Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Hello from Vermont!

Hi all--
We recently bought some land that came with a lovely spring-fed 3/4 acre pond that we'll eventually put a cabin or something near. It's man-made, with a retention dam that's over 100' wide at the top.
It's also got problems galore.... Funny how I didn't know what kind of problems a pond could have until AFTER we bought it!
Right now we've got turbidity, a possible leak I may have solved, what I think are maybe a whole lot of muskrats, silt issues with the inflow, and invasive buckthorn all around. I put some trout in to try to control the leeches, but it's cloudy enough that I don't know how well they'll do.
We don't fish, so the pond's main use is to be pretty and to play in (preferably without leeches....)

Anyway, I've enjoyed reading the conversations here, and thought I'd join in and, once I get some more concrete questions, I hope to take advantage of your collective wisdom!

Welcome to Pond Boss and congrats on your new (to you) pond!

Muskrats are definitely "unpopular" on the forum.

The turbidity could have many potential causes.

Here is a link to a brochure from the State of Missouri.

Turbidity Problems

They give a description about how to perform a jar test. (They should have added that it should be stored in a dark place - in case your turbidity is due to a bloom of photosynthesizing organisms.)

Finally, even if you don't fish, someone must eventually fish the pond. Fishing is a valuable way to sample your pond. Further, if no fish are ever culled, it is possible to have a big overpopulation problem and a resulting "fish kill".

Good luck on your pond projects!

Welcome to the show. Rod is giving some dang good advice.

Thanks for the link. Everything I've seen follows the same advice, but I have questions--I'll bring them up in a different thread.
And thanks for the welcome!