Ok, I have a pond about 50'x150' maybe a lil large in my back yard. Its been there for 3 years now. its about 6-8ft deep on one end and transitions up to about 2' on the other. When built i put bass and bream. The water has never cleared, ever, its stay muddy (choclate milk) There grass all around, a few cat tails and Iris, now it has dark green algae along the banks. I have no aerator and some of the back yard drains into to keep it full. I just cant figure out why it doesnt clear up. A frind of mine just miles away has a similar set up, but a lil large and his water is crystal clear! HELP. I will post some pics up asap for u to see.
Thanks!!!!!
What have you tried to clear it with? Have you put any water in a clear jar to see if somethimg settles and the water clears? If it clears quickly (12-24 hours) you may have a fish you don't know about in there (Bullhead cats or carp). I love alum! The size pond you have, a 50lb bag would probably work mixed with .5 to 1 part hydrated lime. If you fetilize your yard the green is probably FA. Whats the other runoff from? Any walking catfish around you?
Try this link
http://agnewsarchive.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/WFSC/Mar3106a.htm
Im gonna try the clear jar and post results this weekend. I had a couple years ago added gypsum and it worked for a lil while. the only runoff is about .35 acres from my yard running in it, no fertilizer. Not sure what fish are in there now? I noticed we dont catch bream like we use to.
Check the pH, raise to above 7.5 with a little lime if needed, add alum a little at a time till you get a pH around 6.0-6.5, use agitation to disperse in the water,and let it settle. You can jar test if you want to try to zero in on feed rates, but using the pH method and going slow with chemical additions will accomplish the task. The trick is to add enough lime to impart sufficient alkalinity to buffer the pH drop when you add the alum. Alum works by dissociation of the aluminum ion from sulfate and allowing a precipitation as ALOH "floc" as an insoluable salt. The resultant pH depression has to be controlled by having enough alkalinity before adding alum.
Keep in ind that any chemical clarification results in a coagulated solid that settles to the bottom, This chemical bonded precipitate can be re-dispersed if agitation occurs. Optimum precipitation of aluminum hydroxide occurs at 6.0 pH. Below that the solubility increases, above that he solubility increases. Below 8.0 pH and you risk fish kill.
If you want to avid the risk of the alum approach, find a supplier for aluminum chlorhydrate or poly aluminum chloride. both will result in the same reaction, but without the drastic drop in pH.
Ok, I also noticed the bottom of the pond is black much type. Dont know if that has anything to do with. Im also thinking of draining the pond taking the stuctures out and not adding fish and see what happens. No one and I mean no one fishes it. Its been 3 years and we rarely pulled any fish out. I know not a good thing. I'll keep yall updated.
A lack of fishing...now THERE is a problem we can definitely fix!
Good luck, jixxxer. How much gypsum did you use in the past? How long was it effective?
Don't remove fish until you can identify them. If they are indeed bullheads, they may be the source of your problem and you should fish them out. A few of them in a pond this size should not cause too much problem, but remember they are prolific. I would never recommend managing any lake/pond without fish. Aside from being fun to catch, they provide bio-diversity to the pond ecosystem. The more diverse your ecosystem, the more stable things are. Fish also eat algae and aquatic plants. This is important because essentially they turn organic matter (nutrients) into protein (fish mass) making it unavailable to other species that you don't want in your pond (i.e. algae). Consider draining your pond low enough so that the fish can easily be caught or seined out. Identify your fish. Remove undesireables. Fill the pond. Don't remove structures as they provide a place for fish to do their things as well as a media for beneficial micro-organisms that consume nutrients. Finally, if your turbidity problem is due to suspended organic material, consider aeration. If it is inorganic consider alum as mentioned above. You can have your water tested to find out the ratio of organic volatile solids to inorganic suspended solids.
I had a new, muddy pool. When I had it drained, mostly, for another reason, I unrolled a 6 x 5 foot of "garbage" straw below the normal waterline. (Garbage straw is anything you can get for free as it was "ruined" in the field) The next time the pool filled, it was at first muddy, but cleared up and stayed clear to 24 inches. I am now fertilizing to get the clarity down to prevent the inevitable weeds.