Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Am I on the right track?

I just found "the boss" forum a few days ago and have been doing a tremendous amount of research before asking a question. What a great wealth of information on this site!
I bought a house last August that has a 15 foot deep, .25 acre pond on it. The first thing I had to deal with last year was/is this visitor.


Last year he cleaned me out of Shubunkin/Koi and whatever else he could find. This year he recently returned. I understand that my favored choice is mono line around the pond. I tend to frown upon doing that but I may have to. I tried the Heron decoy but this bird just made friends with it.

My bigger issue is the algae problem that appeared when the pond thawed.


I had the local pond experts come out and evaluate the problem. They tested the water and for the most part said that it was OK.
They sold me 3 grass carp (2 13 year old carp are still in there) , a very expensive 5 gallon bucket of bacteria to get rid of the murky bottom, and packets of bacteria to get rid of the algae.
They also said that I should do bottom aeration. I am a DIY kind of guy so I did some research and created my system using tree rings, garden hose, and an air pump.

I missed the part about starting up aeration slowly and immediately went to 24/7. It has been running for about 3 weeks now and so far no dead fish. Of course there may not be many left in there due to the Heron.
Today the pond looks much better than it did 3 weeks ago. The surface algae is almost gone. If it continues this way I will start to back off on the 24/7 aeration.

So am I heading in the right direction?
Advice or comments are welcomed.
Thank you for your help.
Ray

Welcome to the forum rstacey!!! I agree, a more informative and fiendly site does not exist!

Best get used to the GBH unless it happens to accidentally walk into a wall of pelletized lead traveling at about 1350 FPS!
I'm sending you a PM so be on the lookout for the flashing envelope at the top of the forum page.

rstacy, glad to welcome another NYer to the PBF, I agree with Rainman if that Herron is that determined the best solution is probably the Supersonic projectile launching device.
Aeration should help, and some guys on here have used the rope method of clearing algae and duck weed, especially if the pond is small.
Very nice looking pond, more members should be along to give you advice.

What are your goals for the pond? Koi and goldfish, other ornamentals? Just viewing, fishing, fish to eat? What species are in their now besides ornamental goldfish and koi? At 15 ft deep and .25 acres, it must have VERY steep sides... Be careful with kids if you have any.

Pond water is often very well mixed in Spring, after surface and bottom water temps match and active Spring weather keeps things mixed up. So you may have lucked into a very good time to start the aeration 24/7 instead of gradually.

During the Summer doldrums, results could have been quite different.

Hi guys. Thank you for the welcome. I will go do a search on the "rope method" and try it out.


Just viewing and swimming. No fishing(except for the GBH!).
There is a tree swing on the other side of the pond that the previous owner used quite a bit. As far as I know there is bass, carp, grass carp, bluegill, minnows, and orfe. I haven't see the koi or Shubunkin since the GBH arrived last year. I have been told that there is a catfish in there but he has never appeared. Of course I like the bright colored fish but it appears that the Heron does as well so I will probably not add any more this year until I solve that problem.
After about 6 feet the drop is pretty steep. There are no children on the property.


Every once in a while, I just get lucky!
So should I just leave the compressor run 24/7 in to the summer?

Can you tell me more about the rope clearing method? So far a search hasn't turned up much.
Ray

Thank you sir. I think that is my weekend project.
Ray