Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Shotgun01, Dan H, Stipker, LunkerHunt23, Jeanjules
18,451 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,899
Posts557,084
Members18,452
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,414
ewest 21,474
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,110
Who's Online Now
9 members (Sunil, Dave Davidson1, Fishingadventure, PRCS, Theo Gallus, BillyE, Requa, Jason D, Jared015), 756 guests, and 264 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Hello..

Our 3 acre pond, which is 20 ft deep in the center, is in it's second full year. We limed heavily this past winter and fertilized when the water temps hit 60. We had an excellent bloom. BG and LMB are thriving.

May and June brought a lot of rainfall to NC on a daily basis. The new water from the watershed was more than our siphon could handle on several occasions, causing some good top water to be lost over the spillway. The siphon worked non-stop on many occasions.

After this period of heavy rains, we have lost our bloom. The pea green top water is now a rust brown color. Water temps are 78 degrees. We have fertilized again now that the rainy period is over. In short, does anyone have suggestions as to the brown water color? It's not muddy water. Dead bloom? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance....WS

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
B
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
B
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
Rust color could be and likely is another species of algae growing due to a shift in nutrient balance and different concentrations. Brown color could be a zooplankton bloom but I doubt it. Is the suspended dirt/clay in your area causing the color? Water with a dead bloom usually quickly clears as dead tiny algae quickly settles and decomposes.


aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Hi Bill..Thanks for the quick response. Suspended clay can be a problem from runoff and construction sites far up the watershed, but this is a different color of brown; almost a rust color. It's more clear than suspended clay... Any ideas? We recently re-fertilized. Hope I didn't add to the problem, if it is in fact a problem. The fish are thriving.

Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
G
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
G
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
if the reddish color is right on the surface probably red euglena. Do you monitor visibility with secchi disc? If not I strongly suggest doing so when fertilizing. You can tweak it this way if checking every couple of weeks and keep a more consistent bloom.


Greg Grimes
www.lakework.com
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Hi Greg/Bill

I just returned from the pond. The water color can best be described as pure brown. Almost a rust color. Greg, we do monitor visibility. The water is not clear at this time; just pure brown, a darker brown than clay runoff, which typically lasts a few days before settling. I'll try to post a photo. Thanks again for any advice...WS

Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
G
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
G
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
Ws, what is exact visibility we are talking about 6 inches or to you stained and 23 inches. Also if clay rarely for us does it only last a few days it stays in suspension for months.


Greg Grimes
www.lakework.com
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,255
Y
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
Y
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,255
WS-

Where does the water draining into the pond originate? Does it drain from a heavily wooded area with a lot of decomposing vegetation? A pine forest? Hay fields?

I have a pond that drains a large forested area, water is always brownish as you describe, and fish do wonderfully. Just below, though with a different, spring fed water supply, is another pond with double the visibility, nice blue-green color.....I wonder if the huge inflow this spring brought a lot of tannins into your pond, completely washed out your lime,amd encouraged a different color algae bloom. The bloom in the upper brown pond is clearly visible at times, and clearly more brownish/reddish in color.

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
B
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
B
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
I think you have a bloom of one basic type of algae. Species unknown until I look at it.


aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Here are a few photos taken this morning. The pond was pea green with low visibility before the rains. Its hard to photograph the brown color. Hope this helps.

We fertilized again a early in the week with a water soluable fertilizer. We also hung from trees, suspended in water, five gallon buckets, drilled with holes and screened, then filled with granular fertilizer in the spring entrance that fills the pond. We were amazed at how fast the granular dissolved when suspended in the water. If productive, this is certainly more cost effective.







Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Even with the water color change the fish are thriving. This bass, caught this week was introduced to the pond July 13th of last year as a two inch fingerling. It now measures almost 13 inches and fat. The bluegill are also thriving. With the multiple feedings, they measure 8-10 inches and very fat! Even though we are in year two, we still see occasional FH minnows. We attribute this to the spring fed, creek entrance to the pond that is full of plants and grasses. Before the bass were introduced, the FH were in large dark clouds all over the pond.

Do you find that once your pond is built and can be fished, you are late to the office and early to leave on a daily basis? Or is this just me?

Thanks for all the help....WS





Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,902
R
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,902
WS, I have the same. Water has always been dark green until this year with a very wet spring. After all the rains my pond turned brown & has stayed that way.


Pond Boss Subscriber & Books Owner


If you can read this ... thank a teacher. Since it's in english ... thank our military!
Ric
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Ric, you're not too far from me so I assume you've had the same rainy spring. We went weeks with big showers every day. I lost some good water over the spillway and siphoned huge amounts of bad water off the bottom. There's no doubt the water turned over in the pond more than once.

It's definitely not muddy water. It's some sort of bloom, but not the one I want! I'm hoping my recent fertilization hasn't perpetuated the problem. I guess we'll find out soon enough. In the meantime the fishing is super....WS

Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458
Likes: 2
C
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Hall of Fame
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Hall of Fame
Lunker
C
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458
Likes: 2
My forage fish pond is looking the same way. A deep brown bloom in it. It was crystal clear just a month ago, now the bloom is so thick you can't see 18" in.

Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,902
R
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,902
I also get a small amount of very dark brown to black scum floating unattached very similar to polen in the spring in how it looks.
Vis. is apx 2ft. After a heavy rain I do get a small amount of orange/tan clay particles entering in one end of the pond but it always settles quickly.
Everything else seems ok, I'm just not crazy about the color.

WS, we got the heavy showers & then 2 weeks of constant rain. I guess mine turned brown around the first of May.
Sure miss that nice dark green color.


Pond Boss Subscriber & Books Owner


If you can read this ... thank a teacher. Since it's in english ... thank our military!
Ric
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Does anyone know how long this type of bloom lasts?

Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
G
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
G
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
WS, I have great data on this. Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island tracks things closely. They had ugly brown water. They had been fertilizing. I told them to take their Do meter and check, sure enough low in am then high in pm, classic phytoplankton, visibility nice 28 inches. We send sample to Bill Cody and sure enough he listed many species of phytoplankton. Crazy thing is about 3 days after sample submitted lake turned beautiful green color. We do not know what species of phyto is brown vs green and not easy to find out. However fyi it can turn quickly. Also easy to tell if the brown is good for fish you can take dissolved oxygen readings, it will tell you if phytoplankton or just suspended inorganic particles.


Greg Grimes
www.lakework.com
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,902
R
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,902
Thanks for the info Greg.
This pm my pond apears to be turning maybe just slightly OD. Hopefully it's turning around.


Pond Boss Subscriber & Books Owner


If you can read this ... thank a teacher. Since it's in english ... thank our military!
Ric
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
Thanks Greg. That's good info.

Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,435
R
Ambassador
Hall of Fame 2014
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Hall of Fame 2014
Lunker
R
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,435
Hi Greg, I was going to call you today about my pond. It sounds exactly like what Ric described, and looks like the pictures that WS posted. I don't fertilize (have constant water flowing into and out of pond). Visibility is about 6". It's not muddy brown like it was after all of the rain in early June, but hasn't been clear for a month+. Do I need to hit it with Alum & Hyd Lime? Ph is 7.8


Just do it...
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474
Likes: 264
E
Moderator
Hall of Fame 2014
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Hall of Fame 2014
Lunker
E
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474
Likes: 264
From conversations across the country this year many ponds have a late plankton bloom. It starts as brown (unusual) with reduced visibility and is followed by a green phyto bloom. At ours 1 pond is green (ahead of the others), one is brown changing to green and one has no bloom yet but is showing brown with reduced visibility. All 3 have sufficient alkalinity and have been fertilized since spring. Something I have not encountered before.
















Joined: May 2009
Posts: 743
W
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 743
I'm working with a couple ponds, one five acres and one four, that have had brownish/rust colored blooms at some point in the last month or two. The five-acre pond got a beautiful green bloom after I fertilized the first time (which wasn't until May, just recently got back into working with some ponds), then after a bunch of rain it had a brownish bloom for a couple weeks; now it's back to a green bloom. The four-acre pond, meanwhile, which is down the hill from and receives runoff from the five-acre one (none at the moment), had a beautiful green bloom back in May and as recently as a couple weeks ago, and now has a decidedly rust tint. But I'm pretty sure it's plankton as we haven't had any rain to amount to anything in weeks.

Last edited by Walt Foreman; 06/30/09 10:09 PM.
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
G
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
G
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
Ewest as you know I haev discussed with you and Cody there is so much more that we do not know abotu plankton bloom than we do know.

Randy, we need to find out what it first before you go and add anything.

I assume you do nto have DO meter? That would help,
Have you done the jar test? get soem watrer put in jar does anythign settle out or still muddy.
Is 6" with a secchi disc? Feel free to call me to discuss, if 6 inches of phytoplankton you could have a fishkill on your hands.
Are the fish still feeding, not as well in the am time by chance?


Greg Grimes
www.lakework.com
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474
Likes: 264
E
Moderator
Hall of Fame 2014
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Hall of Fame 2014
Lunker
E
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474
Likes: 264
Greg you are right - so much to learn so little time and a shortage of facts to base it all on.
















Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
My fish are still feeding aggressively. I haven't noticed if the morning and evening feedings have any difference, but I will check it out tomorrow.

Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
W
Lunker
OP Offline
Lunker
W
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 53
After 7-10 days, although still somewhat brown, the pond is beginning to turn green again. For the past two days there has been a silver film across half of the pond. I'd like to invest in a DO meter. Any suggestions? For future reference, where is the best place to send water samples to be certain of what I'm dealing with? Thanks for the informative posts....

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
Working on a .5acre disaster, I mean pond.
by PRCS - 03/28/24 02:50 PM
1 year after stocking question
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/28/24 02:44 PM
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by esshup - 03/28/24 10:39 AM
Brooder Shiners and Fry, What to do??
by Freg - 03/28/24 09:42 AM
Relative weight charts in Excel ? Calculations?
by esshup - 03/28/24 08:36 AM
Dewatering bags seeded to form berms?
by Justin W - 03/28/24 08:19 AM
Reducing fish biomass
by FishinRod - 03/28/24 08:18 AM
Questions and Feedback on SMB
by Donatello - 03/27/24 03:10 PM
2024 North Texas Optimal BG food Group Buy
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/27/24 08:15 AM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5