Hello all, I'm a new member here and have been lurking for a couple weeks trying to digest all the great information provided here. I have a question that seems fairly unique that I'm hoping some of you "experts" can help me with. I own a 2 acre piece of land that has approx. a 3/4 acre portion as a swamp/estuary/wetland. This body of water is probably only 3 feet deep or so at its deepest, and seems to be fed by both a natural spring and runoff from a 1 acre manmade pond in the lot next door. The overflow from this pond will fill my property and then exit through a small outlet. This summer the water has become extremely stagnant, and the pond/swamp/wetland has been taken over by what I believe to be some form of string algae. I have been researching using some form of aeration along with bacteria/barley/algeside to help clean this water up next year. I have also begun researching the possibility of digging this out in some areas for more depth. What do you guys thing about using either a diffuser or horizontal set up to help rid this pond/swamp of muck and algae? I don't believe I will be stocking anything as I don't want to contaminate other bodies of water from runoff. Please let me know if you need more information, and thank you for your help!!
The aeration should help reduce the muck if it's stagnant and there isn't any O2 at the bottom. At only 3' deep, I don't know if that's true or not. There are shallow and deep water diffusers, and a very shallow diffuser that is like a soaker hose.
Lets see what an aeration expert has to say.
Do you think a horizontal system might work better? How about just a diffuser stone? I think my first order of business is going to be raking out the massive amounts of aglae and weeds, pulling some cattails and seeing where I'm at then. Like I mentioned before, this isn't something that I'll be stalking or swiming in, but if I can better the lot for wildlife and viewing pleasure then I'll be happy. I'll probably wait until after winter to do the aerator so I have some time to think this through.
Post a picture if you can.
Sometimes leaving things alone is the best answer. But what man can do that? Just a rhetorical question.
My biggest concerns now are having the swamp/pond overrun with cattails. After a long raking session the other day I have a better idea of what needs to be done. Right now I want/need to pull out more cattails, rake all algae from at least the deepest, most accessible areas, and possibly increase the size of the dam at the outlet to help hold more water longer. Next year I think a small aerator to keep a portion of the swamp clear would be awesome so that the dogs can swim without coming out completely nasty and keeping the surface algae down enough so ducks will be more frequent. I'll see if I can get some pictures up shortly.
If I had a choice between a stone diffuser and a membrane type diffuser, I'd pick the membrane type every time.
Is it safe to assume clay is the material of choice when building a dam?
Yes, unless you can afford concrete!
But, even clay has to be compacted properly for it to seal.
You may want to look into a windmill unit. Depending on the winds in your area, it might be the ticket. I think they look good.
So I guess going back to my original question. Would you even bother putting in an aerator in a body of water less than 4' deep, more like 2-3' deep at the most for algae/muck control? Is it worth the cost?
Ruff, in order to determine if you are likely to see results from aeration you must first determine if you have oxygen deficiency and or thermal stratification. Generally speaking, BOW that are only 3' deep rarely suffer from oxygen depletion because they get oxygenated from wind and photosynthesis. There is rarely a thermocline because sunlight can typically penetrate all the way to the bottom of the pond. In this regard, you are probably not a great candidate for aeration. But that's just an assumption.
If you are suffering from oxygen deficiency, you may get good results by simply removing some of those cattails to increase aeration from wind and algae photosynthesis. If you're not opposed to chemical treatments you might consider dosing your cattails with a systemic herbicide such as combination of Aquamaster (Glyphosate) and a surfactant such as Magnify....if they're legal in your area. Glyphosate will kill your cattails all the way to the root ball preventing them from re-sprouting. This application should be done while your cattails are actively growing rather than at the end of the season. Also, you will want to remove the dead material afterwards so that it doesn't decompose in your pond.
Finally, if removing the cattails doesn't work and you want to try aeration, a linear (hose) type diffuser would be ideal to distribute the mixing over larger areas to overcome the loss of efficiency from shallow water depth. If you PM me I can make you a great deal on 100' of self weighted aeration tubing. 100' requires a compressor putting out 1.5-2.5 CFM.
Good luck
Ruff,
Back when I was a teenager, I bought 20 acres in Northern Wisconsin probably wasn't a whole lot different than Maine. About five acres of it was a swamp, much like you describe. I tried various things with it. I trapped muskrat. I planted wild rice. My uncle convinced me to pump the peat out of the swamp, dry it, sell it, and turn the swamp into a great fish pond. He figured there were at least several feet of peat in the bottom of the swamp, which was worth quite a bit of money. He also felt this had been a nice pond several hundred years earlier.
It was late 1968, and the US Military needed more cannon fodder. I got drafted, spent six years in the Navy, and never got to pump out the peat. But, I believe it would have worked, and I would have had a great fishery.
Do it. I believe you have little to lose, and a lot to gain.
Regards,
Ken
Thanks everyone, I'm going to focus on getting the cattails under control and rake out the algae/muck to start. Then I'll look into a horizontal system to help keep the water moving to keep things clear.
You all have been a great help, I look forward to learning a lot more around here!
Can someone help me identify parts necessary for a horizontal aerator? specifically the nozzle?
I don't think it's a nozzle per se, more like soaker hose with air running thru it instead of water.
RUFF, here's more info on small linear pumps and bubble hose.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post247136