I did some water test today, took some temperatures and checked the bottom hardness. First off a little background. My pond is around 25 years old. Its been neglected and not fished for nearly 10 years. For a couple years now I've been tryin to get it back into shape visually and its lookin pretty good. This year my concern has been directed at my fish and since I've discovered Pond Boss, habitat and water quality are now in the picture. I'm also kinda financially embarrassed so this is gonna be a do it yourself project plus I love the challenge and it keeps me occupied.
Anyhoo hears what I've gathered as of today. My pond is 1 acre, it is 11' 6" deep when full, which it stays pretty close. It still has a hard flat bottom that covers half the pond and tapers slowly to about 7' deep 10' from the shore line. From there to shore the bottom is silty. The secchi disk is visible at around 4' most any day. Im in indiana and it been plenty hot with temps still in the high 80's. The surface water temperature today down to 6' was 79° then dropped per foot to 75° at 10' deep , holding 74° to the bottom at 11'6". Those same temps carried all across the deaths of the pond. My PH was 7, Alkalinity 35ppm, Hardness 100, Ammonia .25 Phosphate .25 and Nitrate & Nitrite 0. My limited knowledge suggests that those numbers are not to bad, not considering anything else into the equation. I know these are only one test on one day and are only a part of the puzzle but they are all I have at the moment. I've been thinking about aeration next year, but I'm also trying to learn how to spend my time and money wisely. Any input is appreciated thank you.

Hey Greg. I'm by no means an expert, but of all those readings, the only one I see that may need adjusting is your Alk. But with your hardness already being where it is, your calcium levels are pretty good. You may need to ad some ag lime to bump the magnesium level but you probably wouldn't need more than 1000 lbs. You can get that by the bag at tractor supply or possibly by the truck, but they usually have a minimum load requirement.

Financially embarrassed huh? It is my experience that ponds are like Corvettes. They run best on cash.

DD1, that's funny but sad that it is true.

Those #s are ok. A soil sample test is usually inexpensive.

When I had my bass boat I used to say it was a hole in the water that I poured money thru. Now I just pour it directly in the pond.