Hi all - lots of info to go thru on these forums - thanks.
I bought this property 4 years ago and it had a 1/4 acre pond that was only 3-5 ft deep. I just recently (~4-5 months ago) finished digging the new pond. It is about 3/4 acre with a deep end of ~18 feet and a shallow end of about 5-6. It is well aerated with two sets of aerators from living waters aeration. I stocked the pond with Hybrid Coppernose (at least that is what the hatchery called them) and a few red-ear. I will be putting in fat heads this fall and late spring I will introduce some bass.
I still have my pier to build but work has been crazy.
My fish are eating up to a 40 oz cup of floating food within 5 minutes and growing well.
The pond water seems to be trying to find its happy place since it has changed colors and had a variety of algae blooms that seem to come and go. Recently I have had a very strange blue algae looking thing appear (seem my pics in the photo section) that I am struggling to identify.
Thanks for all the great info!
Mook
Hey Mook, Welcome aboard. Can you tell us what your goals are for this pond? This gives all the experts, which I'm not one of, something to go on when dishing out their wisdom. Good luck with the pond
Welcome to Pond Boss Mook, thanks for joining up and posting.
Welcome Mook, its good to see a fellow Louisiana pond owner here. What part of La are you in?
I tell you if you need pond help this is the best place to get it! Thanks to these guys today is the first time since I bought this property (3 yrs this Nov) I have seen the bottom of my pond full pool!
I am in Baton Rouge - and honestly I guess I want the pond to be nice to look at, allow kids to catch fish and a little swimming would be nice too. I hope to have some time this fall to do some planting around the pond - a few cypress trees iris' etc.
I am hoping that the pond will be full this fall and that I can get the contractor back out to add some dirt in the low areas to reduce my watershed as well.
Mook
I'm in Albany so not far from you at all. Do you know of a AG Lime place in our area? I have a lead on someone in Lorager but like to another price.
I have never needed more than 50lb of Lime and I just bought that at my local feed store (pretty cheap). How much do you need?
Mook
About 4 tons Of Ag Lime should do it. 50#? Are we talking about the same Lime, what I need is Ag Lime (crushed, pulverised limestone, dolomite), not powdered.
So how much does 4 tons of AG Lime cost and did you have it delivered and spread, or did you do all the work?
Its $51.00 a ton and $100.00 to disperse it into the pond. This is the only price I have gotten, I would like to compare but don't no where to find in my area.
wow - I am a rookie - 4 tons for your pond??
I guess I need to read more posts to understand all this. Why would you need so much lime?
Ag Lime helps with raising the hardness and alkalanity in your pond. It is slow acting and will last for years if added in the right amounts. It will also help in keeping the pond clear of suspended clay particles but slowly as opposed to the Hydrated lime which is fast acting, almost immediate in raising ph levels.
This is my understanding of the reason I should add the Ag Lime.
Experts, did I get this correct?
You can do a search for Ag Lime for more info.
By Jove, I believe he's about got it!
The hydrated lime didn't do much for clearing the suspended clay though since the Calcium only adds a +1 positive Ion. The AG lime also only has a +1 positive Ion.
The "speed of action" pertains only to the capability to change the PH.
Thank RM, I had a good teacher
Hydrated Lime is Calcium Hydroxide. Also called Quick or Slaked Lime. Hy lime readily dissolves in water and is VERY caustic. It can raise your PH to over 12 in a matter of seconds. The chemical action is also very short lived and the PH will go back to "normal" after about a week or so.
Agricultural Lime is Calcium Magnesium Carbonate. Also called Dolomite, Dolomitic Limestone, and Road Rock, Ag Lime is FAR less caustic. Ag Lime dissolves VERY slowly by chemically reacting to neutrilize acids and is very slow to dissolve. Ag Lime is "Generally Considered Safe" for ponds as it can only raise the PH of water to a maximum of a very safe 8.2. Also Calcium and Magnesium are very beneficial to the growth of fish and these minerals "buffer" the daily changes in PH in a pond by neutrilizing mainly Carbonic Acid that is formed at night as plants respire. These two mineral salts directly affect and are measured as Alkalinity and Hardness.
