Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Water Help

For about 2 ½ years my family has been working on a 4 acre pond. It has always had “Muddy Water” that looks a little like milk.

About 1 to 1 ½ years ago my dad put this blue dye into the pond that made it look disgusting, kind of a yucky green color.

We have stoked the pond with fish and they seem to be doing well even though the clarity is bad, and right now the ph level hangs around 7.

Quite a while back I added 6 tons of Ag Lime and about a month ago I added 500 pounds of Aluminum Sulphate & Hydrated Lime to clear up the pond, and think that it did some good, but the pond still has that yucky greenish color and the clarity is bad I think because of it.

My questions are this:

The pond has gotten with-in inches of filling up, but has never filled all the way and had water following out over the spillway. Based on the how much natural run-off flows into the pond, the pond will fill and start flowing out the spillway this fall or spring when more rains come, will this help wash away and dilute the dye that was put in?

If the pond does not fill and have run-off, how long will this dye stay in the pond?

When I place water from my pond in a mason jar it looks pretty clear, but the water in the pond has little visibility and is that greenish color, is the dye my problem or do I have some other issues?

One more thing:

I have had people tell me to add another 4 tons of Ag Lime per acre, but I am on a limited budget and it cost me about $550 dollars to get the 6 tons I already added delivered and sprayed over the pond. Unless someone can point me in a less expensive direction I can’t spend the money needed to add all that Ag Lime. The pond is in Campbell Texas right out side of Greenville.

Any advice or help?

Bellah, for the price of $550, you must of had pelleted lime delivered---regular Ag lime is about $15 per ton delivered and spread--They are the same base product but the pelleted is fairly highly refined.

I am guessing that the "disgusting" green color sounds like what most of us are trying to achieve---planktonic algae.

Bellah, when you say you don't have much clarity/viability, the experts here (certainly not me) will want to know to what depth you can see. Is it one foot, three feet, ???? How deep is your pond, and how quickly does your pond get deep - is there a gentle slope from the bank to the water, or does it get deep quickly?

From a novice and uneducated point, the green you may be seeing is an algee bloom that is necessary,to a larged degree for plankton for the fry to feed on.

Additionally, you indicated that you stocked your pond --- With what??

I think these are some things the knowledgable guys here will want to know to help you.

Rainman, I know that you know a ton more about this than I do, but I really don’t believe that the green color is planktonic algae, I have seen this before in other ponds and the color of mine is very different, it is very light pale green color. I really do think that it is the faded color of the dye that was added to the pond. It has been this color green for over a year, no matter the season. (No clue what or how much dye my dad added)

Ok here are some specifics on the pond:

It is 4 acres in size. It has a maximum depth of 10 feet. I would say that average depth would be 6 feet deep. 1/2 of the pond has a gradual slope that reaches a depth of about 3 feet 10 feet out from the bank, and 1/2 is a more pronounced slope that reaches a depth of 3 feet about 2-3 feet from the bank.

Water clarity – I would guess it is about 6 inches.

The pond was built in a pit created where they used to mine sand.

Fish we stocked:

1 1/2 years ago we stocked: Threadfin Shad, FatHead Minnows, Coppernose Bluegill & Redear Sunfish.

About 1 year ago we added about 20 adult Large Mouth Bass from another pond on the same land. (No problem with water clarity with this pond) Based on some small LMB we have caught fishing for Bluegill I guess we got lucky and some of these spawned this spring.

About 3 months ago we added 100 adult LMB from a friends pond.

We can currently catch Billgill & Sunfish and they all appear to be healthy. We also fish for and catch some LMB and they all appear to be fat and healthy as well.

Maybe if we can catch fish and they are healthy I should not worry, but I think that better water clarity would have to help the fish and it would make my pond look much better.

Rainman, you might be right on the Ag Lime I added, I don't know. But I called around for weeks to find the deal I got. If anyone around the DFW are of Texas knows who will deliever lime for $15 a ton please pass the info along.