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davidwat, GotAPond
Total Likes: 2
Original Post (Thread Starter)
by Bob VanOrman
Bob VanOrman
Hi all,
It's been a while since my last post, mostly just reading everyone elses has to say. Good Stuff! Been reading and thinking alot about these Muck Eating Bacteria and thought I'd give it a try. I've read alot of articles and studies and the results thereof. I need to prove it to myself most of all to find out if it is "snake oil" as some here have called it, or does it do what it is suppose to do.

As a disclaimer and to make sure what my intentions are here, I work for no company nor am I promoting any products in any way. I am a pond/lake owner in Southwest Michigan who has been battling muck and weeds for years. I only want to learn and educate myself of any and all efforts of lake management. I Love doing the whole lake management thingy anyhow. If I can help others in this experiment then how much greater this world will be. Hallelujah!

Last year (2011) I ran my aeration system 24/7 May thru mid October without the addition of bacteria. I'm sure there are beneficial bacteria already down there, but I did not add any. Things I observed last year were:

1)The water quality was considerably clearer.
2)rotten egg smell disappeared.
3)weeds were fewer (milfoil, algae) although still a problem.
4)sandy area was exposed on the shoreline by the end of summer by 3-4 feet from the shores edge.

My hope this year (2012) is that by adding a special blend of bacteria the muck will be reduced much faster. Anerobic verses Aerobic bacteria is where I find it the most interesting and it makes alot of sense to me. Here is what I'm doing. I have a 14 acre lake that has been around since the early 60's and is surrounded by trees. The south side of the lake where I live has the deepest muck. I havn't officially measured it, but I have pounded 4x4x12' posts in the muck for building docks and things and never hit anything solid. Very deep muck to say the least.

This year April 1, 2012 I started aerating the south side of the lake just like the previous year with 4 aeration stations that consists of 2 disc diffusers on each station. The average depth in this location is 8 feet deep. The diffusors are approximately 150-200 feet from shore. This is all before adding any bacteria. As a gauge to monitor the muck digestion throughout the summer I have an old wooden broom stick that I painted the first 10" RED and the rest of the broom stick is painted white. From here on out I will refer this broom stick as the "muck gauge". This muck gauge is stationed at the end of my dock, which extends 50ft from shore, and was pounded into the muck. I pounded/pushed it all the way down where the muck level was even with the line where the RED paint meets the white paint. The Red portion of the muck gauge can be seen under the water fairly easy by standing on the end of the dock. The idea is that the more the white is exposed over time the shallower the muck gets. The muck gauge will stay in this position all summer long without being disturbed.
After allowing the aeration system to run for 4 weeks I added 1 pound of this specially formulated Muck Eating Bacteria to each aeration station totaling 4 pounds in all.

I have a video that I will post here on this thread that I recorded as I poured the bacteria directly onto the boil of each aeration station. You can see in the video the 4 aeration stations. The introduction date of the bacteria was April 29, 2012. I will continue to make observations throughout the summer months and post my findings and pictures of the Muck gauge as time progresses.

If anyone has questions or comments, please post. Be nice! I am highly interested in your thoughts and comments. I will be posting on this thread throughout the summer to update everyone as to the progress.

(I'll post the video once I figure out how)

Stay tuned for more...
Bob
Liked Replies
by cb100
cb100
Well since no one seems to have tried it. I took a 1" clear water pump a piece of flexible hose a piece of 1" pvc pipe and a 90 capped the end drilled a hole in the cap and 8 more in the pipe 4 three inches above the cap and 4 more 12 inches above the cap. Then hooked it up to the pump. Set the intake about 2 feet below the surface then proceeded to move around the pond pumping surface water down into the muck. I would shove the pipe down till I hit solid bottom then pull the pipe up about 3 inches and pump water down until I have a cloud of dark grey or black water coming to the surface.My pump seems to be adding some air in the discharge. So I held it under water so I can see the bubble pattern. When I push the pipe into the muck I get about 5 times the bubbles from the disturbed h2s.The clouds of muck and organic debris creates a nice bloom. Before I did this experiment I had about 4-5 foot visibility after a few hours I get a nice green bloom with about 24 inches of visibility.
1 member likes this
by Jimtom
Jimtom
OK, I'm new hear and I'd like to see this topic and it's experiments keep going.

I have a 1/8 acre bean shaped pond that has about 2 feet of muck. Due to foreclosure, lack of care, and them damn cotton woods that they let grow around it. I just girdled 2 of them today with plans to dominate the rest in the near future. I understand that 2 feet of muck most likely requires manual removal but to be honest with you and myself, I doubt that's ever going to happen. I've got an aggressive fountain running at one end and a 2 ring bubbler running at the other. The fountain needs to go for electricity bill reasons but it has done a decent job of reducing muck when it was the sole apparatus in the middle of the pond. I've got my 1st hatching of bluegill from 5 that were released 2 summers ago, so that's a good sign. It was a swampy frog pond when we moved in and got the fountain going 2 years ago. Killed off the duckweed last summer and hope to keep the algae at bay. I'm with the crowd that thinks stiring it up and keeping the oxygen in there is the way to go. So... will I regret putting in some catfish to help work it up a bit?
1 member likes this
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