Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Pond holding water...success notes

Sounds like the stuff works good, I'm really interested.
KY jelly ? is that made for ponds too.

I hope it works for you SoSauty. No doubt that the DB-100 has got to be one of the slickest substances. I managed to stay clean during my first application. I should have never commented about belkins456 getting some on him because I got allot on me the next application : )

SoSauty I don't know if you saw my older posts but I actually lost my wedding band that stuff was so slick! And the more water you add trying to wash it off the slicker and slicker it gets! My ring just fell of my finger and I had no idea! I did luckily walk the banks until I found it the next day! I have to agree if KY Jelly could make something this slick their sales may double in no time! I'm very interested in the DB-200 as well. This fall i'm thinking of bringing a dozer back in and smoothing my banks out really good so I can keep them finsih mowed next year. I thought after i would compact some DB-200 into them and see how far that water level wants to rise up. I just wish the DB-100 was as easy to apply as the 200 If I had any complaints on the 100 product it is that it's a pain to apply. I wish they could just make it in a tablet form you just toss in and walk away! Wouldnt that be nice! Good luck with your pond and keep us posted! My pond by the way is getting better and better with time. It doesnt even appear to lose 1/4 inch a day now even in 95+ degree weather!! I can hardly wait for the fall/winter rains now this year!!

hi folks - i can't believe this - one I have joined a forum and two that it is about a subject like this. anyway here goes. I live in Tasmania - australia - and built a series of what we call dams and you seem to call ponds over the last summer, one holds well we think but two others look like they may seep. one is the unfortunate result of a spring we somehow dug up that emerged in wet weather. anyway I have been trying to work out what might make a difference and wanted to try the product that has been mentioned so often on this forum.. I tried sending an email that appeared on the pond doctors web site but it bounced back. can someone help me with advice on contact details - ringing the US is tricky since it means I have to be up around middnight to do so - email works best therefore.

cheers snd thanks to everyone who has given their commentary on the topic - it helps lots

Welcome to the forum paradisetasmania! I've always wanted to visit Australia. Seems like a beautiful country with lots of interesting wilderness and some awesome animals...

I recommend you try posting your own personal post under the 'Help' sub forum or the 'Questions & Observations' sub forum. You should get more answers as more people will see it.

I believe you may be our first Australian member. I'm glad you found us! Don't be afraid to post pics and tell us more about your ponds or as you call them dams... What kind of fish you got, all that good stuff!

Add yourself to our Pond Boss Forum Map so we can see just where you on on the planet!

I'll second the welcome to for forum paradisetasmania! I have a feeling that when I get around to visit there won't be enough time to see everything that I want to. What types of fish do you have down there?
Cheers!

Welcome Paradisetasmania. It's a good thing we call 'em ponds, other wise this site would be named Dam Boss and I believe that web address was taken just days after invention of the internet.

please update any success with either the db-100 or db-200. have pond in ga--leaked--we drained and packed bottom with 2 ft of clay--still leaks--apparently coming thru dam --- any way to solve this without putting a new core in the dam would be wonderful. have thrown away too many bucks on this 2 acre hole already. frustrated beyond belief as it sits directly behind my house. i plan on calling the tenn. pond doctors to see what they recommend---i do feel whatever i do should tie into the 2 ft clay bottom i already invested in. please post any successes with this method as well as others. thanks ga pond rookie.

paradisetasmania, your best bet is to call the pond doctors. I never had any luck emailing the addresses on the website. I'm sure that is costing them some business.

thanks all for your answers and for your advice - i guess I'll just have to look up world times and be prepared for the phone call!

as for beautiful - well there is a reason that a place near us is called paradise - it is. as for fish - Tasman is known for its trout and salmon - and its food in general - cheese to die for, berry fruit, apples, chocolate, wine - cool climate and more - we have ginseng, saffron, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and let's keep going. i love it. unfortunately we live on a hill with barely any flat land and can only dream of some of the "ponds" you folk seem to have.

cheers and thanks again

paradisetasmania

Welcome to the site glad you found us.
You are going to love this place.
Pass the work around.
We are having a big get togather and we want you to come.

Otto

In certain areas, I've seen ponds built/excavated on sides of hills. One place I saw had several ponds built below each other.

hi---am looking for ways to stop a pond leak--have packed bottom with 2 ft. of good clay--in a couple of bad spots used the clay plus bentonite ---water now seems to be leaking thru dam-- need to tie repair into the clay already placed in bottom of pond. have questions on db100 and db200 products from those of you that have used them-- 1. are they safe for fish and human consumption of fish raised in ponds with them applied?
2. how long does the product stay "slick" and how long does it last after application?
3. can you avoid slickness by rototilling the db200 into the existing soil and tieing it into the existing clay bottom.
any info on these products and success with them would be most helpful.
i am most hesitant to apply products to my pond that i know nothing about the safety of. thanks

Hey ga pond rookie; Doug of Pond Doctors says the stuff is safe, if you want, he'll eat a teaspoon of it for you. I don't know how long it'll stay slick, but my impression is it would slime up for years. I used a 2 gal sprayer to test 1/2oz of DB100. It took 4 gal of diesel for the sprayer to quit blowing snot. Rototilling may help some, yet clay can be slick by itself. A very mynute surface amount of DB-200 and you're back to slip'n'slide time.

