I noticed this last week that our neighbor is scheduled to lime his fields in the water shed above our pond, my question is: "Should I be worried about what this could do the fish after a good hard rain?"

Shorty what is your alkalinity. I have been repeatedly told that because ag lime is low strength and works slowly to change the pond bottom soil it can not hurt your fish (assuming you don't throw it on top of them while spawning). Not the case with hydrated lime. I have not heard of anyone having a problem that resulted from adding ag lime into the pond much less on neighboring property.

Thanks ewest! I will have to get back to you on the akalinity, I'm don't have a clue what it is.

The neighbor is also removing the terraces from his fields too, he has been farming no-till for a number of years now and doesn't think he needs them anymore.

I wish I had ag lime in the watershed. I added 27 tons of lime to my pond for low alkalinity rates. I would say if you are fertilizing your pond, it could do nothing but help. And if you are not it won't matter anyway.

Just an update, every time we get an inch of rain or more we end up with an algae bloom for a week or so. With all of the rain we have had in last 3 weeks we now have a really strong bloom going, sechi disc readings are now 22-25", three week ago they were 84" plus.

Got a question for you guys. I stocked 150 bass 4-5" and 500 blue gills/ coppernose/ red ears 1-2" last October in a 2.7 acre pond. Stocked 40 lbs of rosy reds/ fatheads also. In late February I stocked 50 bass 5-6", 200 coppernose 1-2", and 10 lbs rosey reds from another supplier. also stocked 150 bullfrogs about 1".
the pond is full and has rain water runoff only to feed it. The pond has a 3 difuser aeration system by vertex. When building the pond there was considerable amount of trees that we lined down the middle ( the pond is like 1000' by 150', get or take). I first put 2000 lb lime in the fall, tested it in February and it was 6.8, so added another 4400 lbs. lime. testing it tomorrow again. water is still black with visability about 6" or so. Have had a lot of problems for months with kingfishers and some others such as grebies, engrets and such, but mostly kingfishers.
I haven't seen much fish activity so I took a small hook with a few crickets, and small green grasshoppers and fished some this evening.the bobber never took one hit. fished shallow and fished deep, fished from one end to the other.
so now I am worried, could the birds have done me in, hmm I don't think so. Or is the water too black from maybe the trees decaying? I am around the pond every day and my computer sits about 60" from the water so I watch the pond a lot, and haven't seen any floating fish from day one. Any ideas guys?

A newly stocked pond is a pretty empty place, fish-wise, compared to a mature pond that has filled with fish of all sizes. Couple the relative few fish with a healthy (albeit still developing) food chain, and I bet you have well-fed fish that are spread out a lot.

FWIW, I'd guess the bass are your best bet for getting a bite this year. And they're probably eating FHM as intended, not bugs. Maybe you would have more luck with a small minnow lure?

I'm not attempting to address water quality, except to note that if the visibility is low, that will also hurt fishing success. I am sure the birds ate some fish, but like you I don't think they wiped them out.

Leaves will definitely stain your water dark. Oak leaves are especially potent, and it doesn't take many to stain the water. The dark water prevents light penetration, which suppresses plankton bloom, which interrupts the food chain.

I think your initial stocking will take a while to show up. Feeding your fish will concentrate them, and give you an idea of what you have. It also makes them easy to catch and assess their growth.

Birds usually don't fare too well in dark or muddy water. They must be finding something to eat, or they would leave.

well water test by saline county extension has alkalinity at 55 and ph was 64. they called the u of a at pine bluff who are the states experts and they want me to bring in soil samples from 3' out into the pond. they said I will probably need a lot more lime and lime every year instead of every 3 - 4 years.
I did find a blue gill colony of nests in the sw corner of the pond today.That would answer where they are and the bass probably have so many minnows that they didn't want the crickets I offered. guess I find out tomorrow and will start liming again.

