Lake Dye

[bojans]

We are dealing with some weed issues in our lake and we are considering dyeing the lake. Our site is an old quarry, deep and very clear. The water skis fast. I know some people complain about the way dyed water skis. Does anyone have any experience with Sensient dye? The lake person we are working with suggested this is used in many ski lakes with little to no change in the way the lake skis.

[eleeski]

Sensient was great to deal with and worked. But dye is a commodity with minor differences in quality. Get what is easiest and most convenient. My brother (and sometimes I) uses Tractor Supply because he is too lazy to order it.

 

I have never noticed a difference between dye or none for skiing. People gripe about the most trivial things. Not sure if it's better dyed or not for those with a preference. Random?

 

The lake looks prettier and will have less weeds.

 

Eric

[OldGuysRule]

We have dyed our Brewski Lake in Indianapolis for the past few years. We have extremely clear water which promotes weed growth. We also spread some copper sulfate last year around the edges to inhibit algae growth. Didn't affect the fish population. Several other lakes in our area dye their lakes with no negative results. First time I've heard of skiing issues with dye.

 

[bigskieridaho]

We put dye and copper sulfate in ours and it is the only way to go. Just make sure it is done before the bloom happens.

[skiinxs]

We had been having a bad problem with weeds and algae the past few years. Tried dye last year for the first time (used Sensient). The lake looked great after adding the dye, not the fake looking milkish blue I have noticed in other dyed lakes, it was more a Caribbean blue. (Used 10 gallons of blue and two gallons of black). The result was much better than I had even hoped for. Absolutely no weeds or algae all summer. I don't know if the dye was 100% responsible or if it just knocked the weeds down enough that the grass carp could finish the job, but the grass carp by themselves were not getting it done by themselves in previous years. I did not notice any difference in the way that the lake skied and have heard no negative comments from anyone else. The water still feels nice and slow to me (from what I can remember, it has been a long winter).

 

 

[Marco]

+1 on the Sensient. That and grass carp have kept our lake weed free for years. I haven't noticed any change in the way it skis, but we have been using it since the year after we built the lake, so it is hard to know for sure.

[A_B]

@OldGuysRule if you are still getting algae use more dye.

[bojans]

Thanks guys, a couple more questions about the dye.

 

We currently have about 20-30' of visibility in our lake, this makes it very easy to find sub buoys, does this become a difficult task after dyeing the lake? One of the great things about our lake is how clean the water it, you feel clean when you get out. Does the Sensient dye change the feel of the water on your skin? Is this dye a once a year treatment or does it generally need to be touched up throughout the year?

 

Thanks again

[skiinxs]

I did ours once and it made it through the year. That probably depends on how much water you run out of your spillway. Last year I got luck and timed it perfect. I think the water level only made it to the spillway once all summer and only for an hour or two. The water feels the same on my skin. Since the purpose of the dye is to reduce visibility, you should not be able to see your sub bouys if you have it dyed properly. As long as they are not deeper than your feet, you can do what I do, which is to line up with intersections of the other buoys and feel them with your feet when you are in position.

[bojans]

Thanks, that helps. Our lake does not have an outflow, it is spring fed so I think one treatment per year may do well for us.

[Horton]

We have to dye all out lakes here in Bakersfield. If we do not they will be overtaken with weeds. I hate the way it looks but it is better than weeds. It skis fine. I know some FL skiers think the dye is the reason why CA lakes ski do different from FL lakes. I am not sure about that.

[bishop8950]

I don’t think dying a lake alone had any real impact on how it skis. If you are very clear it won’t take a lot of dye to see a color change. Murky water requires more dye. Murky water also requires more frequent treatment. Given the size/depth/clarity of your lake I am not sure exactly how much dye you will need. But it’s a good place to start tommanage weed growth. If the dye doesn’t work go to herbicides.

 

The sentient dye worked great. I found the powder form, while it makes logical sense, a real pain to install without making a mess. We now use product from Key colour which we like and find comparable to sensient liquid dye

[eleeski]

Aquashade is the original lake dye. They shipped a plastic worm colored to the optimal level for weed prevention. Match the water in a glass to the worm color and you are good.

 

My dye does sun bleach out with time so I top it off a few times a year.

 

I need to build a mechanical weed harvester.

 

Eric

[Marco]

@bishop8950 Yes, the granules are a mess to install from a boat. We install them at our water inlet using a PAM (polyacrylamide) feeder. It is basically a small box with a spring loaded conveyor belt that you pull back. You put the dye on the belt and it slowly is released into the incoming water. No mess. If we do it at night, it is evenly distributed by morning.

[A_B]

We have died our lake so long I can’t remember how long it’s been. 20 years I would

Guess. Water has cleaned up and is very clear. Even though it’s blue you could probably see yellow or white sub buoys 4-5 foot down. You could always could create a loop two foot under water to put an extra sub buoy on when you take your buoys off.

