Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? The old pond

Hello everyone, My husband and I are trying to revive our old pond. Funds are limited, I lost a great job due to the recession and in a way it prompted this project to procede. We like to stay busy and this years projects had to be the low cost high labor kind. we started by cutting some trees and brush at the entrance of the pond and the old spill tube had rusted off over the years so we put an extension on it. A complete drain and cleanout is needed but not in the budget so we will work with what we have for now and live with the rest. At the moment we are continuing with the clearing and watching the water level rise ( almost 2 feet in a week! ) the next thing we have planned is to get a boat in and check depth, our fishing boat is to big so we have to find a small one. after that ? thats where you all come in. Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. The pond is about 1 1/2 acres there are turtles, frogs and some fish although we don't know what kind there are to many weeds to fish from the bank, Grasses, arrow weed and duckweed mostly. We thought about a GC but not sure I know it wont eat the DW. Anyway sorry about the long post there is so much to tell I will give more info as needed I'm not sure whats relevant but it's a good start. Thank you for your time we are open to all options.

Here are a few pics of the progress.

Duckweed can be tough to deal with. Do a google search (open a google window and type in... duckweed site:pondboss.com ) and you will see many threads on it.

In order to help with the weeds we need to be able to properly identify them. Photos will help.

You can get an inexpensive inflatable row boat to help in navigating around your pond.

IMHO before any real plan can be put together we need to identify the (1) species of plants in your pond and (2) the species of fish in your pond and most importantly (3) determine what your goals are for the pond.

Hang on for some feedback from someone that actually knows what they are talking about (as opposed to this ill-conceived dribble).

Has anyone had experiance with a company that sucks the silt out with a pump? I have seen several websites on this but can't find one close by.

I have some updates with the pond. The deepest area is 8 1/2' and there are BG and bass not sure what kind I saw one in the shallows. found a large nasty leech and some mussels. I have an appointment with the district conservationist on wednesday so I will update more about our goals after that. We have decided to invest some money for improvements but until we have a complete plan we will continue with the brush and bank cleaning.

Hey, Kathy, sounds like you guys have a plan. Before you spend any of the money you are going to budget for the pond, be sure to run the ideas by the forum as the folks here will certainly have some thoughts and input for you that could save you money or help you get more bang for the buck. It's certainly a good idea to keep working on the manual weed removal right now, though.

I also see that you didn't get any replies to the last post about sucking the muck out of the pond. I am not aware of anything like that, though that doesn't mean anything. There are certainly risks and challenges of doing muck removal while your pond is filled and populated, so that's something to keep in mind. The disturbance of the silt/organic muck layer can release a lot of bad gasses into the water that will use O2, can cause turbidity issues that may be very harmful to fish, and many others that I don't know about. I think some have experience dredging a full pond, but I would guess that under anything but the most particular circumstances, this may be somewhat of a last choice for most people.

Please keep us in the loop.

OK, I have a great low budget start. Search the local craigslist for the cheapest or least expensive 12 foot aluminum boat. Better if it has some oars and oar locks then using paddles. Get a pool pole that extends to 12' and a deep pocketed metal framed pool skimmer. Not the plastic flat kind. Have a blast scooping out duckweed, especially on windy days where it is all in one area. Sorry to hear about your recession woes, don't feel alone, the government sold out to make the rich richer at the expense of the hard working middle class. Keep your chin up and stay busy, I love your attitude!!!


JHAP, inflatables have way too short of lifespan, I am using a 1981 12 foot monkey wards boat with zero leaks still. A riveted aluminum, powder blue. Transom plate fell off this Saturday lake mowing. And unless you have a drooling problem, I never noticed one, more of a contagious laughter, I think you are wanting to use the word, "drivel". Like your normal posts.

Thank you Todd and Pond frog, We borrowed a boat to use until we can find a used one. we actually made a rope thing to corral the DW and it works well but getting it out once we get it to the bank is very hard. we worked at it all day yesterday and today the pond is covered again. I have been reading a lot about getting control of the weeds and we are considering herbicides but dont want to cause a major shock. do you think we should wait till spring and get them as they emerge or maybe do some spot kill in the fall? I was also wondering about dyes would that help control the DW? and with the spill tube constantly running would we lose the dye?

You are quite right I should have used the word drivel. So far I don't have a drooling problem, well except for the time that we all went to the great Texas BBQ place at the second Pond Boss conference but who could blame me for that?

After borrowing I'd search craigslist for local small aluminums and jon boats. 10-12 should be fine. What you need after using a boom is a scoop. That is where the leaf skimmer comes in handy. It is a deep fine meashed net with a strong aluminum frame. It can hold the weight. Let the bulk of the water drain out and make a pile on the shore, a duckweed compost pile. It does not matter if you have lots of little ones. Eventually you will see the fruits of your labor.

And yes, if you were going to go herbicide, not a great solution on a limited budget for duckweed, I'd wait til next Spring. I would not spot treat anything before the Winter die off, but focus on manually removal, low budget labor, saving up for next Spring, when your dollars spent would be most effective.

Dye or tint is barely effective on floaters like duckweed. Plus if you have water exchange you are literally throwing money down the tube. Tint has it place, but not in your pond. You found a great place for free advice and I can hopefully help out some with budget constraint solutions. All I ask is for some nice after photos. Gathering and scooping that duckweed out is not only free, but quite the aerobic workout. Don't get discouraged, eventually you will see progress if you stick to it.

Don't worry, JHAP, it's obvious that our buddy PF has simply forgotten about the 36 good and beneficial posts contributions you have made to the forum. Just remember who loves ya, baby!

Thank you pond frog. We were about to give up on the DW removal because we were told it would grow back faster then we could remove it. We really dont want to have to use herbicide. Checking craigslist every day for a small boat.

kathy, it took me 6 months of searching but I found a 10' plastic dinghy that is rated for 575# on CL for $150. That will last me quite a while on the pond. Don't give up!

Kathy don't forget to check out town wide yard sales, and estate sales listed in the newspaper,
I found my $40 canoe at a yard sale it needed some work but it floats, so far.

I met with the district conservationist today and he gave me pretty good news. All of the pond structure is in good shape (dam, spill tube, emergency spillway and sediment basin) The next thing he suggested is to talk to the owner of the cropland that is our water shed and see if he will put in a waterway to further slow the sediment. We know him pretty well and think he will do it the government will pay him for most of it and it will improve his land. After that is done we will lower the water level and excavate the dam side of the pond as far out as they can reach back to the original basin depth. So now I think we have a plan but it looks like we might have to wait another year to excavate we have had and unusual amount of rain this year. The excavation should clear up most of the weeds and by removing some of the trees and letting air in he said the duckweed would eventually go away. He also told me about some type of gaurd that I can put on the spill tube that would allow the duck weed to go over the spillway better. I will find out more about that and if it works I will post it for other sufferers of the nasty stuff. I will get pictures of the progress as we go ahead but it looks like it may be a waiting game for now.