Once those LMB start spawning you will probably need more forage. They will eat all the FH and most of the BG/RES 1/3 to 1/4 there length. The birds did not eat all your fish. A few but not to many. The well water is good if you let it air-out (absorb O2). The soil samples are a very good idea. Lime will offset any tannic acid from the leaves and rotting wood.

The water wasn't 'well' water, I just said "well" (the) water test is back( ph 6.3 and alkalinity 55), should had put that word 'the' in there, my error. I have sent soil samples from 3' out into the pond to UAPB and should get the results soon. She said to go ahead and add lime now, but keep track of how much. The info I gave her(peat and red clay on the two heavy timbered ridges above the 3 acre pond) has pure acid run-off. She said I will probably have to lime every other year in luie of every 3 or 4. Added 2400# this week already and plan to add more next week.
I do plan to add more forage, either golden shiners or tilapia, or both next spring ( bass now are only about 8" or so). I have already added 150 small bullfrogs from ken's fish hatchery in Georgia( supposedly the world's largest bullfrogs) and they have had a huge tadpole spawn this spring. I also added 24# of rosey reds and the number of natural frogs (tree and pickerel frogs) are enormous with tiny tadpoles everywhere you look. I have 3 three-diffuser heads from Vertex pumping 24/7, so I should be able to handle all the forage the bass can eat.

Hello water experts. I just tested my total alkalinity with a pool test kit and it tested at 30 PPM (3 drops of the last stuff X 10). We just had a huge amount of rain here in the Conroe, TX area. We had about 12" in about 30 hours.

What should it be? Should I add lime? I have about 200 pounds of pelletized lime left over from landscape work. Should I add that to the pond? The pond is about .37 acres and has an average depth of 6 feet.

Was the test before the rain or after ? Are you losing water or not ? Do you have a pre rain test # ?

This is the first test I have taken. This is a new pond (it has been full since February. I have already stocked it with 100 Blue Catfish, 100 CNBG, and 10 lbs of FHM. I just put 30 LMB in yesterday. The fish are thriving. I have cleared it once with alum, but it is fairly turbid again due to some bare banks and lots of clay. I now have vegetation coverage on the banks, so I may clear it again in the near future. The test was taken today at 1500. The rain was on Monday/Tuesday. I do not lose water.

So the pond is not over full (losing water)through a pipe or spillway ?

30 is low but good enough to support a fertilization program if that is what you have in mind. Not sure how easy that would be to start with very turbid water. Might want to wait a week and reassess. More lime (but not hydrated lime) might help clear the pond. Is this the type lime you have ?

The pond level has stabilized. It spills into a pasture when overfull, and the vice versa. That is the type of lime I have.

If water is not running out of the pond and was not running out when you took the test I would add the lime in 2 parts half now and the other half in a week. Spread it around the pond not all in one or two places. That equals about the equivalent of 1000 lbs ( or half a ton) of lime per acre.

Eric,

Thank you very much for the help.

I added 150 lbs of lime this evening. I spread it out over the pond using my paddle boat.

We are supposed to have some very warm weather over the nect week.

When should I test again, and what time is best?

Regards,

Bill

30 is ok so there is no rush unless you have some specific plan. The fish will do fine as is. Lime takes a while to change the pond mud and thus the water. Some dissolves into the water right away. Test it again this weekend and report the results. Also let us know if it helps clear the water some.

Tested again this evening. Total alkalinity still around 40. pH at 7.2 at 7:45 PM.

Fish are very healthy and hungry. I think I will add another 150 lbs of ag lime this weekend. What do you think?

Pond has about 6-8" of visibility.

Regards,

Bill

The alkalinity went up 10 points. That is good and quick. You could add the rest (150 lbs) but waiting a mth would also be good. Has the pond (muddy) cleared any or is there a plankton bloom ?

It is still muddy. It seems to be slightly better, but it is hard to tell. We have not had any rain in the last 8 days.

Plankton bloom??? How do I tell.

I did put in two triploid carp from Overton's a couple of weeks ago.