Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Advice for pond

Hi, newly registered to the forum even though I have been trolling since I bought my house with a pond a couple months ago. The pond is about a quarter acre and about six feet at the deepest, located in SW Ohio. I'm not sure of the age but it seems to be silted in some and have about 1'+ of muck everywhere. According to the previous owner the pond turned over a couple years ago and they had a big fish kill, so I'm not sure how many fish are in it but I saw a few little ones jumping this weekend. Other issues include lots of algae, the dam leaking, and other weeds. I would like the pond to have fish in it and also be able to swim in it.

Basically I am looking for some advice on how to proceed with renovating the pond, stocking, and keeping down algae growth, all on a budget. My idea to fix the dam was to use bricks and concrete to replace the stacked rock/concrete that is there now. That will add about a foot to the depth and keep the depth constant since it currently fills up with the rain before losing the water. Good idea, bad idea? Would 7' max water depth be enough for fish to overwinter?

For the algae and muck- I have been scraping around the edges with a rake to take out some muck and algae. I also sprayed some algaecide which seems to have killed a lot of what was in there. I had also added pond dye but won't again until the dam is fixed. I know grass carp and tilapia would help keep down the algae and I need to get an aerator set up as well. Stocking most fish would have to wait a year because of budget right now. I would also like to put rock around part of it where the bank is steep and eroding away, would it be enough to dry stack it or should I uses some mortar to build a wall?

Long first post and a few questions but any help is greatly appreciated!

SOrry, I don't any advice as I am a rookie to pond ownership and rehab as well. Sounds like we're in almost the same boat. Hoping to have a few fish in my pond by the end of summer. until then....raking, raking, digging, stacking stones, adding an aerator...etc.

Good luck!
Shellie

warnimct, first thing first, evaluate your pond's current and past conditions if you can get on the info:

1. pond's leakage: identify the areas of possible leakages.

2. soil type creating low/high permeation: is your soil tend to allow the water to drain naturally, too quickly?

3. influent source: such as spring/well/rainfall water to replenish your pond throughout the year.

4. soil erosion: how much is the contribution of the surround area that will contribute the muck/sludge build-up in your pond. If you have a nice buffered area around the pond with good native vegetation growth, it will help filter out the sediment, and prevent the muddy build-up at the bottom.

5. nutrient introduction: if you're smacked dead in the middle of the farmland/agricultural area, you're in a fight of your life to defeate algae blooms.

6. visitation of migratory species: depending on the size of your pond, you may have frequent visits from migratory birds, which will bring havoc to your budget in maintaining the pond.

Well, these are just initial points to evaluation on pond renovation. Pond masters here will chime in real soon.

Leo to answer all your points

1 & 2- the dam is believed to be the only leaky point. Soils around my house hold water for days/weeks after heavy rains. If I dig down about 6"-1' I hit a hard clay everywhere on the property.

3- rainfall is believed to be the only water source but the groundwater level is pretty shallow. I was digging holes for fence posts and a 12-18" hole would fill up with 6" of water. For the pond that is good I believe?

4- most of the area around the pond has a gentle grade towards the pond. One side has a steep bank that is eroding some. There is a ditch/small stream that borders the property on this side with only a small earth berm keeping it from emptying into the pond.

5 there is no run off from any farm land and I don't plan on fertilizing my grass so that should all be to a minimum

6- there have been a few ducks that have been using the pond but not a lot and no geese