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Joined: Feb 2009
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Lunker
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Lunker
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I was always told life is full of ups and downs. This is definitely a downer. Just two weeks ago the pond was all but full, water didn't start flowing through the siphon system but was real close. Now 2 weeks later and sub freezing temps the pond is down over a foot. Now the ground surrounding the pond was frozen but is also very dry, really no soil moisture going into winter. I think this is way to much to be caused by wicking alone, am I wrong? It has been 3 years since the pond was this full and it held water then at this level. Wondering if I need to start looking for a leak in the top 4 feet or hope of lots of spring rain and see if it comes back up and holds.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Mark, I'd take a wait and see attitude. Don't panic just yet.
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Joined: Feb 2009
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Where is the fun in that. I wish I knew 4 years ago what I know today about compaction. I agree with you Scott and usually my pond doesn't look much different than others in the area. The next pond (I hope) will be different.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Lassig, I have a similar situation at my pond. I run my well and I'm at full pool within a day or two, depending on how far down it was when I started. I shut it off for a week and my level dropped two feet. It was similar to the thread titled Ice Bowl. Looked like one of those skateboard parks.
Here in Nebraska, we also have the low winter precipitation problem and because the water I'm adding to the pond is not coming down my banks, but slowly rising from the bottom up, the upper banks are not getting saturated. It makes sense to me why the level drops like it does right now, however I don't like it much either.
I'm taking Scott's suggestion of wait/see.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Josh, in looking at your pond, I'm not 100% sure that it was compacted properly. You might have to deal with the same problem I do......... If by the end of summer it's still doing the same thing, then you'll know for sure. At least you have the well to fill it up!
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My rainbows are not waking up from the winter. Ice has been off the pond for a week now. Fished the pond hard last Saturday and only had one on. Tried feeding the last couple of days with the warmer temps and no takers. Any way to wait these fish up? I assuming they are still there only took 4 out during the winter. Put in 25 to 30 last October. In for a cold couple of days now so not expecting them to come out of there funk.
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Joined: Mar 2013
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nice .... maybe a yellow in the middle of the two red maples? My grandparents did that around the back of their garden by the house about 80 years ago and they are awesome ... pulled hard maples they liked out of the woods. The contrast in color helps set them off, I think. I trimmed back that big bright orange one in front that came up later ... blocked everything. oh ... maybe I replied to a 3 year old post ... oh well.
Last edited by Illini Bill; 03/23/14 07:19 PM.
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Well it is definitely a leak the pond is down a good 2 1/2' to 3' since it was full 3 months ago. Very little rain in this area this year but all other ponds in the area are much fuller. Maybe down a 1' at most. On a bright note I caught the first two true 1 lb HBG from my pond last night. The first was 1 lb 2 oz and the second was 1 lb 1 oz. Both where roughly 10.25" long.
Last edited by lassig; 05/26/14 07:42 AM.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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AARRRGGGG!! I know how hard you worked at sealing it the 2nd (or was it the 3rd?) time!
Congrats on the HBG!
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Joined: Feb 2009
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Had a somewhat surprise HSB delivery yesterday from Rex. Nice to have a second year class of HSB in the pond. The originals where planted in Oct '11 and are now averaging 3 pounds. Who likes to eat HSB? I need to remove some from the pond to make room for the new ones.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Mark, I don't know about HSB, but from eating Stripers, remove the dark meat along the lateral line and soak them in milk for a bit.
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Joined: Mar 2011
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Joined: Mar 2011
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Won't those new fingerlings just become breakfast for the larger HSB?
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Joined: Feb 2009
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Lunker
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They shouldn't, the gape on the HSBs is really small. This one is 2 lb 14 oz and look at its gape.
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Decided to increase the pond clarity on my pond and went the ALUM method with the master applicator himself, Rex Rains. Setting up Getting some lime into a slurry Applying the lime to the pond The last spot to spray About 5 PM tonight, the water clarity is 24 - 30 inches, just a lot of algae was brought up to the surface. I hope the rain tonight dissipates it. When the fish feeder went off tonight the fish didn't feed but there was a lot of floating algae in the area that the fish food is throwing into. Once the fish food was in the clear water the fish starting feeding hard on the food.It was great seeing the fish actually coming up for food. More to come on this, hope to see 36 to 48 inches of visibility when this is all done
Last edited by lassig; 07/07/15 05:58 AM.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Moderator Lunker
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Can't see the pics. It says the pic was either moved or deleted.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Sorry Dave I posted this and then moved all of the photos to their own album on photobucket and forgot to fix the links. They are fixed now. If interested here is a link to all of the pictures from yesterday http://s290.photobucket.com/user/lassig/pond/Pond%20Clarity/storyWe have received 0.44" of rain since the application was done and the algae is gone. The water visibility is over 4'. I couldn't measure any deeper since that is the water depth at the end of the pier.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
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Nice looking place. Do you want 4 ft of visibility?
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Feb 2009
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Thanks Dave, to be honest I wasn't really sure what I wanted, just better visibility than the 9 to 12" that I maybe had. We definitely got a lot more than I was expecting to have happen. I assuming with the added clarity that it will not take long before a bloom happens and the visibility gets into the 24 to 36 inch range which is what I would like as a final point.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Moderator Lunker
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I think there is good chance that it will.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Feb 2009
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A little update, received 2" of rain yesterday but more of an all day event and not in 10 minutes. So not as much runoff. The pond ended up going up 5" and the visibility is down to 30" (from 48"). But without the ALUM treatment the pond visibility would of been about 2" so it is really doing its job.
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Mark, did you do another jar test after the latest rain to see how quickly the water clears?
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I haven't but I could, assuming just put the water in the jar as before but dont add ALUM this time right?
I have been measuring visibility each morning at 6AM. It was 48+ the first 2 mornings. Then the 2" all day rain event happened as mentioned above. The visibility went down to 30" and then the next day was 36 and this morning it was back down to 30. The water is real green so I am assuming that a good bloom is going on. I plan on taking a water sample on tuesday morning for Bill to analysis what the water is like a week later.
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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I would think a beneficial bloom would be getting healthy about now.
You're right on the jar test, no alum. leave it in sunlight 2 days to see if any sediment is there, then in dark 2 days to kill any algae. If by chance it is still a little cloudy, the try a little alum and shake.
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Well it has been a LONGGGGG time since I have been here and it took a possible problem to bring me back. I have to change that and return more often. The last couple of days I have had this algae bloom occurring on my pond and not sure what it is or if it dangerous to my fish. I haven't seen any dead fish during this time. The fish are still feeding actively 4 times a day and the aerator runs 12 hours a day from 7P to 7A. The water level is lower than usual with the lack of rain for months. Should I be concerned about this? Anything I can do to clean it up?
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Mark, good to see you posting again!
I'd have to defer to Bill Cody for the type of algae. As to whether it's harmful or not, I'll fall back on the "it depends" line. It depends on whether it uses up a ton of O2 (meaning enough to leave the fish without enough O2) during the night or not....
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