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cimdma Offline OP
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I just moved into my new home which has an acre pond. The water is very muddy with a few inches of clarity at most. The pond is stocked and has never been fished by the previous owners. I've caught some channel cats and bluegill but only one largemouth bass. It was the biggest bass I've ever caught. But what I noticed was was how light in color it was. When I moved into the home I knew the pond was muddy but I thought it was a temporary thing due to rain but clearly I was wrong. The was was pretty much white. I,ve fished the pond pretty hard this past week and I've had a couple bites on lures, lost a fish yesterday, and caught the one on my first day(I'm talking about bass). So anyways I've been trying to find Aluminum Sulfate Hydrated but I'm not having any luck. I live in Covington Louisiana which is outside of New Orleans. I'd love to find a place locally buty if I had to pay to have it shipped it woiuldnt be the end of the world. So if anyone has a place in mind where I can buy it please let me know. I havent gotten the average depth of the pond yet so I dont know exactly how much I'll need yet but I'm guessing a couple hundred pounds atleast. Thanks

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Have you tried to determine why it is muddy? Scoop up a jar of it and see if it settles. If it does, you probably have mud washing in or something stirring it up. If so, lime won't help. How are other ponds in the area?

BTW, welcome to our addiction.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Hey cimdma,

Welcome! Good to see another Louisiana guy on the forum.

Your problem is most likely soft rain water caused by all the rain we have been getting for the past year or 2. Your pond water is probably flushed out and replaced by soft rain water, which holds fine clay in suspension. Rain water is usually a bit on the acidic side, so you may want to do a PH test before adding magnesium sulphate, which is also acidic. It may be more appropriate to add a base to clear it, such as gypsum or hydrated lime. Gypsum is mild and harmless, but watch out for hydrated lime, which needs to be applied carefully. No need to totally clear your water while the pond is brimming full. Get it partially cleared while full, and when the level drops a foot or so in the dry season it will finish clearing.

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Hey CIMDMA like Bobad said it's good to see another Louisianan on the forum. We're neighbors, I live in Pearl River. I've had the same problem with my pond for the longest. It took about a year for it to start to clear up. It's about 1-1/2 years old now, and it still isn't the way I would like it, but it is better. I found since I installed the aeration system it really helped. Like you, I haven't found a local source for Gypsum or anything else that might help the situation. Also, I agree with Bobad, it's hard to fight the amount of rainfall we deal with here in La. Do you have grass established around the pond? That was another big difference with my pond. Once I got grass growing it really helped filter the clay that was being washed into the pond. I wanted to put Gypsum in but couldn't find a supplier.

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cimdma Offline OP
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Ok, Today I ordered 200 lbs of aluminum sulfate and 100 lbs of hydrated lime. I bought a 4 lb bag of aluminum sulfate the other day and I put some in a 5 gallon bucket of water from my pond and it cleared it in a coupe hours. I bought a canoe yesterday and went out this morning and figured out the average depth which is 6'6". The surface is 1.1 acre's. which comes out to 7.2 acre-feet. But I ordered 200 lbs cause one website said 30 lbs per acre-foot. I did about 28 lbs per a-f. I think I have enough hydrated lime to balance the ph if it begins to lower to much. Hopefully this does the trick. I do have vegitation growing around and in the pond around the shore. There is no feeder creek but there was cause I could see it in my depth finder. The pond is 3-3 1/2 years old and I'm not sure what all it was stocked with. The only fish I've caught are bass, bluegill, and channel cats. There are probably 15-20 turtles that I've seen. Kent I'm not sure where Pearl River is but I know its not far. The only place I know are New Orleans, Covington, and the very near towns. In Covington there is a feed store where I'm getting my chemicals. They might sell gypsum. The store is called Spencers. You can give them a call. Thanks for all the help and I'll let you all know the outcome. Either I'll have clearer water or a big fish fry and enough fish to stuff my freezer.

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Hi again cimdma,

If your pond is getting runoff from a large area, and is flowing through, it probably consists mostly of soft rain water. If that's the case, you may need a lot more chemicals to clear it.

