Services

Assessment

In order to properly assess and understand the factors affecting the health of your pond or lake, an on-site visit may be necessary. Another benefit of an on-site visit may provide specific information to best determining the management plan that will need to be used to meet your goals and produce an overall healthier pond or lake ecosystem. Please contact us to schedule an on-site assessment.

Aeration Systems

From an overall pond health improvement standpoint, aeration systems are one of the best practices you can install in your pond. The systems we offer and install are standard electric and wind systems. The standard electric system use either linear diaphragms, rocking piston or rotary vane compressors. If electricity is not available or an option to have installed, we offer and install windmill aeration systems in a variety of sizes and for all applications. No matter the location we have a system that will work in your pond or lake.

Aquatic Vegetation Assessment & Management

Iowa Algae ControlAquatic vegetation can become a real headache for pond owners when it takes over their pond, not to mention hindering your ponds potential eye appeal. In general, some aquatic vegetation is healthy for the pond’s aquatic inhabitants (e.g., fish, insects, amphibians). However, if aquatic vegetation is covering more than 30% of your pond it may be cause for concern. If this is the case, there may be several reasons for the vegetation’s presence and growth patterns. Generally speaking most aquatic vegetation is best managed in the spring and early summer months, but this doesn’t mean that addressing late summer and fall pond vegetation concerns are impossible. If you have a vegetation problem or concern please contact us and we will arrange a time to meet on site and discuss vegetation management options and a long term management plan. I encourage starting a management plan that incorporates preventative, biological, mechanical, and cultural methods, with the use of labeled aquatic herbicides as a last resort.

Docks

Docks are a feature that can be added to ponds and lakes to provide greater accessibility and recreational potential to that water body. They can be formed into numerous different layouts given the different lengths, widths, and shaped pieces available. Docks are made of aluminum and constructed in such a manner to be installed as floating, standing, or roll-in style docks.  Smaller ponds and lakes generally utilize floating docks for their ease of installation, which Iowa Pond Guy can provide for a fee.  Dock accessories such as bench seats, boat cleats, swimming ladders, canoe/kayak holders, etc are available.

Fish Habitat Structures

Artificial fish structures are the quickest way to place much needed fish habitat/structure into a pond or lake in the specific locations best suited for their purpose.  Structures come in many different sizes and shapes and can be located on the bottom of the pond or floating suspended.  These structures are often made of a composite/PVC type material that will last a very long time, far exceeding the life span of traditional structures such as pallets and pine trees.  Most ponds during construction don’t think about the need for fish structure and thus these ponds are smooth bottomed and feature less.  This provides younger juvenile file no place to hide from larger predators and thus can lead to an unbalanced fish population.  Artificial structures provide an important element to the overall health and balance in a pond.

Fish Kill

If your pond has an excessive amount of aquatic vegetation, you want to know your ponds dissolved oxygen level, or you recently had a fish kill in your pond please call us ASAP to arrange to meet with you on site and discuss vegetation management options, water quality testing options, and determining the cause of the fish kill and your re-stocking options. It is imperative you call ASAP following the fish kill so water quality testing can be done immediately to accurately determine the cause.

Fish Kill Inspection and Re-stocking

longnetFish kills are often a natural summer and winter occurrence for ponds throughout the upper Midwest. Fish kills can be caused by a variety of things, but most often are associated with very low dissolved oxygen levels. Dissolved oxygen is what fish need in high enough concentrations to pass over their gills for respiration. When water temperatures become very high, water has a lower affinity for holding oxygen and fish begin to stress and eventually die if the stress is prolonged or is acute. When dissolved oxygen levels dip below 5 mg/L warm water species begin to become affected. Warm summer days raising water temperature into the 80 degree Fahrenheit range for a prolonged period of time can cause a fish kill. On the same note, too much aquatic vegetation in your pond can have the same effect.  What happens in these scenarios is either, oxygen is being removed from the water column at night or by naturally being used up by bacteria and other aquatic organisms during the breakdown and decaying process of dying or dead aquatic vegetation.

Fish Population Assessment & Management

Managing existing fish populations in ponds can be a real challenge, especially considering most owners do not have the time or the resources to effectively and efficiently sample the fish population. If this is you and you would like to know what the status of your fish population (e.g., fish health, size distribution, species present, species reproduction success, forage base for predators species, etc.) is please contact Iowa Pond Guy to arrange a time to meet with you on site and discuss fish population assessment and management options and the development of a long-term management plan. If a long-term management plan is desired sampling would take place and an annual report drafted and sent to the pond owner indicating the status of the pond and synthesized information for each of the fish species present in the pond sampled.  We are able to provide fish population and management services using either electrofishing boat gear or seine net gear, depending on the pond and accessibility.

Fountains

Fountains are a great way to add visual appeal to your pond or lake. Fountains come in many sizes and configurations. We offer fountains with or without lights and numerous options for spray patterns.  If you are contemplating a fountain for your pond, please contact us to discuss if a fountain is the correct application for your pond and to work together to select the appropriate fountain for your pond.

Nuisance Fish Species Removal (e.g., carp, bullhead, etc.)

catfishIf you own a pond dominated by carp and bullhead you are probably not happy with the quality of recreational fishing available. Once in a pond, carp and bullhead will reproduce consistently and effectively to the point that if unchecked, will take over and ruin your ponds recreational fishery by stirring up bottom sediments. This in turn makes it very difficult for game fish species to feed, spawn, and grow efficiently. If you or someone you know has a pond full of nuisance species and want to reclaim the pond for an acceptable recreational fishery please call Iowa Pond Guy to arrange an appointment with you on site, determine which nuisance species are present, and the management options for the pond.

Pond Design, building and repair

If you have a site on your property you are interested in building a pond, we can assist with; site selection, pond design, and the actual building of your pond. If you have a current pond site and it doesn’t have the correct soil properties for a pond or is leaking we can provide options for constructing or repairing a pond using options like bentonite and liners to establish a healthy pond.

Ultrasonic Algae Control

Another option for algae control in Iowa ponds and lakes are ultrasonic algae control devices. The devices we use are state of the art equipment for algae and bio-film control. The device does no harm to higher order organisms such as fish and plants, nor does it harm bio-solids and plank-tonic organisms. The device creates ultrasonic frequencies that create internal vibrations in algae cells or in organelles inside the algae cells that disable them. This is another tool in our toolbox to control unwanted algae problems without the use of chemicals.

Water Quality Testing

Lake and Pond Water QualityWater quality is one of the most overlooked tests when one is considering the health of their aquatic ecosystem. Water quality can be an indicator of what kinds of aquatic insects, fish, plants and amphibians you might find in you pond or stream. Generally speaking, poor water quality (e.g., low dissolved oxygen, low pH, high bacteria) ponds, lakes and streams are often inhabited by only a few tolerant aquatic species, whereas a high water quality system will usually have a higher number of aquatic species present if there is suitable habitat to support them. Water quality testing is recommended on a monthly basis, but given our weather patterns and time constraints one should concentrate on the period from April to October for testing. Common water quality parameters we test for include but are not limited to: dissolved oxygen, pH, ammonia, phosphorus, nitrate and nitrite, chloride, fecal coli-forms/bacteria, blue-green algae, water transparency, total nutrients, water temperature, etc. Contact us to arrange a time to meet on site and discuss which water quality parameters you would like to test.


Iowa Pond Guy L.L.C.
(515) 205-9803
E-mail: [email protected]