Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Give praise alum works.

The end of my muddy pond is here!! I bought a property in north texas 2 years ago that had an unfinished pond on it. Water looked horrible. This past fall I had a dozer out to finish out pond which made it 3/4 acre in size. Tanked filled up over winter and spring. After learning on this site how to treat the suspended clay, I went looking for alum. I think it would have being easier to get 10 kilos of crack than 10 bags of alum in DFW. I finally found a source and was lucky enough to have a neighbor at the farm that had a tank with a trash pump. Today we put 500lbs in 400 gallons of water and spread around pond. At first it didnt look like much was happening but after about an hour you could clearly see the floc. I have never seen as much as a minnow in this pond because of how bad clarity was but within 2 hours I could see perch swimming by. The only down side is there was a big drop in ph and even the frogs wanted out of the pond!!! I went ahead and added 150 lbs of hydrated lime. Im not to worried about a fish kill at this point because I really didnt believe there were any fish in it. My next step is to get and algae bloom and then start stocking. I have pics if someone can post. thanks

email pics to me and i'll post them for you

jbrebel@gmail.com

I'm a big fan of Alum too...500 lbs in 3/4 acre is a very heavy dose...but if the existing fish die, you will at least know what it's stocked with going forward. What were your PH readings before & after? Did it drop below 6?

keith,

pics sent.

eastland,

After waiting so long to clear this thing up I went on the upper end per acre/ft. I talked to neighbot today who went out to look at pond this morning and he said it as pretty and green and you could see your reflection in it. He didnt see any dead fish and saw numerous fish swimming around. I had the water tested by a&m and it was 7.4 I believe. I used a pool strip to test after adding alum and it looked below 6. Will the ph raise back up over time or will the 150lb of hydrated lime take care of it or does it really matter going forward. thanks

Posted for armadillophil

Keith, if the pH is below 6.0, it's bad...your soils should increase the ph over time. A ph value between 6.5 and 9.0 is needed. One ton of ag lime per acre is required to raise the ph one point. Hydrated or builder's lime (calcium hydroxide) is generally not recommended, as it has the potential to increase ph too quickly, killing fish. It can be applied at the rate of 50 pounds per surface acre.

Keith,

Thanks for posting pics for me.

I will update on what it looks like after I get back tom. thanks

updated

armadillophil, lol, at least I didn't call you Keith again Those are some great looking pictures! Wait 2 weeks if you are going to hit it with fertilizer to start your bloom...but it may not be necessary. Nice color water, I'm ready for a swim I love checking out the fish with fins, mask and snorkle. I somewhat wonder how important a fertilized bloom really is when feeders are in place and the 2-3" forage base is established. I prefer the natural occurance without the maintenance.