EDIT: Hydrated Lime is only available as a very fime powder. Agricultural Lime is just crushed limestone and can come in many sizes or even in a "pelleted" form. Pelleted lime is often 50-60 times the price of crushed bulk lime.
So what is the best way to figure out how much of this you should order for you pond.
I will have to check to see if there is anyone around here that will bring it out, the only problem is I am not sure the could get the truck to the pond, let alone cast it out once there.
To determine what the MINIMUM amount of Ag Lime needed requires a soil test. You can normally get that done at any USDA office for a small fee. Take small equal sample amounts of soil from several places/depths around your pond and a few from pond sediments. Mix all the samples well and allow them to dry before taking the sample to be tested.
Determine what your target PH is and the testing facility will tell you how many TONS per Acre are required to raise the soil PH to the desired PH point. Dolomitic Agricultural Lime can not be over applied since it can not raise the PH higher than a very safe 8.2. Extra Ag lime will simply reduce the frequency of needed applications.
Lime spreader trucks can sling the crushed limestone or pelleted lime about 30-50 feet. Some spreader trucks have two slingers---one for the center/right side and one for the center/left of the truck. Spreader trucks do need to be able to get fairly close to the water to be the most useful.
51 bucks a ton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy rip off batman where are you getting your lime at???? OUCH! I can get AG lime for 7.50 a ton. I guess I am pretty lucky when it comes to that.
Coreyhap,
remember, we live in an area where there is a limestone quarry near almost every town. Some areas have to have it shipped in by the truck and train load.
I do agree that $51/ton is outrageous. My area has a $150 minimum to get the lime spread for free....that gets me 15 ton.
So how much does say typical gravel used for lease roads run along with a size or two larger, in your area.
I am just curious as we just had some road fixed and it seemed high to me, but I want to double check to see how many tons were used.
Also could you use that as well in your ponds or would it not offer much benefit or be too costly?
I am not sure about that? But I can get 1.5 to 2 inch lime rock for gravel. Works just as good and once again I can get it for 7.50 a ton. This lime rock gravel is what I intend on putting all over in my watershed, and makeing my driveway out of. Along with crushed AG lime in my pond. Basically I can get 28 tons of lime gravel or AG crushed lime for 210 bucks. It costs me 70 bucks for a 13 ton truck load to deliver or I can go pick it up myself and they will put as much in my truck as it will handle. I just need to get it done!!
To be clear least some reader draw the wrong conclusion. Ag lime goes in the pond. You can put lime rock/gravel in the pond but it will not have the same alkalinity effect as ag lime. Rock take years to dissolve in acid waters while ag lime starts upon contact and dissolves and is absorbed in mths (like a bell curve). Lime rock is good for other reasons including crustacean and fish growth.
ewest, you are correct of course.
The limestone quarries of the midwest are mining the dolomite limestone and break it up into various graded sizes. The smallest pieces and powders from the crushing is what is used as Ag lime here. It is the sheer surface area exposed of the pulverized/crushed by-product that makes it more readily available to reaction as a soil amendment. Except for size, road rock and ag lime are one in the same around here.
Yeah sorry I did not make that more clear. Thanks for that Eric! Your the man as usual.
I can get #73 limestone here for 13.50/ton delivered. That is what I used on my driveway. I had a dump truck for a few weeks, and I picked up 80 tons. Picked up price was $12.00/ton.
I used 60 tons on the drive, and really should put down another 60 tons to finish it. #73 has the fines in it and it packs down really well, it's like concrete under the surface layer.
Since I seen to have hijacked Mook's thread by asking about Ag Lime and I am sorry for that. I have to ask, How does one get the soil samples from the bottom? I can't swim so that leaves out diving for them.
Samples from a depth of 2-3 feet will work.