Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New pond two weeks ago in VA

I recently bought 12 acres that had this old pond on it. My wife says she remembers swimming and fishing in it many years ago. It's been neglected badly. I was told the neighbor upstream reconfigured his land and built a pond catching the spring that used to feed this one. Now all it gets is run-off and rain. It is 2/3 covered with lillies and has an oily residue around the edges. I would like to revitalize it if possible and know I have a long road ahead. I can't wait to use all of the resources I'm finding here on this forum. Thank all of you in advance!

Welcome to the forum Ron. Where abouts in VA are you?

Those water lilies are actually called watershield or dollar bonnet. Any idea what if any species of fish are present in the pond? What would you eventually like it to be used for? Fishing, swimming, etc...

We're located in Beaverdam, Va. ... about 37 miles northwest of Richmond. The lady that lived here before said her kids caught "large minnows" out of the pond. I haven't had an opportunity to do any sampling yet. My wife says she remembers crappie and LMB's in it, but that was years ago. I'm mainly interested in getting it to have a healthy fish population for the grandkids when they visit.

Depending on budget, I would consider renovating as in killing off all fish present in the pond and starting over. I'd treat the water shield to kill it off. You can then restock the pond with confidence you will have a high quality fishery.

I was going to rake off the watershield first and go from there. how do you go about getting rid of the current fish? Is raking the watershield off the way to go or do you reccommend chemicals? I'cve been reading some of the older articles. I've also considered aeration as an option. Thanks for your suggestions.

Can you stock grass carp in Va?

Va does allow stocking of grass carp, with a permit. I've been reading on some threads that grass carp don't do much with the watershield. Is raking it off a good method to start and then add the carp to control some other vegetation? I'm anxious to start helping this pond return to being enjoyable again and make sure it's healthy. Does the oily substance around the edges mean anything wrong? Is something getting in that shouldn't be there? Thanks for helping.

Dear Ron:

Welcome to PB. As a new pond owner myself, I can assure you that you are in the right place for advice.

I knew nothing about pond management; but, luckily, I found this site and quickly learned that everyone on here will go above and beyond to help you with your pond. Don't hesitate to come to this forum with questions. Someone on here will have the right answers for you.

I also would strongly recommend you subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine. Each issue is chocked full of valuable information for managing your pond.

I bought our place last August in King George, about 30 miles east of you. Like you, I have an older pond (built in '63) that was seriously neglected. It's about 4.3 acres and when we bought it, it had over 70% coverage in watershield.

Largely as a result of what I learned and who I met through PB, since last August, we have limed the pond, put in fish feeders, added an aeration system and totally eradicated the watershield.

Here's a before treatment pic from March just as it was beginning to emerge...



And here's a photo from last week, 14 weeks post treatment..



Grass carp are basically useless against watershield. However, they may help you with other vegetation that you cannot see because of the watershield infestation.

I do not recommend raking the watershield off. If it is like mine, the stalks are going to be so thick that it will be a never, never ending battle. Be forwarned that chemical treatment for your 12 acres will not be cheap but, by far, it will be the most effective and economical in the long run.

I would certainly reach out to CJBS2003 on this site and see if he can come for a visit. He is our Biologist Extraordinare and lives pretty close to you. He does not do this for a living or any pecuniary gain so I think his advice will be as invaluable to you as it was and has been for me.

If you would like to know more about products, vendors, etc I used for our pond, shoot me a PM and I will be happy to give you all the info I have.

Once again, welcome to PB and best of luck with your newest endeavor.

With best wishes and warmest regards,
Paul

Thanks for the quick reply ... eradicating the watershield is one of the first things on my list. I am checking all of the archives to try to eat this apple one bite at a time and not do anything drastic or wasteful. Getting the water checked and evaluated, then some direction to go in will be my first priorities. It looks like yours has come around nicely. I'm hoping mine will do the same. Thanks again.

Water and soil samples were one of the very first things I had done. Reach out to ewest here and he can give you some good advice and recommendations for how to collect and where to send. FWIW, don't event think about using the VA Extension Service. They do not have the wherewithall to give you the right data for a pond bottom or pond water sample. I wound up using LSU's lab. It was $10/sample and their collection requirements were very easily to follow. I did samples pre-treatment, then post lime treatment and now do both water and soil bottom samples every 90 days.

From what little I know, you are definitely starting out on the right track.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Paul

Welcome to the forum! I have a pond in Virginia about 90 miles Northwest of you that we constructed this year. Without this forum I would have made numerous mistakes that would have cost a fortune to correct. Definitely talk with Travis (CJBS2003), he is a great guy and incredibly knowledgable.
I agree with Travis' assesment that killing all the fish with chemicals and then starting over is the best bet. Not only can you pick which fish to stock but you can introduce them at the correct times to ensure that your forage base gets established and your predators do not overcrowd and starve. Thanks to the advice from this forum I decided to make my 1/2 acre pond a smallmouth/yellow perch pond and I have been able to stock a variety of forage fish to allow my predators to thrive. Since I chose to stock some hard-to-source forage I am letting the baitfish go without predators from March until fall of 2013 before we add the predators, this is testing my patience but the results will be worth it! If you decide to go that route or use more traditional forage you will have much greater success by starting with a blank slate!