New member, 1st post, opinions welcomed - 04/18/05 06:58 PM
I have been reading the helpful information for a few days now and decided to come on board in the quest for some opinions from the far more educated and experienced on ponds than me.
Last year we purchased a 10 acre tree farm in the Central Coast of CA that has 5 ponds. The largest (1/2 acre surface, 6' deep, steep banks) and the smallest (45'X 25'X 5') were kept "active" by topping off with well water in the summer. Apparently there were fish, frogs and plant life in the two that were kept "active" while the other three would dry up. They would all get this eerie, bright green film on top in the summer that seemed to go away by mid afternoon. Story is, the larger pond was treated with something to control algae that killed enough life to start a chain reaction and everything eventually died. The small pond was fairly clear and had a lot of plant life in the bottom. We let them all dry up last summer to see what we had. There was no visible life in any of them except the plants in the smallest one.
The bottom of the larger pond had a black, kind of smelly muck. We could lift out pieces that were 8-10" thick, maybe thicker in some spots. Some advised us to clean it out and others advised us to leave it in to retain the water. We compromised and scrapped off the top with a box blade with the intention of removing some of it. The unusually heavy rains in California caught us before we could extract any appreciable amount. After the rains, all the ponds filled up spilling one into the other. The "active" ponds with the black layer have held water; the other 3 have receded considerably.
The ponds filled up (overflowed actually) and soon hundreds of mosquito fish and thousands of tadpoles appeared. The banks had a solid black band about 4-5" wide of tadpoles. The tadpoles now range in size from a BB to 1 1/2" long. None have legs yet. The mosquito fish look like they about to burst with young. Plant life started growing and we added some fish. More on that later.
From a distance the "active" ponds look like black coffee. Closer up the water is fairly clear to about 8-10" and brownish beyond that. Visibility is about 3 feet. We have very hard water, PH 7.5-8.0 in the pond and the well. The temporary, shallow ponds are all murky.
On April 1st we stocked LMB 3-4", BG 2-3", channel cats 3-4".
Small pond: 20 LMB, 5 BG and 5 CC
Larger pond: 85 LMB, 20 BG and 15 CC
From what I have read, we probably overstocked LMB and under stocked BG and should have put in fatheads or the like. We have good cover in the small pond and the fish are very active. We enjoy watching them daily often 20 or more gathered together. The fish in larger pond are not visible.
I have read many posts and am overwhelmed with all the information on aeration, fertilizing, feeding, stocking, etc.
I wonder if I should just do nothing at this point and see what happens or...are there steps I should take now that will promote balanced, healthier ponds?
I welcome your constructive feedback, opinions or questions.
Last year we purchased a 10 acre tree farm in the Central Coast of CA that has 5 ponds. The largest (1/2 acre surface, 6' deep, steep banks) and the smallest (45'X 25'X 5') were kept "active" by topping off with well water in the summer. Apparently there were fish, frogs and plant life in the two that were kept "active" while the other three would dry up. They would all get this eerie, bright green film on top in the summer that seemed to go away by mid afternoon. Story is, the larger pond was treated with something to control algae that killed enough life to start a chain reaction and everything eventually died. The small pond was fairly clear and had a lot of plant life in the bottom. We let them all dry up last summer to see what we had. There was no visible life in any of them except the plants in the smallest one.
The bottom of the larger pond had a black, kind of smelly muck. We could lift out pieces that were 8-10" thick, maybe thicker in some spots. Some advised us to clean it out and others advised us to leave it in to retain the water. We compromised and scrapped off the top with a box blade with the intention of removing some of it. The unusually heavy rains in California caught us before we could extract any appreciable amount. After the rains, all the ponds filled up spilling one into the other. The "active" ponds with the black layer have held water; the other 3 have receded considerably.
The ponds filled up (overflowed actually) and soon hundreds of mosquito fish and thousands of tadpoles appeared. The banks had a solid black band about 4-5" wide of tadpoles. The tadpoles now range in size from a BB to 1 1/2" long. None have legs yet. The mosquito fish look like they about to burst with young. Plant life started growing and we added some fish. More on that later.
From a distance the "active" ponds look like black coffee. Closer up the water is fairly clear to about 8-10" and brownish beyond that. Visibility is about 3 feet. We have very hard water, PH 7.5-8.0 in the pond and the well. The temporary, shallow ponds are all murky.
On April 1st we stocked LMB 3-4", BG 2-3", channel cats 3-4".
Small pond: 20 LMB, 5 BG and 5 CC
Larger pond: 85 LMB, 20 BG and 15 CC
From what I have read, we probably overstocked LMB and under stocked BG and should have put in fatheads or the like. We have good cover in the small pond and the fish are very active. We enjoy watching them daily often 20 or more gathered together. The fish in larger pond are not visible.
I have read many posts and am overwhelmed with all the information on aeration, fertilizing, feeding, stocking, etc.
I wonder if I should just do nothing at this point and see what happens or...are there steps I should take now that will promote balanced, healthier ponds?
I welcome your constructive feedback, opinions or questions.