If the pond hasn't overfilled and lost a lot of water, it may start clearing when the level drops a foot or 2.

If you try to clear up the pond when it's at full pool, it can be a bit too saturated during long dry spells.

Turbidity from soft water stays in suspension forever, turbidity from wind and runoff will usually clear up very quickly in hard water (slowly or never in soft water).

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From what I've been reading, it appears if one has a spring fed pond with water coming in and out, lime and/or other chemicals might not last long. Especially so if the water is very soft. Am I correct in this assumption?

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Really a newbie to this forum, but have the same problem with water clarity in my 1 1/2 acre pond. It's fed by runoff with about a 100 acre watershed consisting primarily of gumbo. The pond is only three years old and I just put a bottom draw aeration fountian in a month ago. What should the pH of the water be? I have it stocked with LMB and BG.

Last edited by Oldguy; 03/27/08 10:34 AM.
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 Originally Posted By: Jim Hudson
From what I've been reading, it appears if one has a spring fed pond with water coming in and out, lime and/or other chemicals might not last long. Especially so if the water is very soft. Am I correct in this assumption?


Depends on how much flow you are getting. A nice little spring can change your water 100% every 2-3 days. That would also depend on the shape of the pond and entry/exit. Whether the spring has hard or soft water, the pond water will be almost identical.

If your pond fills up and over flows from runoff, that will change the water too... and there goes your chemicals.

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cimdma Offline OP
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I caught another light colored LG bass today. Hopefully when and if I ever get clearer water it will bring some color back to these fish.

Last edited by cimdma; 03/28/08 01:02 AM.
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Thanks bobad, my great grandparents used water from this spring. Had it all boxed in. This was back in the 1880's. My pond is very clear. The spring runs out of the ground about 100 ft from the pond. Runoff is thru an 8 inch pipe.

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Its been about 6 days since treatment with alum. I gained 3-4 inches of clairity, which isnt a lot but its much better then what I do did have. The fishing seems to be improving as well. I ordered more aluminum sulfate which should be in today. I'm going to try to treat it this weekend but I'll have to see how the weather is going to be. I'll keep you posted

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200 lbs. should clear your pond to at least 18-20 inches of visibility. I just used 170# for 2/3 acre, but 8 ft average depth. Followed with 100# hydrated lime. Put in 70# alum, #50 lime, it went from 8 to 18 inches. 2wks. later, put in #100 and #50 more lime, it went to 30 inches. Hydrated lime does not change the ph as drastically as I was led to believe. Your pond will be fine. If you have an aerator, mix the stuff up a little at a time in a 5 gal. bucket and spread. Use the aerator for a couple hrs. Same with the lime. Then turn it off and wait. If no aerator, if you have a jon boat and trolling motor, turn it hard over and spin around.

PS...aluminum sulphate damn hard to find in quantities.

Last edited by burgermeister; 04/04/08 06:38 PM.

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 Originally Posted By: burgermeister


PS...aluminum sulphate damn hard to find in quantities.


I had a heckuva time finding it too. Best I could do was 50# bags from a small local nursery, but they had to order it for me.

Agree too on hydrated lime not being real dangerous. Just plain old rain water is in the 6.xx PH range, and likely enough to keep the PH from going too high.

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cimdma Offline OP
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Been two days since I added another 200 lbs. of alum and it has given me 9 inches of clarity. For the first time since owning this land ( 1 month) I caught two bass in 1 day. They are still pretty white but at least I'm catching some. I hope that as the water gets clearer the fishing continues to get better.

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cimdma Offline OP
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Well I added another 350 lbs. last Friday and now I'm about to 20 inches and everyday since it seems to add another inch or two. I ordered an additional 350 lbs. but I'm going to wait alittle bit to add it. I'll keep you posted.

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 Originally Posted By: cimdma
Well I added another 350 lbs. last Friday and now I'm about to 20 inches and everyday since it seems to add another inch or two. I ordered an additional 350 lbs. but I'm going to wait alittle bit to add it. I'll keep you posted.


Is your pond unusually full?

If it is, it will probably clear nicely as the level drops, concentrating your chemicals.

