Hey guys... I get this film on my pond ever year in the spring, only this year it's lasting longer, and it is a lot more intense than usual. I decided I wanted to see if I can do anything about it. I don't know much about the pond.. I moved into this house a few years ago.
I do know there is an aerator, 2 grass carps, a few koi, quite a bit of largemouth bass, and a ton of bluegill. I believe the pond needs dredged out. You can step in the pond anywhere and sink halfway up to your knee in dirty black foul smelling stuff.
The pond is sort of bowl shaped. It's quite shallow around the edges and in the middle it's only 6' deep. I believe it to be about an acre or so. The dimensions from Google Earth say it's around 100 yards long and 45 yards wide
ps. if you click on an attachment and download it, it's just a super-sized picture of the ones listed here!
Welcome Alex. This time of the year there is a LOT of pollen being blown around from the trees - more than usual. I have the same thing on my pond, and this year is worse than previous years.
The muck is most likely a build-up of leaves in the pond (amongst other things). Aeration will help if the aeration is done in the deepest portion of the pond (for the warmer months - move the diffusers to approx. 1/2 max depth for the winter). Tilapia might help too if stocked at a high density.
The pond looks great. Are you dodging many little green piles from the geese?
Lets see what some of the resident experts have to say.
Esshup, Thanks for the information. I was looking into stocking a few more grass carp and quite a bit of largemouth bass. I stocked some fingerlings a few years ago but it doesn't seem like a lot of them lasted. (There were older largemouth bass in the pond when I stocked them) I don't think they lasted because of the ridiculous amount of bluegill still around, and many many bullfrogs still left. I'm going to look into buying quite a few 5-7 or even 8-10 inch ones. I just don't know how many you should stock for a pond my size.
Alex Menges, EMT-P Massillon, OH amenges@sssnet.com
What are the goals for the pond, and what are the size and numbers of fish in there now?
.93 acre. An acre pond will support between 300 and 600 pounds of fish, but getting up there in numbers means that you have to really, really watch the pond. With that shallow of a pond, I wouldn't push it, it'll winterkill easier than a deeper pond.
Well my overall goal for the pond now is to stock it well for bass fishing. That's all I really do. Pond beauty is another goal. Eventually I may end up adding a water fountain or something along those lines. When I first bought the property 3 years ago the filamentous algae around the sides was well out of control. Luckily I've never had any problems with duckweed or watermeal. After putting a few grass carp in, and using blue dye for a year it's mostly under control, except for in the middle of summer when the algae will pop up for a month or two. I've considered dredging out the sides since the pond is so shallow. I thought maybe that would help with the depth and the algae around the shores.
Last edited by Alex Menges; 06/01/1106:32 PM.
Alex Menges, EMT-P Massillon, OH amenges@sssnet.com
Lets use 500# of fish for an example for the pond carrying capacity. Each LMB needs 10# of fish to eat to gain one pound in weight. How many 3# lmb is the carrying capacity of the pond?
Another rule of thumb is 100 lbs of predators per acre for a balanced pond. What's a predator? Well, everything is a predator for everything that will fit in it's mouth.
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
It's sort of a trick question because it all depends on how fast the LMB grow. Lets take an acre pond as an example just because it's easier to figure out.
Take Dave's example of 100# of predators/acre, and my 500# fish carrying capacity. If a LMB needs 10# of fish to put on a pound, then you'd need 1,000# of forage fish for the 100# of LMB in a pond to have enough food for them to grow. I don't think that is possible without extensive fish and water quality management. i.e. Aaron M's set-up. So, I think you'd probably be better off with about 40 to 50 pounds of LMB in the pond, although like Dave says, every fish is a predator to some extent. To me that means you're looking at roughly 15 LMB at 3# each per acre to get that growth.
Maintenance is another matter, you could have more LMB, and the growth rate would be slower. I haven't seen any numbers on how much food a LMB needs to maintain a certain weight.
It's sort of a trick question because it all depends on how fast the LMB grow. 
Lets take an acre pond as an example just because it's easier to figure out.
