Short version

What: New pond, between 1/4 to 1/3 acre, 6 feet deep in the middle area, located in North Texas
Goal: Very clear water potentially achieved by trying to remove as much phosphate as possible with heavy aeration
How: use floating wetlands and plants to pull phosphate from water and to complete with algae.
Fishing: Enjoy catch and release mostly and occasionally a little fried fish.
Question: I am considering adding fish to the pond. After reading a number of post on this forum, I think I need a species of minnow to eat the algae and then something to eat the minnows. Would HSB and FHM or GS be a good mix? As the HSB reach a certain age I would harvest and restock with younger HSB fish. Or should I go with a few LMB and let them try to survive on tadpoles, crawfish. etc. I know they might be starving however all the natural food in the pond that moves would be eaten.

If this experiment does not work, I will probably go with the traditional BG and LMB approach that many on this site recommend.



For anyone who might enjoy the backstory:


M wife and I purchased a home with a 1/4 - 1/3 acre existing pond about 5 months ago. The property is located in what is called a flow-age easement for the corp of engineers. This means that if it rains really for a long time the lake behind the property will rise up and engulf the pond. This has only happened 4 times in 70 years with that last time in 2016.

When I purchase the property, the water looked like chocolate milk. You could put your hand in the water and not see any of your fingers. So after searching the internet and finding pond boss, I got the idea as to what might be the problem.

So I stuck a sump pump in a bucket, attached PVC and dropped in the pond. 8 days later I had a fish kill. Lots of buffalo and carp, 100s of very large shad, maybe 3 bluegill, 1 bass and a couple of cats. So after drying out the pond and burying 40 lbs of rotten fish, I have a blank slate.

I have decided my first goal will be a little different the normal. I would like to work on a system that will creates the highest level of water quality with the lowest turbidity. The idea is to try to make this a swimming pond first and the goal of the fish is to help achieve this. I also enjoy a little catch and release fishing but I am usually too lazy to clean and cook.

After reading up on swimming ponds, It seems that the key is aeration and low phosphorous. Most advise on swimming ponds is to keep the pond sequestered from any storm water or runoff. My pond is located in a natural drainage area that covers about 5 acres of residential property. So I have accepted that fact that it will receive natural phosphate loading.

After the one recent rainy week, the pond filled up about 60%. I went to test the water. It was surprisingly clear. The ph was 7.4, total alkalinity was 60, and phosphate was a surprising very low number of 200 ppb. I still need to check the hardiness.

I have been researching floating wetlands and plan to order a 300 sq foot mat from Beemats out of Florida. The floating wetland is basically floats on the pond with plants on top and the roots in the water. The roots pull phosphorus and nutrients from the water and into the plants. When the plants are large, you remove them and replace with new plants.

So if you can do this with plants, maybe I could also do this with fish.

A few days ago, I was looking around the pond. Due to the hot weather, an algae bloom had started. I also spotted many tadpoles and a water snake. So I guess the amphibians and reptiles were already moving in. This started me thinking that I needed a few predators in the pond or the herbivores may get out of control. Then I started thinking that maybe a herbivore that eats algae and a predator that eats the herbivores would be a great system to remove phosphorus and nutrients.

HSB seems like a great answer as they are the only predator that does not overall multiply. Picking either a minnow or BG, something else seems like a tricky choice.

Any advice?