Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Update on fixing my pond

Here is some pics on what my pond looks like now after my repair. What do you guys think? What should I do to determine if it still leaks. Its been 4 months now with little rain. We might of had 2" of rain the thoughs 4 months. Also I still need to put stone down around the newly fixed parts. Is there a way to stop or slow down the erosion?

thanks

When it got fixed




Here is what it looks like 4 months later

Also when do you think its safe to add some fathead minnows.

Conventional wisdom says when the pond is half full, depth-wise.

Sunil says when there is 25 gallons of water in it.

Pond looks great. I'm with Sunil on this one. If it's deep enough to cover the fathead's with water, they should go in. That being said, not much is going to happen with them until spring. You just want to ensure they're in there early so you don't miss a day before they spawn and start doing their job.

I didnt know for sure because I dont know if it still has a leak. Keep my fingers crossed. I guess I could give the fish away. How much do they cost?

On the order of $5 to $10 a pound, a pound having perhaps 200-400 FHM (depending on their average size).

I'm not even close to being very knowledgeable on soils or what you need to hold water, but I did work construction for awhile with regards to compaction and getting dirt ready to build on.

A dozer is a terrible machine for compacting soil. It will do the job in good clay for a dam or pond, but if you really want it compacted and if your soil is marginal, then you need a sheepsfoot roller. Preferable one the vibrates and has pads on both the front and rear rollers.

Since your pond is almost empty and you are worried about it leaking again, I would probably look into renting one. They are super easy to operate, and in fact, are very boring except for how they wear you out from doing the same thing over and over again on top of the noise and vibration of the machine.

Most rental yards have them of different sizes. Be sure to get one that's big enough to ride on. The small walk behind models are too small for what you are doing. Not enough weight to really accomplish anything.

If the soil is marginal, compacting it will make it better. By design, dozers and their tracks are built to float across the soil, not sink into it. As a result, they do little in the way of compaction. For small jobs, I have used my backhoe with a load of dirt in the front bucket to compact the soil. This works on pads and my roads. Where the dozer goes across the soil, the backhoe has all the weight concentrated on the tires, and it sinks into the same soil the dozer has been over many times. My dozer weighs almost 40,000 pounds and my backhoe weighs 14,000 pounds. The difference is in how much weight that comes into contact with the soil. In this case, the backhoe has more weight contacting the soil then the dozer. In your case, the dozer is probably doing the exact same thing as my dozer does. It feels solid and to a certain degree it is, but it could be made more so with the proper tool.

Good luck.

Eddie

PS, from the look of your background, it looks like some good hunting there. Lots of corn for food and cover for shelter. Do you hunt and how did you do?

We had good luck cutting down the erosion around our new pond by spreading hay all around. It also helped distribute seed that sprouted the next spring.

How do you guys feel about help filling my pond from my well? Is it safe? If so I was thinking about running it just 1-2 days a week. Please let me know.

How many gallons per minute does the well deliver? It takes a tremendously huge amount of water to fill even a small pond (27,000 gallons per inch-acre, IIRC).

When we'd dug our first pond, my kids asked if we were going to fill it with the well. After some quick mental approximations, I told them that it would take about a year for that to work, and it would be quicker to wait for rain first.

My .62 acre pond that is 3.5 acre feet fills in a few weeks. Of course I have a well rated at 45 gpms.

I'm draining it this spring to correct a fish mistake and will refill it with the well.

Zoeconner,

Are you sure you have the watershed for that pond to fill on it's own? Maybe the pictures are deceiving but three of the sides look like they higher than the surrounding terrain won't let in water.

Yea the pond is higher than the surrounding terrain. Is there a way to find out the rate of the well pump? I just moved in about 4 months ago. You always here stories about running a well dry but never seen it. Do you think I would be alright to do it? I heard the guy who lived here before me ran the well for about a month straight and filled it.

See how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket from the outlet with the most water output (frequently the one closest to the pump). That would give you a ballpark figure.

Whether a well can be run dry depends on the pump's output rate and the refresh rate of the aquifer. I can run either of our deep wells here dry; one in about a half hour and the other in less than 10 minutes.

Heres an update on my pond. Question. I have to put money into the pond but want to keep an eye on the water level for leaking. for a small leak how much will it leak a day or week. If theres a big leak how much will it keak a day of a weak.

A leak with the same cross section as a 3" pipe could empty a 1/2 acre pond in about 1 day. So it doesn't take a real big leak to draw a pond down.

Most leaks aren't round of course. Many times leaks are nothing more than a sandy or gravelly vein in the soil. Some are more like narrow cracks you might see in dry ground. Fast leaks usually don't get better, and often worse. Slow leaks can improve with time, or not.

If I had a small leak still how much could it go down? If the water didnt go down in a week would that mean Im OK?

Not sure what size your pond is but by the looks of it... if you see more than 1/8 inch a day during winter you may have a leak or some seepage. Of course this estimate would vary depending on the weather. Would be much higher in the summer.

The best way to tell (other than visible signs of water leaking) would be to measure the water level daily and track it as it fills. Then you will be able to see major changes. You would also be able to see the affect that rain has on it.

I'm in the same boat. Repaired my pond last year and I'm still trying to determine if I still have a leak. I've found that tracking the water level will give you a pretty good idea of what is going on.

I looked in later post but couldnt find. Here is an update on my pond. Its looking better. Now its been about 80'-85'F for about 2 weeks with no rain. It dropped about 3" in though 2 weeks. Is that normal I hope. Whats the normal evaporation rate for a 1/2 acre.
thanks

I would say that is a normal evaporation rate for the size pond with those temperatures with no rain...

Just curious, looking at your deck, Why did you enclose the bottom of it?

It was like that when I bought the house. Should I take them off?

One of the replys to the possible leak problem is to compact the soil with a sheepsfoot roller. I have read that these machines are effective. But, I'm curious on how it could be used in this situation. The slopes look pretty steep and the pond does contain some water. Must it be completely drained, and the embankment slopes worked with the machine ?

What do you guys think?

looks like a high dive..i guess it is personal preference. i built my docks low to the water. i like to sit and let my toes dangle in the water from time to time. the top of my deck boards are 12" from the surface with no areas enclosed..also no horizontal boards left where a snake can lay on top of except the deck boards themselves..

When its full it should be 12-15".