I want to say thanks so much to Rainman, Bugermeister, JHAP, Todd and everyone else that helped me acheive clearing my pond.Today after weeks of adding Alum and HY LIme b/c the volume of water is unkown, I can see the entire bottom in my pond!

I am absolutly without words to describe what is like to see the fish, turtles and Bullfrog young!




I know, all GSF, the CC are hiding and can't really find the 5 - 3" LMB I put in but will try when they get bigger

This guy is about 6" long


I can even see the diffusser on the botom in 8' of water!

Thanks again to all.

Next I'll be asking advice on fertilizers and getting some greenery, but it will be after I add the 4 tons of Ag Lime in the comming week.

Incredible. Congratulations HD.

hd82, it's clear you finally reached the tipping point! Nice clear pictures also! Ain't it cool to see your fish with color on them instead of being such a washed out white?

I'm sure I can speak for everyone you mentioned that it was our pleasure to help you reach this goal.

When you add your Ag Lime, you may want to also spread 3-4 ton around the pond as well to help establish some plants to filter your run-off.

Don't be surprised or disappointed if your clarity lessens considerably in the next week or so. The new light penatration will allow a healthy bloom to start now, but it will be a beautiful, healthy green color this time.

I was somewhat concerned about the depth of clearity, maybe too much? No place for the CC to congregate? Although its a great pleasure to see the bottom and for the first time in 47 yrs of fishing I would be able to see what is stealing my bait a nice green translucent color would be more natural in my opinion.

Question:
When the Ag Lime is broadcast into the pond, will it stir up the clay again? Also when I restart using the diffusser?

I don't get run off as the banks are sloped away from the pond for just that reason.

Any recommendations on greenery? Don't want something that needs managing. What about ?-?-? fertilizer to help with the hardness, alkalinty and ph?

Thanks again for all the help.

Fertilizer won't impact hardness or alkalinity---your ag lime will take care of that.

You achieved such clarity because you had nothing but suspended clay in the water which was preventing an algae bloom. The idea was to clear ALL the suspended clay, which you have done. Restarting your aerator will cause some minor turbidity at first by drawing some nearby floc into the circulation, but it should quickly clear right back up (within hours).

Get your Ag Lime in and allow it the time to work it's magic. You may not need to do as much next spring as you think. I'd think it's too late in the growing season to reasonably establish any plants now.

Edit: An Alum application is probably the only thing you will ever do to a pond that will have results quickly. Nearly anything else you will do to it takes time to see results---often years!

Could this be my LMB, I think they have a strip down the sides?

Those are definitely LMB.

Thanks Omaha, I've been concerned about whether are not they made it thru the clearing process. I only bought five and they were 3".

Why only five? Sorry if you've answered this before.

1/8 acre pond. 25 CC - 6"/8", 25 HBG - 2"/3", 5 LMB - 3", 250 minnows - Flathead I think 2" and mother natured supplied me about 50 or so GSF 1"/5"

After I weed out some of the GSF I may do a few more LMB. Right now the pond is teaming with what I call "Ditch Minnows" I think Rainman called them Gambusa? It seems all the females are giving birth or about to as there are as many eyes and no bodies (new born) as adult. They look like guppies.

Right now, those guppy looking things are saying "Uh OH".

Those look like Gams to me. It was nice following the thread to see how the water clearing progressed, and finally the results.

How much did you add to get the water this way?

250# Aluminum Sulphate (Alum) and about 120# HY Lime. This was done in four applications over an 10 day period.
First) 50# Alum - 20# Hy Lime
Second) 100# Alum - 50# Hy Lime
Third) 50# Alum - 25# Hy Lime
Fourth) 50# Alum - 25# Hy Lime

The reason it took so long and so many aplications is because we didn't know the exact depth of pond (volume of water). All things being said and done it is well worth the time and labor.

The key is having the support of the ppl here for me, without it I would have given up from frustration! Pond Boss members are without doubt a team of dedicated ppl that want everyone to achieve the goals of becoming better, more educated pond owners. Whether it be for trophy fish, a place for the kids to fish or relaxation this is THE place to get help, support and knowledge that WILL get you where you want to be!

Once again I can't thank everyone enough.

hd82, don't feel bad. I know my pond depth, but can't for the life of me figure out the volume of water in it. Too many variables in the depths.

I like to sight fish, and would really like to have the clarity that you have now, but I know it's better to have a bloom going, so I live with the 24"-36" of visibility that I have.

As rainman said "Don't be surprised or disappointed if your clarity lessens considerably in the next week or so. The new light penatration will allow a healthy bloom to start now, but it will be a beautiful, healthy green color this time."

I will forgo the 8' depth of visibility for a green healthy pond. Actually seeing the fish biting the hook takes all the surprise out of the catch!

I'll settle for the 3' to 4', its better than the six inches I have had for 3 yrs

This is nice to see you have some clear water now. I have 2 ponds that have maybe 2-3 inches of clarity and I was going to try this out, but since the cattle keep getting in the water I do not think this would help.

I hope to have the ponds dug back out in a few years but we will have to see what happens.

It seems like a waste to me to have the ponds and not be able to fish them, but then again I am not the one controlling the use of the ponds or leasing for cattle, so I just have to smile and wave.

Thanks

It was my vast knowledge and experience of all things pond related that facilitated relaying to you the pertinent information required to rectify your situation.

Yea right. Hell even I don't buy that.

Anyhoo, glad you received the help and had good results.

Your pond looks beautiful. Thanks for posting the follow up story and keep on posting. Participation is what makes this site work. Oh and I love the photos.

Made a trip to the pond yesterday to see changes. The water has begun turning green and although the clear visibilty has dropped a little I am still able to see the bottom in 4 to 5 ft of water.

To my surprise I had some of the CC in 3 to 4 ft of water chasing minnows!

I turned the areator back on to run 4 hours a night. Now I want to get soil samples for the LSU Ag Center just so that I know what the minimun Ag Lime will be. I am still unsure as to what exactly (pellet ot crushed) that I am getting the quote on.

I sent an e-mail to my County Agent the other day asking if he had a list of suppliers in our area. I think I'm dealing with Mr. Kimball from Green Acres, his reply was to check with the feed store in my area. Been there, done that, no help! He also told me NOT to put Hy Lime in my pond for any reason. Maybe I should be asking Sam Drucker or Arnould Ziffel for advice!