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Joined: May 2004
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Hey everybody! We just purchased a house on 2.5 acres. It has a barn and a small pond (less than .25 acres) Our pond's purpose is equal parts landscape decor and fishing... it has the look of a natural pond as opposed to a "garden pond"... I love to fish, but also wouldn't mind upgrading the visual appeal of the pond. But I know nothing about owning/maintaining a pond... my piorities for my pond:

1. Pond Health (structural, drainage, wildlife)
2. Fishability (healthy fish population)
3. Pond beauty

Knowing what you all have learned, what advice would you give a new pond owner... what can I do to acess the health of my pond and what are the basic, most important things I can do now for the health of my pond? As I said, it is a small man made pond in the front yard of our house... if I had to guess I'd say it was about 80 to 100 feet long and 60 feet wide. Assume I know nothing. Thanks! \:\)

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Welcome aboard.
There are some very knowledgeable people on this board that will be able to give you some good advice. (I'm not one of them)
From a beauty stand point, based on what you have described, I would look at a fountain in the pond.
This would add oxygen and it would look great in your front yard.
I also think that you should buy some minnows and worms and get a feel for what is currently in the pond. Then the experts can give you some options on what to do from here.

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Welcome! David is right, there are some smart cookies on this site (I am not one either). We just stocked our new pond a few months ago. One advantage we have over you is that we know what we put in it and know what the bottom looks like. First thing - get a subscription to Pond Boss. Second thing - hang on -- to your wallet, your time, your thought patterns, your marrage... For some reason, that little piece of water on your land is going to take a lot of brain power away from other things and you will certainly begin to appreciate your biology and chemistry classes of old. One thing that was told to me was, "don't expect it to all work out in a week." Have fun.

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The whole thing starts with water quality. Buy a good alkilinity tester to find out how well it will support life. Thats about $100. Don't overstock. Keep your checkbook handy. I've found that the most constant thing that I add to my pond is $$$$$$$$$$$$. But then, I am seldom satisfied.

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Can you suppy a little more technical info on your pond? Average depth, existing fish and plant species, water turbidity, location in U.S. etc... All of these factor in to giving you better answers. Small ponds are a lot of fun, but can be a maitenance nightmare if not cared for the right way.


Nic Nicholson
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Thanks for everyone's responses... I actually live in Lakeland TN and I called the state and they are going to come out in July and do a free survey of the pond... I will post again after this as I am sure I will know much more about it... Here are a few more details I have learned:
I stepped it off and it is 120 ft. long and about 50 ft wide and 80 ft wide (it's an L shape) I was told by the former owners that the max depth is about 10 feet. From what I can tell, the only water source to the pond is rain and a pipe they put in to supply runoff from rain... I am wondering with a pond this small and down here in the brutally hot months of July and August if I need to worry about oxygen loss in the pond? The water appears to be a little on the muddy side, but it is full and we've had lots of storms and rain lately. Anyway, I have been fishing 3 times in the past week and caught a total of 7 bass (mostly using topwater lures), each 8 to 10 inches long. Bass is all I've seen so far... tried using earthworms and caught nothing, also tried live white grubs and caught nothing... doesn't seem to be bluegill... I'll try crickets next. Funny, I have not seen any snakes or turtles, but tons of frogs. Also, I was told by the previous owner that they caught a 4 lb bass at another lake and released it in the pond... anyway, I'm having fun discovering more about it... PS in a pond this small, would a fountain ruin the fishing? :p

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Grizz, you are right to think about O2 loss in the hot months. The risk is something called "turnover," when the water becomes oxygen depleted below the top few inches, the fish all migrate to those few inches, then a hard summer storm suddenly cools that water and it sinks, leaving the fish in oxygen-depleted water. I'm sure you're wandering around the aeration section of the Boss, and have figured out that a bottom aeration system is a lot more effective at maintaining the health of the water column than a fountain on the top of the water.

I've found an interesting and seemingly effective piece of pond management to be the use of beneficial microbes, which are available from a variety of suppliers. they chomp up lots of nutrient-producing organics (think what fish do after they eat, etc., but also decaying leaves, etc.), and so make those nutrients unavailable for algae growth.

For us, the most important thing is--the dock. Being beside the water is just different from being out over it. The next most important thing, if you have some hill on one side of the pond, is a waterfall; the addition of sound and movement really adds another dimension.

From a landscaping perspective, I think that water iris are a wonderful way to integrate the pond into the landscape--the foliage is good many months a year, and the flowers and reflections are terrific. Look into Louisiana iris as well as the yellow, blue, and white flag which are more common. Amazingly enough, Lowe's, at least here in Ohio, is a great source of marginal plants for ponds. Don't be afraid to experiment with plants, water lilies, etc., any and all of which can be exterminated if they go wild (but no duckweed, IMHO, and definitely no lotus in an earthen pond).

As the above may imply, Tarpondriver is right about the pond's coming to dominate your consciousness, as well as your landscape. In part because water is so wonderful to have, but also, at least for me, because the pond changes not only with the seasons and the months, but can change in an hour or a day or a minute, and hosts a complete biology in its banks. Have a great time!!

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Hi Griz, well being an owner of a small 1/3+ acre pond in North Alabama that sits in my front yard I will try to offer what I have learned.

1. To keep it looking nice keep it full, I am going to have my well drilled deeper cause I still lose up to 18 inches in the summer during our dry season and the muddy shore line doesn't look good.

2. Don't put alot of catfish in it if any. 3 years ago I stocked 200 4-6 inch cats we have taken about 100 out that weighed up to 7 pounds. Why do I say this well I used to have a good 18 inched of clarity and now I have 3-4 even after spreading gypsum so I feel that the catfish are stirring up the bottom.

3. Aeration is good and a fountain will not hurt at all. I spray the water up into the air about 15' using a shower head mounted on a float and anchored in the middle. It will not hurt your fishing at all. We catch fish when it is running or not.

Hope that helps answer some of your questions. If you want some ideas on a dock you can look at my homepage I have lots of pictures of my pond there.

Bob

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Griz,

I wouldn't wait until July to start looking into an effective aeration system. There's tons of suppliers that can help you out, or if you mail me a drawing with some specs I will be glad to also. All of the advice above is good stuff. Bacteria and enzymes are great, but you get what you pay for. The cheap stuff doesn't seem to work half as well as the expensive. Has a lot to due with the actual nature of the bacteria which is too technical to try and explain here. How is your forage base for the larger bass in your pond? Do you see a lot of minnows, etc?? I've had some really good success on growing large, fat bass in the ponds I manage as long as the client maintained an annual spring and fall minnow stocking program. Have fun!


Nic Nicholson
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i just put in 10 lbs of fatheads , they were gone in 2 weeks , bass eatem like popcorn , thank goodness some had time to spawn. i put in more large bluegills and hopefully i'll get a real nice spawn this year. stocking fatheads is costly lol \:\)


i only wanted to have some fun

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