Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry water tested-what about lime?

Hello to all, newbie here. I have bought some property with a 2 acre pond on it and need some advice. The water is fairly muddy, maybe 12 inches clarity. The pond is surrounded by vegetation. There is some FA but not alot. I took a water sample to the local ag ext agent and got the following readings:
PH-7.3, Hardness-36, alkalinity-22 (ppm as CaCO3) Nitrate-N 1, EC-122, Sodium-10, Calcium-9, TSS-84. I have been advised by previous owner to add lime. With these readings, how much should be added? There is lmb and perch in pond now.

Thanks for the help.

Hey joebano, welcome to Pond Boss!

With a pH of 7.3, ag lime or garden lime probably wouldn't hurt anything, but I wouldn't want to use hydrated lime. In fact, you may be better off using an acidic mineral such as aluminum sulphate (alum). If your water is already clear down to 12", you are close to clearing, and probably won't need to add a lot. Probably start with 200# and wait a day. Add ~100# at a time until it settles a bit. If you have to add more than ~500#, better check the pH again before adding more, you wouldn't want your pH to drop below ~6.0.

If your water level is high, the water will clear more as it evaporates, so you may not want to clear it crystal clear while it's full.

Bobad, Thanks for the reply. I'm going to go get some lime today and start out with 200# and see what happens from there.

Thanks again for your reply.