 

We have used high density liquid that comes out like syrup, powder, and Sensient pellets.

By far the easiest and less Smurf-producing product is the pellets shaken out of their containers over the side of the boat.

 

Powder was a disaster. Everything and everyone was blue.

 

We use the comcentrated liquid just because it’s cheaper (way cheaper than Aqua Shade). But I have a unique source for that. If I didn’t have it, I would go Sensient pellets.

 

We recharge in early Spring with 10 gallons and then around late July we add a little, say 5

Gallons. We have high water In Spring and lose a lot of runoff. When I waited for water to lower one year, we got some algae back. So even though I know I am losing money out of our overflow, I hate algae more.

 

15 gallons of our concentrated “slurry” liquid is about 50 pounds of sold dye.

 

1 gallon of Aquashade is 12% Blue 1% Yellow amd 77% water. For over $40.

 

Do the math with Sensient dry material and see how much you are paying for the weight of the solids. That’s what you are buying.

 

The other option is to call a chemical company that sells acid blue and acid yellow dies and see what you can buy per pound for. 12:1 blue to yellow ratio. Yellow blocks a different spectrum of light than blue although we

Don’t use yellow all the time and I know 2 lakes that don’t use yellow at all. Still works.

 

I think we have bought powder from Butler Chemical before when our slurry source was out of product. Don’t apply powder from your boat. It is a mess.

 

That’s all I know.

 

 

 

 

[The_MS]

Diuron 80 DF

[bojans]

@MS are you using that in the water? Any idea of the amount per sq foot? Is this for weed control or alge control? A quick search was inconclusive.

[The_MS]

Check out a Mississippi study on catfish farms. I have heard of 25 lbs of granular being added to a normal ski lake about 5-6 foot deep with great results on weeds and algae. It does not kill the long stringy filamentous algae but basically everything else.

[A_B]

We had filmentius moss algae and tried Cutrine and Copper Sulfate for a few years and hit the jackpot when we went to dye and sterile Amurs (grass carp). The carp eat the algae when there is nothing else to eat. We have not added any Amurs in over 20 years and have some pretty big monsters at this point. The bass, bluegill, perch, shad and minnow population is doing very well. Seems like a good eco system. Clear water, lots of fish, and no gradu.

[skiinxs]

@A_B If your grass carp are 20 years old, they probaly don't eat much any more. I used to think that the bigger they got the more they eat, but experts tell me that they eat the most from around three to nine years old. We now try to add a few more every couple years to ensure that some are in their prime eating years.

[Marco]

You are spot on @skiinxs . We add a handful of 9"-12 " every two years or so, and have zero weed problems. The older ones are huge, but with slow metabolisms, they don't eat much.

[lkb]

Anybody know if there is a dye that doesn't turn the water an unnatural color?

[A_B]

What is an unnatural color?

The dye screens the sun.

Use just blue for bluer water and blue with yellow in 12:1 ratio for bluish green.

 

[lkb]

@A_B I need to dye mine because of weeds but I don't want to change the color. Seems like all the dyed lakes I've seen made the water look like an unnatural color...not sure how else to describe it but it's usually easy to tell they've been dyed. Sounds like bluish green would be closer to natural color around here.

[A_B]

Thinking back a long time ago, our lake was sort of blue green when we bought it but more like old swimming pool water. I ski in a non-dyed lake and it is sort of dark green but clear with lots of weeds. They just put up with the weeds.

 

I would just add the yellow tartazine to get that aquamarine look. I have seen a black dye but I don’t know anything about that and how effective it is.

 

I hate algae so I’ll put up with bluer water in exchange.

[A_B]

Blue vs black dye.

 

https://blog.thepondguy.com/2009/05/29/how-do-i-reduce-mosquitoes-around-my-pond-pond-lake-q-a-week-ending-may-30th/

 

[A_B]

@skiinxs I called the fish farm today and they told me the same thing about the large submarines we have swimming around.

 

They also said that Tilapia are major algae eaters. They are not sterile but they said in our area, they die off as the water gets below 50 degrees. They are a warm water fish and wouldn’t die down south or out west in warmer climates.

 

Does anyone use Tilapia for algae over Amurs?

 

I am not sure about having dead fish floating in the Fall.

[Skoot1123]

Before buying tilapia make sure you talk to the DNR in your state. I know in Illinois it is a felony if you stock tilapia - even if they die in the fall. Think Asian Carp in the Illinois river for the reason why - tilapia are an invasive species.

[A_B]

Good point. Ohio is cool with Amurs and Tilapia, Michigan is not.

 

Tilapia breed prolifically, so I am leary of a mass killoff of dozens of fish in the water in the Fall. I have no experience with them.