Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations small pond help

Hello...I am a marketing and music guy living in a beautiful secluded area with a 1/4 acre pond. Untouched for many many years. I am cleaning up one half and want to leave the other half untouched. The end that I am cleaning goes from shallow to 6' deep. Lots of muck and vegetation. Used weed razor from shoreline and then raked top and bottom. Put some rocks along the shoreline. Many frogs , small catfish, minnows/small fish. I think low oxygen level from all of the years of neglect. No big fish at all from what I an tell. My goal is to make the one end clean enough to swim comfortably. Fishing is not a priority and would hope with regular maintenance what fish are there will grow. Row boat grandson fishing is all I would want. The other end I want to still be unmodified in any way. Natural spring underneath "they" say...not sure if this is true. This is my first year of this lifelong project. The real nice positives are that the water is crystal clear. There are no foul odors. The zillion frogs, tadpoles, little fish, snakes etc are very healthy and happy. Awesome bird activity. Great Blue Heron visits every day. Hawks as well. Mother nature is in full bloom. What do I do to keep the clean end clean and swimmable with out a weedy mucky floor. Zero impact on the environment is my top priority.

This is why I have joined this forum! Thanks for reading and appreciate any help offered.

WB

WB, welcome to the forum! Personally, I don't think your goals for the pond are realistic, and here's why.

"Zero impact on the environment is my top priority." That's gone out the window already with you raking and removing weeds from the shallow end. Once a pond is built, Mother Nature starts filling it in - weeds, dust, pollen, leaves, sediment that's washed into the pond, tree branches that fall in, etc., etc. Anything that changes that has an impact on some part of the pond environment.

Zero maintenance would be zero impact on the environment. But, OTOH if you mean zero detremental impact on the pond ecology, that's a different story. Even that statement isn't 100% possible - it all depends on what part of the pond ecology we are talking about.

But, to have a pond where wildlife uses it, has habitat for fish, amphibians, birds and invertebrates, that's all very possible with minimal maintenance and minimal impact on the environment.

I am a pretty "hands on" guy when it comes to pond maintenance. I have frogs, dragonflies, toads, fish and birds that all use my pond. Is it zero impact on the environment? Not really. Does it provide habitat for a multitude of animal, plant, bird and insect species? Definately.

So, with that said, you say the pond is 1/4 acre. Do you know how deep the deepest part of the pond is? If it's been around for a while (and it sounds like it has) go here to measure it: http://www.acme.com/planimeter/

Maybe he just means no chemical control?

If you think you have had DO crashes will you aerate it?

Post pictures, please!

pic soon ... yes no chemicals ...minimal impact on the eco system is prob better way to say it :-)