Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions New Pond Help Please

Greetings to everyone, this is my first post, great forum here and I have been reading a fair bit over the last month or 2.

Just purchased a great parcel of land and am planning on building my dream - a 3/4 acre pond in August. Originally I was going to get a liner for the pond. The key objectives are swimming and something to paddle around on. I want clear water - not muddy or green.

This past weekend I dug 2.5 feet in the natural depression where the deep area will be and its clayey. I'm now considering a mud pond. I did an impromptu bucket test and it held water. I also did a jar test and it cleared in under 2 hours after vigorous shaking and looking like tea. Nice layer of clay on the bottom of the jar settled out

Looking to go at least 12 feet deep. I don't want any watershed runoff - graded back from the pond. I will dig another well for this pond to keep it full. Planning on going 12 feet deep at least. Maybe some bass and bluegill. Big beach - apparently "white sand" is the way to go ?

Since my main goal is clear water for swimming, I worry about the mud bottom. Considering putting down geosynthetic around the shoreline up to 6 feet depth or so and covering with rock. Will also be putting in a lot plants - if the water is muddy they don't grow, you have not food web base

anyway comments welcome. I don't want to have to be dosing alum/gypsum all the time. If i keep runoff out, have no forage fish is this feasible ? I assume it is very promising for the jar to be settled after 2 hrs ?

thanks !

Welcome to PB. It's good to have a goal when building your pond, makes the plan come together. But, one has to be flexible because it may not end up where you wanted it to be. My plans were to have deeper water at one spot buy the clay ran out and I hit a water sand, so I had to live with shallower water at that spot. Clays that hold water at 2.5 feet may not be the same clay at 12' deep. Read about pilot holes and such. There is a book at this site written by Mike Otto, it's about building ponds. I would suggest you buy one before you start down that road. I am sure others will join in soon to welcome you here.

I put fabric around my pond and covered it in rock like you are suggesting and it made a huge difference in the water clarity. Me and my family swim in our pond too. One suggestion would be to build a dock that reaches out into deep water so people don't have to walk on mud to get in and out of the water.

A few potential holes I see that you might want to read up on...

1.) Fabric and rock down to the 6' depths may inhibit plant growth as there will be little initial sediments in the shallows where emergents like to live. Plants seems to be an important part of a swimming pond to help reduce nutrient levels to keep the pond smell down and they also help the beauty of the pond. I would consider not putting the fabric any lower than where you think the shoreline will fluctuate to keep wave action from muddying the pond. Lots to nice plants only live in the zero to 18" depths.

2.) Bluegill (BG) like to bite swimmer's moles and nips.

3.) No forage fish means a substantial feeding program for keeping the fish healthy.

4.) Aeration should be considered. Keeps the water temps consistent throughout the depths and helps with the breakdown of the bottom muck.

And, 5.) Docks are often preferred for swimming from rather than beaches because of the manual upkeep requirements of shallow sandy areas.

Just some things to think about. Enjoy your project and welcome to the club!

Thanks a lot for the responses !

I was planning on a big beach (60 x 30) but with a fairly small entry area of 15 feet

I was going to do a lot of plantings in buckets (ie large lily area) which can duplicate as a safer skating area in winter as it is shallower. I will also cut out fabric to put non invasive plants right into the soil - deeper clay base here ?

I don't want a fishing pond but love fish and want some. Are bass + BG available in triploid variants ? I can't kill anything ! Don't mind feeding the fish. If you have a lot of forage fish is that going to cause green water because they consume zooplankton ?

I am planning an extensive aeration system which will be in 5 gallon buckets, holes near the bottom but do not want to introduce turbidity. Probably a solar system with 5 or more stations - can run deep water stones in summer and shallower ones in winter

I'm concerned about swimmers itch - I read 1 pair of ducks per acre - I guess this is still enough to cause swimmers itch if you have snails?

Do bass eat leeches if they somehow get introduced ?

We will have a shore diving rock, floating swimming dock in the deep water and a boat launch dock. No one likes that sinking in mucky feel on their feet. The site is away from trees and I will use muck away etc

Going back to the property late next week - will likely excavate and full a small pond to see what happens ! Wish me luck.cherrz

There are no triploid varieties of bass and bluegills that I am aware of.

Since you want a swimming pond, and are up north, I would stock Pumpkinseed Sunfish. They will eat snails that are part of the life cycle of swimmers itch. Ducks, Great Blue Herons, Kingfishers - all can cause swimmers itch. All it takes is one bird. If you are going to use the pond as a swimming pond, I would NOT put ANY ducks on the pond - you will be swimming in their toilet.

Since you say you cannot kill anything, you will have to live with a stunted fish population as the pond matures, either predator fish or prey fish. You will need to add bass or maybe northern Pike to partially control the Pumpkinseed population. Don't worry about a forage fish population, the Pumpkinseeds will be the forage fish.

I wouldn't feed the fish considering your goals and inability to harvest fish.

Do a LOT of research on the aeration system. Make sure that the system can furnish enough air to run that many diffusers.

Have lots of underwater weeds on the side away from the beach, and plan on manually cutting or chemically controlling any underwater weeds that grow in the beach area. The underwater weed population will help keep the water clear by utilizing nutrients and will also be somewhat of a limiting factor for fish reproduction, which you will need to help you achieve your goals.

Welcome to the forum from deep East Texas! Something to think about...I have a well close enough to my pond to use but because of poor water quality from the well I would not dare use it in my pond!! You stated you only wanted well water. Make sure it will be good. Just my opinion, I am not a expert. Good luck

Thanks for all the info
To be clear I don't want ducks !
Our current well has pristine water. I expect the same from the new well which is going to be about 500 ft away.
I'm in the koi pond business for over 20 years which is really going to help me with. Tbus project ie the aeration system etc.
I do plan to feed the fish

Also concerned about mosquitoes and cyanobacteria. I guess small forage fish will eat the mosquito larvae and if I have aeration and some movement that should keep any cynobacteria at Bay. Also still wondering what happens if leeches get in there what fish will eat those? Is it possible to purchase let's say 3-5 male-only bass?
Is that a good number for three quarters of an acre considering I want to be under stocked

The great thing about this location is I have tons of natural Limestone there which will buffer the water and is freely available.