This is going to be a long post - so apologies up front.
I'm very new to pond "management" and I need a lot of help. I've been participating and reading tons of posts on this wonderful forum, but somewhere along the line I got lost. I bought this property in late 2009 and it came with a small shallow pond. In it where LMB and some type of catfish and another fish that I can't identify (they almost look like large Oscar tropical fish). The goal of the pond is beautiful landscaping and healthy, clean and clear water that doesn't stink to high heaven. My Golden Retriever uses the pond as a drinking fountain and to stroll through the water anytime she wants - not that I had a choice. The property is in Northern Nevada, east of the Sierra's and over the hill from Lake Tahoe. The pond is fed by artesian spring and artesian well overflow. I'm not a fisherman, but expect to have nieces and nephews to show up to go fishing and fishing for fun and entertainment. I'm not looking to have "trophy" bass as a priority. I may want to add Koi and/or large Gold fish to the pond when or if their size is appropriate to not be a snack for the LMB. The largest LMB I've seen are three 12 to 15 inch fish, though they were pretty skinny. There are hundreds of smaller LMB. I've inquired about getting Blue Gill as forage fish, but so far have not been successful in finding a hatchery approved and certified to bring BG into Northern Nevada. I'm open to suggestions here if anyone knows who can provide BG to here?
When I purchased the property, the pond was probably a third of an acre. The overall size of the lot is 2.5 acres. In 2010 I dug a new pond section that mirrored the shape of the original pond only a little smaller. Then I dug a channel connecting the two. The reason behind the channel choice, was I didn't know how long it would take to fill the new pond addition. I have a very high water table, though that changes depending on the season and local rancher's well pumping. I didn't want to risk losing all of the fish in the original pond if I suddenly opened up the channel and it drained that pond into the new one. So I basically have two ponds sharing one body of water. So the two sections of my pond have different issues though connected at one end by a shallow channel. To add to the pond concerns is a 200 foot long stream that is seasonally fed by artesian spring and well overflow of my northerly neighbor. Because it is seasonal, I pump water from the new pond section up to the beginning of the stream for year round water flow. I will attempt to post a google earth image so you can see what the configuration and layout is. It may take me a couple tries to get this done, so bare with me please. I'll try to post some photos too.
The original pond is the largest section on the right or east side of the property. The new pond was dug in 2010 and is slightly smaller and has the lined stream flowing into it. Overall estimate is 1/2 acre pond with 1 million gallons of water. My artesian well overflows into the old pond section at the northern end. The new pond section has the new EPDM 45 mil lined stream running into it at its northern section. The old pond is mostly 3 to 4 feet deep with 6 feet at its deepest. The new pond is 8 to 9 feet deep in its southern section across from the channel connecting the two ponds. The stream water flow is helped by a Hayward variable speed pump giving 80 to 160 gpm of water flow depending on settings. There are four tiers to the stream with overall estimate of 10,000 gallons storage in total. I just installed a Vertex aeration system with three shallow water aeration stations with their 3/4 hp compressor unit. The system was designed for four stations, though I'm only using three at present. I was thinking about adding aeration devices in the stream sections to aerate the small pond sections along the stream where the water is only 12" to 18" deep. They would act like fish tank aeration devices I suppose. Would that be beneficial? Or would it matter?
The problems that I seem to be having are the original section has good water clarity, but is full of coontail weed so thick that you can't maneuver a small boat with trolling motor through it. The new pond addition was clear up until about 3 weeks ago, and is now like green tea with minimal clarity. I thought I was doing good up until then. The stream used to be clear as well, but since the water comes from the new pond section, the green tea is what I've got in the stream now too. To make matters worse, I'm still in the construction/landscaping stage for the property and with normal high winds here, I get a lot of blowing dust and dirt going into the stream and new pond. So even when the stream was flowing clear water, the rock covered liner was mostly brown with string algae (I believe). I've got two or three types of algae growing in the stream now. Some a beautiful blue/green color and another bright Florissant green. I have the same algae growing in the east side of the original pond too.
Here are the chemicals that I have on hand: 50 lb.. of GreenClean Pro granular; 1 gallon of Reward aquatic Herbicide; 1 pint of non-iconic Surfactant for Herbicides; 5 gallons of Micro-Lyfe Blue Power pond dye; 25 lb.. Micro-Lyfe Digester soluble packets; 6 gallons of Micro-Lyfe Complete.
In Nevada, Tilapia is illegal for stocking in ponds. But if large Gold fish or Koi can be used as an alternative, that option is available. It might even be desirable. But what additional food would be required to keep them fed? Where do I find Bluegill to use as forage for the LMB? Is it possible to have a shallow stream running with clear and clean water? Or is it destined to fail because of the shallow depth of the water? Would using a filtration system help the stream for clarity? How do I get both pond sections working together and consistently? Do I need to drag the coontail plants from the old pond to the new pond for balance or oxygen production? Or should I use Gold fish and/or Koi to try to control those plants in the old pond? If I use the Reward Herbicide on the coontail, do I need to remove the dead plants afterwards, or let the Micro-Lyfe Digester or Complete products decompose those plants? What to do in the new pond section? It was clear, but now it is not. Is the green tea color algae or a combination of dirt and dust being held in suspension too?
So I really need some help in getting my ponds and the stream cleaned up and hopefully working on a low maintenance regime. Is that possible?
