even threaten danger to you and your family. Lyngbya is one of these types; it can perform a hostile takeover and be very difficult to get rid of.

What is it?

Lyngbya is a blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, that grows in thick mats. If you’re unlucky enough to have the giant variety, known as Lyngbya Wollei, these mats can quickly grow to several acres in size if left untreated. This is bad news for a number of reasons beyond the problems caused by less noxious algae. For example:

• Lyngbya forms thick mats that can impede boating
• Lyngbya makes your pond smell bad
• Some types of Lyngbya give off toxins hazardous to everyone who wants to use the pond
• Lyngbya can make fish and shellfish toxic and bad-tasting
• As you can see, in addition to being obnoxious, this algae can be a danger to both humans and animals.

Here are some of the adverse effects its toxins can have:

• Coming into contact with it (such as while swimming) can cause a rashlike skin irritation
• Absorbing the toxin can also result in problems such as eye irritation and respiratory swelling
• In some people, the toxin can produce an allergic reaction
• Ingesting the algae (or a contaminated substance, such as pond water) can lead to illness or poisoning

What do we do about it?

It’s vital to eliminate Lyngbya as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, though, it grows in such dense formation that it can be nearly impossible to kill without specialized treatments. Because of this, our pond management company uses highly targeted algae-killing products that deliver chelated copper directly into the algae’s cells to kill them.

Captain XTR, which uses SEPRO’s advanced formula that includes a surfactant to make sure copper actually penetrate inside to destroy the algae cells.

It’s easiest to control Lyngbya if it’s caught early, but we’ll treat it at any stage we find. If your Lyngbya has already formed a huge, dense mat on the surface of your pond or lake, we’ll take a boat out and use a high-powered spray to help the treatment get all the way through and kill as many algae cells as possible.

The appearance of such a noxious algae can be a traumatic experience for any pond owner, but it shouldn’t keep you from fully enjoying your pond in the future! Once the initial crisis is past, our pond and lake management services can help you keep your pond in the best of health and give you pointers on preventing a reoccurrence.

For example, having your pond or lake checked regularly for incipient Lyngbya growth and controlling levels of nutrients in the water can help reduce the chances that you’ll have to deal with this type of problem again in the future.

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