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Zebra Mussels


YZThump

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Anyone here boat in Zebra Mussel-infested waters? I've been reading up on the little buggers and they have now spread over every Great Lake and most inland lakes in Wisconsin and Michigan and well as the Mississippi River. Apparently, they can really do some damage when they get imbedded in the cooling passages of the engine, causing the motor to overheat. They also attach themselves to the hull (like barnacles) and drastically reduce performance and efficiency.

The reason I ask is that I'm taking my boat up to Michigan for 10 days in August and will be in a Zebra Mussle infested lake (Black Lake.) I'm thinking about installing a raw water strainer before the impeller.

If you're going to Michigan, chances are the lake you are in will have Zebra Mussels. Don't install a water strainer for the Mussels, you won't suck up adult mussels since they attach themselves to things in the water. If you're boat is only in the water for 10 days, don't worry about them attaching to your boat. I lift mine out of the water on a lift so it doesn't sit in the water, but mine is out all summer.

The real worry about spreading is the microscopic juvenille zebra mussels being transferred to another lake. The heat inside your engine should kill any of the mussels in the engine and exhaust manifold, but you might want to flush it just in case. For ballast, it should be emptied and flushed with something (salt water, bleach, etc.) anything that will kill the juvenille mussels. The outside of the boat should be kept dry for several days or flushed like the ballast.

Do all of this before you return your boat to your home waters (Delaware?) or you'll have some new, undesired friends in your lake.

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  • 1 year later...

Anyone know the ratio of bleach to water to kill these critters? We are trying to keep them out of a private lake and would like to be able to recommend a solution for flushing prior to entering the community.

Thanks,

Steve

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Anyone know the ratio of bleach to water to kill these critters? We are trying to keep them out of a private lake and would like to be able to recommend a solution for flushing prior to entering the community.

Thanks,

Steve

I've heard the preferred method of killing them is very hot water in all systems that take on lake water. ie. motor, bilge, ballast systems, showers.

Donner lake HOA will have a mandatory inspection and inspector at their launch ramp in 2011, doing before and after inspections, no-charge other than the standard HOA Fee's

Exactly what happens during the after inspection?

"Well sir, there's still a few un-opened beers in your cooler"

"Oh, I'll take care of that right away officer"

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I've heard the preferred method of killing them is very hot water in all systems that take on lake water. ie. motor, bilge, ballast systems, showers.

Exactly what happens during the after inspection?

"Well sir, there's still a few un-opened beers in your cooler"

"Oh, I'll take care of that right away officer"

I can only hope it's that easy but... as easy going as most people are at the boat launch i can only see this inspection keeping people in a great mood. there probably wont be anyone losing their cool.

What is it about a boat launch that makes normal people loose their mind. ?? (i smell a new thread, or maybe an old thread that i have not discovered yet )

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Idaho is now charging $22 for a sticker used to fund education and inspections. We had to pull into an inspection station at the Idaho border on the way to Priest Lake/ Lake Pend Orielle. They were set up to sell you the sticker, and pressure wash your boat/trailer with hot water if needed. Really though, they simply asked where we had boated and didn't even ask to pull the covers off. Of course we were not coming from any know at-risk areas either.

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MalibuNation

Idaho is now charging $22 for a sticker used to fund education and inspections. We had to pull into an inspection station at the Idaho border on the way to Priest Lake/ Lake Pend Orielle. They were set up to sell you the sticker, and pressure wash your boat/trailer with hot water if needed. Really though, they simply asked where we had boated and didn't even ask to pull the covers off. Of course we were not coming from any know at-risk areas either.

Dang, I'm so glad I live on a lake!

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A couple of the specific private ski lakes bleach the cooling system and trailer before allowing a non resident boat in the water. They usually use pure bleach or at worse a 50/50 mix to ensure that bleach gets everywhere. Bleach is cheap, getting rid of zebra mussels is nearly impossible. The bleach mix is basically fed to the cooling system like you would do a fake a lake but a direct hose is used. The boat is also given a scrub with a brush on a handle and the trailer is also bleached as this is a great transporter of the critters. The non resident boats tend to be tournament pullers brought in specifically for that tournament.

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HOA here has a 7 day quarentine on all boats that leave the community. They lock your boat to your trailer. If you're just leaving to get gas or wash the boat or something they can lock it for you before you leave. I really wish they had a way of inspecting or something other than a quarentine.

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HOA here has a 7 day quarentine on all boats that leave the community. They lock your boat to your trailer. If you're just leaving to get gas or wash the boat or something they can lock it for you before you leave. I really wish they had a way of inspecting or something other than a quarentine.

So the HOA believes that if there is water in your bilge or ballast bag, the zebra's die in a week? I didn't read that anywhere.

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So the HOA believes that if there is water in your bilge or ballast bag, the zebra's die in a week? I didn't read that anywhere.

From everything I have read it would need to be over 30 days dry before it is a sure bet the eggs or whatever it was are not going to spring back to life when they hit the water again.

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So the HOA believes that if there is water in your bilge or ballast bag, the zebra's die in a week? I didn't read that anywhere.

From everything I have read it would need to be over 30 days dry before it is a sure bet the eggs or whatever it was are not going to spring back to life when they hit the water again.

I never said they were smart. I have read 30 days also, but I've also read most larvi would be dead in 7-10. Either way, they should have a way to inspect instead of quarantining boats for 7 days. This HOA has a "Boat and Fish Committee" that's made up of all fishermen who probably can't even use the internet. They think they're knowledgable boaters and they also think they own the lake, but when it comes down to it they really aren't that knowledgable. Most of the rules they "try" to make benefit them and only them. I'm not a property owner, but can tell you legally they can't make half the rules they try to b/c the state still owns all the water in their lakes.

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I never said they were smart. I have read 30 days also, but I've also read most larvi would be dead in 7-10. Either way, they should have a way to inspect instead of quarantining boats for 7 days. This HOA has a "Boat and Fish Committee" that's made up of all fishermen who probably can't even use the internet. They think they're knowledgable boaters and they also think they own the lake, but when it comes down to it they really aren't that knowledgable. Most of the rules they "try" to make benefit them and only them. I'm not a property owner, but can tell you legally they can't make half the rules they try to b/c the state still owns all the water in their lakes.

Our lake here in Denver (Standley Lake) is considered one of the most enforced lakes for Zebra mussels. We get a small steel cable with a green tag everytime you come off of the lake, as long as that cable is still intact you can launch without a problem. If it isn't, they power wash the boat and trailer, fake a lake your engine, wash out the bilge, flush ballast tanks and bilge pump with 160 degree water and then your cabled and tagged with a red tag go into quarantine for 11 days in the middle of the summer and 15 days outside of summer. The "ONLY" good thing that comes out of this other then keeping the lake mussel free is that I get to bypass the Zebra inspection at Lake Powell. The inspection people at Powell said that Standley Lake is the only lake they honor the inspection program.

Terry

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