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Yes the pond is pretty full and has been dropping. The day I added the last 350 lbs. it rained that night which kinda upset me but it doesnt seem like it hurt it to much. I could see the floc floating for 2 days after I added the alum. It has all dropped by Tuesday. I was down at the pond earlier today and it seems to be holding steady at around 20 inches. Fishing seems to be improving. Just screwing around today I put a top water lure on and caught a little bass. The fish are still pretty light colored but I hoping as the water remains clear the fish will get back their natural color.

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Cimda,
I have a very muddy pond in north Louisiana . Where did you get
your alum? Thanks
dw2332

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cimdma Offline OP
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I get it from two different feed stores in 50 lb bags. The stores are both in Covington.

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cimdma Offline OP
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Put in another 350 lbs. and it made a world of difference. I put it in two days ago and the water is clearing extremly well. Not only is the water clearing but the fishing is improving. I'm catching bass on a regular basis now and the fish in general are getting there natural color back. I was starting to think there were only a copuple bass in the pond but I belive they can see the lures now. I'll start taking pictures and posting them. dw2332 did you ever find your alum yet? I dont know how far you from covington but if your interested I can give you the names of the places where I buy it.

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So how much Alum total have you put in? Glad its worked out for you.

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Over the past month or so I've put in a total of 1200 lbs. Wow know that I just typed that I cant believe how much has gone in and and I cant believe I didnt have one fish die. Actually I take that back. I did have a minnow bucket with two little bluegills in it that my son caught and one of them died. But the bucket was about two feet from where I dumped 200 lbs of alum. This last time I added it it was about 7:30 P.M. right before it got dark and when I took my flashlight down there about an hour later it was unlike any other time that I added it because of how thick it was on top. Usaully you can see the floc floating but this time it was in big gobs. It was pretty nasty looking and I thought for sure I added to much but it turned out well. So now that I'm finally getting the water under control I'm starting to build structure to put in using pallets.

Last edited by cimdma; 04/24/08 10:18 PM.
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CIMDMA, hi, I'm from Louisiana too! I've lived all around. Spent the last 8 years in New Orleans, but was raised in Alexandria, which is where I am currently. By the way, congratulations on clearing up your pond and catching some fish. Man, 20 in. of claritiy . .. I can't even begin to imagine how that would look on our pond here outside Alexandria. It was always a good fishing pond when I was a kid, not extremely clear but not bad either. It's all red clay around here, so it gets red when the rains come and it used to settle after a few days or more. But NOW, it looks like chocolate milk with a little red mixed in. And the fish will NOT bite anymore at all. We've had some new constructions, (a barn and a new house) build on a hill above the pond over the last few years, and I know all of the bare areas and muddy runoff are where we need to start. We've put out grass seed, tons of hay, and run sprinklers almost every day to get this grass growing. Besides that, I think we'll start doing just about the same exact thing that you did. I'm going to test the water first, and see if there's anything else we need to deal with. But besides that, I think we're going to hit it with the Alum. and Lime, also I'd like to try some Gypsum. Did you ever try Gypsum? Or just mainly the Alum? I've got to look around and see what's readily available here locally in the quantities I'd need. But anyway, our ponds sound very similar and it's good to see some people on here from Louisiana. If you have any suggestions or tips you've learned since your last posts and the clearing of your pond, please pass them on. Hope things are still going well with your pond. I know it can be really enjoyable when everything is right, but virtually useless when it's just an acre of mud puddle. I'm glad I got to read your posts. When I'm able to get started on mine, I'll post info. on how it's going. Thanks again, take care, and have some good fishing this summer!


20 yr. old 3/4 Acre Pond in Central Louisiana, maybe 6'-7' deep average, 10'-12' deepest. Long ago stocked with BG and LMB. Pond is now overpopulated and muddy, fishing isn't near as good as it once was. Any input appreciated.
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Cimdma,
I found some alum and put in 400 lbs in my pond and 150 lbs of
hydrated lime yesterday. No change in the pond as of today.
My pond is 3 acres with an average depth of 5 feet. Should it
have cleared some by now or should I add more alum? I would
appreciate anyone's help on this. dw2332

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