You can see the DB and bentonite pellets along the shoreline. Water level approaching 5'.


My new pond well only yields 6gpm so the pond's rise is slowing and leveling off as the water approaches 6'. Still, that's a personal PB high for the 2 year old hole. The water has a rusty tint to it, clarity is 24". The Gams and bullfrogs are happy and looking healthy.
(Beyond the pond sits a tall white 6gal of DB-100 for a later 2nd teatment)

(There's a small bullfrog next to a few blades of grass sticking out of the water just right of center.)
I placed a 3oz can of cat food in an inch of water, the little Gams became pygmy pirahonas. Left a shiny can an hour later.

(6/8 update) belkings456; I'm cautiously optimistic. The pond would drop over 2" daily around 1' of depth. I could only fill to 4'9" last summer. This summer it's up to 5'8"; minimal rain both summers. I'm not pumping for a few days to check the drop. The pond is pretty sandy and leaky. I decided not to pack after spreading the DB/bentonite as it was mostly rock under 8" of sand and steep banks. It'll be miraculous if DB is a sucess for me. If it doesn't seal, I wouldn't completely write it off. Doug stated it works for moderate, less than daily 2", leaky ponds. Patience, this'll take weeks (August 1st) for preliminary impression, at least months (October 7th)to give a good trial.

I've gotta concur about Doesn't seem wise to down a teaspoon of sealant you just recommended to only mix a 1000 to 1

but Doug's Gastroenterologist should.

Sosauty- let me know how you think that DB-200 works. I want to redo the banks of my pond this fall and I'm wanting to spread it and compact it into them in hopes of raising water level. I'd like to take Doug at Pond doctors up on that swallowing a teaspoon of DB-100 quote. I believe that if a man was to do that his colon would be so lubed that he wouldn't be able to leave the restroom facilites for months!! That is if it didn't kill you! I wouldn't recommend washing it down with water if you do drink a teaspoon...cause we all know what water does when mixed with it ..ha ha Not to mention what happens when it's a sealing agent and I'd hate to have sealed bowels!!

ga pond rookie,

I requested a MSDS sheet from pond doctors but never got it. In the end, I wanted my leak fixed so bad that I went ahead with out it because they assured me that the DB-100 product was safe. You may want to request a MSDS sheet as I was told that they do have one.

I've ate fish from my pond since the application of the DB-100 and didn't have any problems. But, that doesn't mean that I might find myself constipated later on : )

Are you sure you are leaking water through the dam and not under? If you have access to a soil auger you could take some core samples and try to locate the seepage. May make a difference on how you attack the problem. Also, if you find water in the dam you can setup a monitoring well.

thanks for info on db100 &200. i was thinking of roto-tilling in the db200 prior to it getting too wet/slippery if that's possible. re: leaking under the dam--the two ft. of clay we lined the bottom of the pond with seemed to have helpd some but water still going out faster than coming in--pond has leveled out at about 1/2 full --at present no water going into pond other than rain at present---we were thinking of some way to tie the new pond bottom into the dam--i ran across this info on db100/200 and it sounded like a possibility --re: auger--i have post hole diggers but no auger--are you talking about going along back side of dam every 10ft or so and doing a test hole? doing so on front of dam would probably be too close to water in pond--in center of dam no auger would reach that far down so you must be talking backside of dam near ground level? thanks for info and replies

ga pond rookie, I'm talking about a small soil auger:

http://store.jmcsoil.com/catalog/Augers-orderby0-p-1-c-293.html

With the handle extensions, you can get pretty deep and the hole is small. Every 10 foot or so on the downstream toe/backside of the dam should work. The idea is to determine if the water is moving from point A-D or maybe even C-D...I'm sure you get the idea. If the water is moving from A-D and you treat point C with DB-200 then you won't be doing much good.

thanks--may just rent a mini-trac hoe for 1/2 day to do some exploring or prep of monitoring holes--after that what product/procedure to use will be next issue i suppose. i'll check out the auger site though. appreciate it.

If you end up doing some trenching, check into a slurry trench/wall. It is something I was really looking into before I heard about the DB-100.

http://www.slurrywall.com/slurry-walls-technology/default.asp#WHAT-ARE-SLURRY-WALLS

I had never heard of a slurry wall. Still not sure I have a good handle on it.

I don't know much about it other than what I've read. The term "slurry trench" caught my attention when I was surfing for dam seepage solutions. Seemed like a possible solution to my problem at the time but I went with the DB-100 instead and haven't done any more research on it and never called to see what the costs were.

From what I understand the benefits would be a stable trench while excavating and the bentonite could be applied directly as a core. Some of the slurry would seep into the dam as the trench is being dug and form a barrier. Similar to grouting but on a larger scale.

The slurry wall or cut off trench is a very good way to slow the water that is seeping through a dam.

I have only read about the slurry. It is a mixture of water and bentonite that is pumped into a trench that has beed cut with a track-hoe. It needs to be about as thick as wet concrete.

This is the same idea as a cutoff trench that is backfilled with clay.

The trouble that I have had with cutoff trenches is the walls of the trench caving in before the material is in place.

DB-100 and for DB-200

Has there been any success with it or current thoughts? Any quess on how much to treat 1/2 acer?

THANKS!