Pond Dye is an effective pond management tool, but it can also have unintended consequences. It is best to understand how the product works and what to expect from it before you use it.
Tips for effective use of Pond Dye
The most important thing to remember is to apply Pond Dye early, BEFORE THE PROBLEM WEED HAS PROLIFERATED. The way pond dye works is by blocking sunlight from getting to aquatic weeds, which prevents them from growing. An aquatic weed will not begin growing if it cannot obtain sufficient sunlight, but if it is already established and then the sunlight is removed, it will consume oxygen 24/7 in an attempt to stay alive, which can actually lead to fish kills. We have had at least 3 customers suffer nearly complete fish kills by applying their first dose of Pond Dye mid-summer after the vegetation was already well established.
After you apply Pond Dye, you need to keep an eye on the pond to determine how quickly it is dissipating. You can tell this by monitoring color change. Once there is a noticeable reduction in color intensity, you should do a follow up dose. Usually applying half the original dose will return it to the proper level of color, but this can vary. How often you need to do this is highly variable. Ponds that have no inflow or outflow may only need to re-dose a couple of times a year, but other ponds with groundwater flow may need to do it more often.
How to apply Pond Dye
There are 2 main types of pond dye, liquid and dry. The liquid dyes are very easy to use because they disperse themselves in the water. All you need to do is pour it directly into the water in one spot and it will spread overtime. If you have a very large pond, you may want to hit a few different spots, but you definitely do not need to spray it. In fact, DO NOT SPRAY IT, because it is extremely messy. We like to say that the only thing that will get it out of your clothes is scissors!
The dry dyes are in Water Soluble Packs (wsp), and are designed to be tossed into the pond water. This works pretty well, and can be less messy than liquid, but there are a couple things to know about them. First, there is an outer plastic bag that is not water soluble that needs to be removed. If you do not remove this, the dye is never going to dissolve in your water. Second thing is that the Black and Blue/Black dye packs tend to sink, which can cause an issue if you have a mucky bottomed pond. If the dye pack sinks into the muck before it dissolves in the water, it may take a very long time for the dye to make its way into the water column.
Does the color make a difference?
Not really, all the dyes work about the same. The blue dyes are very noticeable, which is good in determining if you have enough in your pond, but some people do not like the artificial looks of it. Black dye is more natural looking, but it also is harder to determine visually if you have enough in there, especially if the pond has suspended solids. In general if you have turbid water, Pond Dye is not going to do much for you because the turbidity is already blocking out sunlight.
Types of Pond Dye
AquaShade is the standard of the industry, it has been around a long time, and it works really well. It gives the water a bit of a turquoise Caribbean look. The only downside is that it is a bit pricey. General application rate is 1 quart per acre foot of pond water.
Cygnet Select, available in both blue and black are great dyes. The blue is very affordable but the black is our most expensive dye. Application rates for both of these are also around 1 quart per acre foot of pond water.
EasyPro Concentrated Pond Dyes are, as the name says, concentrated, so a little goes a long way. There is Blue and Black, but also a blend called Serenity that is part blue and part black mixed together, giving you the best of both worlds. Application rates for the EasyPro Concentrated Dyes are 1 quart per 3 or 4 acre feet of pond water.
EasyPro Dry Dyes, available in Blue, Black and Serenity, these are the same as the Concentrated Dyes, but in a dry form. Application rates are 1 Water Soluble Pack (wsp) per acre foot of pond water. FYI, there are 4 wsp’s in one bag, so the purchase of one bag will treat 4 acre feet of pond water.
Pond Dye Pros and Cons
In review of what was discussed above, below is a summation of some of the Pros and Cons of Pond Dye:
Pond Dye Pros:
- It blocks out sunlight, minimizing vegetation growth, especially below 4 feet deep.
- Unlike herbicides, it has no water use restrictions.
- In general, you can swim in and irrigate from the pond the same day you apply the product.
- There are very few, if any, residual chemical impacts on the pond
- It is less expensive to use than most algaecides and herbicides.
Pond Dye Cons:
- It will indiscriminately block growth of all vegetation, regardless of whether it is good or bad vegetation.
- It does not block the growth of vegetation in very shallow water.
- When you apply Pond Dye after the vegetation is already there, it does not kill the vegetation. Instead, the vegetation begins to use oxygen from the water to compensate for lack of sunlight. In extreme situations this can lead to fish kills.
- If there is any flow through the pond, you need to regularly reapply the pond dye to keep it at an effective concentration.