Floating Island International logo
CONTACT

Chuck's Pond -
An Application Story

For 55 years Chuck Gainan has run a successful garden center and flower business in Billings, Montana. In 2000, Chuck purchased a new home with sizeable acreage. The property included an established, spring-fed, 1.2-acre pond stocked with rainbow trout. The pond was an appealing feature on the property since it was close to the house and was surrounded by hardwood trees and flowering vegetation. This was going to be a great gathering place for family and friends to enjoy fishing and water sports.

Picture Perfect

Today the pond is a beautiful and useful part of the property. There are pockets of foliage in parts of the pond that are great for fish cover. The floating islands that have been launched are abloom in the summer with wildflowers and grasses – it is a spectacular vista.

No Big Deal

Prior to purchasing the property, Chuck knew there were some issues with the pond. He’ll tell you that being in the garden business, he had ‘a pretty flip attitude’ towards dealing with an abundance of algae and weeds. It was, in his words, “no big deal, I can handle it”. Well, after the first couple years of owning the property, it became clear that the algae issue was a bigger problem than Chuck had reckoned. Not knowing what to do Chuck did the logical thing – he turned to the internet to research solutions and solution providers. Early on, he spoke to a Minnesota-based pond management company. They recommended the use of chemicals to combat the algae and weed growth. For more than 10 years, and guided by their instruction, Chuck religiously purchased and used their chemicals – but to no avail. The chemicals were not clearing the pond. By 2007, the algae bloom had decimated the pond’s oxygen levels. The rainbow trout died off.

chuck's pond as it is now - clean and beautiful

But Chuck’s pond wasn’t always the beautiful water feature it is today…
 
 
Knowing that there had to be a solution to his pond problems, Chuck did more research. He stumbled across a company in Pennsylvania that works with golf courses to clean their waterways. This company recommended the use of some chemicals but also strongly recommended aeration. Once the aeration was installed, there was a notable difference; however, during the summer months, the pond again formed an algae carpet that was as green as the surrounding grass. In fact, the family dog walking about on the dock was surprised when he stepped off, thinking he was jumping onto the grass, only to find himself splashing about! Work still needed to be done.

Enter Floating Island International

In 2014 Chuck visited the Shepherd Research Center, headquarters for Floating Island International (FII) where he met CEO Bruce Kania. The two men struck up a friendship and Bruce helped Chuck develop a plan to clean his pond once and for all. The plan advocated harvesting the algae. At first, the harvest needed to occur every week – this made a noticeable difference. Chuck introduced bass into the pond.

In May 2015 twelve BioHaven® islands – clustered in groups of 3 – were launched. The islands were planted with colorful wildflowers and indigenous grasses that bloom throughout the spring and summer months. Additionally, a floating treatment streambed (FTS) was launched. The FTS maximizes wetland performance by using a directional diffuser which draws in and aerates over ten thousand gallons of water per minute, exposing it to the atmosphere where it soaks up oxygen like a sponge, then pushing it through the BioHaven matrix and plant roots. The combination of BioHaven floating islands, the FTS and the regular algae harvest removed all traces of algae on the pond.

However, Chuck was still having problems with weed growth. The pond weeds were growing 3-4 inches above the water line making it impossible to fish. In the spring of 2016, as soon as the weeds started to grow, Chuck strategically applied 150 lbs. of aquacide pellets to approximately 85% of the pond – leaving weeds in areas that fish could use for cover. This final component was highly successful.

Lessons Learned

Chuck is very happy with his pond today – the difference is night and day.

 
He has some critical lessons learned that would have saved a great deal of time and money had he known then what he knows now…
 
 

Chuck’s Advice for Pond Owners

Working on fixing his pond

 
  1. A pond on your property can be an asset or a liability. You need to think of yourself as a water steward and stay on top of water quality.
  2. If you have issues with your pond – do A LOT of research. Don’t rely on one company to tell what you should do – talk to a lot of people.
  3. Know that your pond is a long-term project, and you need to be committed to its maintenance.
  4. A natural, holistic way is best – relying on salespeople for information led me to buy their products, which is what they intended, but it wasn’t the best solution for my pond.
  5. With what I spent on chemicals over the years, I could have easily purchased the floating islands.
  6. Fourteen years of struggles with algae could have been greatly reduced if I had done the appropriate due diligence at the outset.
 

“In hindsight, I could have taken all that money I spent over the years on chemicals, and simply invested in a BioHaven solution which is a much more natural way to transition water. At the end of the day, given the opportunity, water stewardship is an important role we place upon ourselves and I’m proud that I have been able to make a positive difference.”

Chuck Gainan