Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What are some do's and don'ts for very small ponds

Hey everyone, a friend of mine just bought some property with a very small pond on it. 80 yards long X 20 yards wide. Maybe a 1/3 to a 1/2 acre?

We currently have it drained to repair a leaky dam and to get a dozer in there to make it a little deeper. Plans are to have it 5 to 8 feet average, 10 feet at the deepest point. There were only tadpoles and some minnows in there when we drained it.

My question is what are some do's and don'ts when renovating a pond this small when it comes to habitat, the food chain, aeration and plants? He plans on stocking it with bluegills, bass, and catfish. We want to add plenty of artificial structure, but with a pond this small i don't expect it to able to hold very much.

I have done a bunch of reading on these forums already and have a whole lot more to go, but just don't have the time lately. With a small pond like this, realistically we don't expect it to be a fishing hotspot, but would like to know what to do to make everything right and create the best possible habitate for the fish.

Does anyone else here have a pond this small and have any tips, or can share their experiences and knowledge on the subject of very small ponds?

Thanks. Jerry.

Jerry, welcome to Pond Boss - this is a great site with tons of information and a lot of great people who like to share their knowledge.

I'm just a novice but there are many experts here who I'm sure will be along to help.

I also am in SE Iowa and have a small ~ 1/4 acre pond. I wish I had found this site earlier as I could have saved some frustration and had better results.

Again I'm still learning but if I could do it over I would not stock catfish. I was able to have the Iowa DNR provide the initial stocking which included catfish as per their recommendation. I like to catch and eat catfish but once they are hooked and get free they are hard to catch again. I now have numerous big cats that use up a lot of the available biomass for my pond. They may also be contributing to muddy water issues I've been fighting.

Good Luck and have fun with the project.

1.) Don't over stock
2.) Don't overfeed (goes hand in hand with overstocking)
3.) Diffusion aeration will maximize the potential of your pond

One thing I have found with small ponds (I have three 1/10th acre ponds) is they can overload on nutrients rapidly and you can have an intense algae bloom that can crash or deplete oxygen at night.

Stock fish that do not reproduce or reproduce in very low numbers. HBG/CC/HSB/RES/trout etc... Or single sex of a certain species.

Ditto!

My advice..read and follow to the letter Cecil and CJ these guys can really help you to avoid mistakes

Some good info there. Any more?

i would not stock trout, waters will be too warm.

What are your primary goals; swimming and fishing? Just fishing?

A small pond for swimming and fishing I personally like very little artifical structure with lots of rocks and sand. Just fishing, maybe one or two sites to concentrate or protect smaller species.

No matter what, as stated in previous posts, beg, borrow, or steal, to get the best aeration system fitted to your pond size and location. In my experience, the hard way, without proper aeration the rest won't matter!

One of the great features of every issue of Pond Boss Magazine is "The Mini-Pond". Lots of us have very small ponds that produce incredible fish.

My newest pond is about a quarter acre and seven foot deep. It was built a little more than four months ago. Thanks to a big storm it filled in about a week -- before it was really done. I started stocking it two months ago. I hope to have kids and the elderly pulling trophy size fish from it less than a year from now.

There are some incredible examples here on the site and in the magazine. Our good friend Cecil grows fantastc trophies in very small ponds and his basement. Other friends have grown trophy fish in a swimming pool in the desert.

Lots can be done in small ponds. Actually, I believe that a survey we did a few years ago, showed that most of our ponds are around a half acre.

Ask lots of questions. The folks here can help you reach goals beyond your dreams. It happened to me. Just yesterday I caught three bluegill that were each bigger than any one person usually catches in a lifetime. It was like getting three holes in one during the same round.

To grow big fish and a good number of them in a small pond numerous things have to be done similar to raising a good productive garden. Both take work, time, and know how. Without good management both garden and pond are just so-so and sometimes a mess. Knowledge is key to success in both pond and garden. Do your homework and ask questions. IMO best three things to do are bottom aerate, feed the fish a high protein diet, and manage the numbers so they are not overpopulated. Knowing what overpopulated is takes good homework and management. Harvest is also a key component so fish do not become too abundant. As mentioned above many with small ponds use fish that have limited reproduction or do not reproduce thus one has better control of the numbers of fish in the pond - good management.

Just like great soil builds great gardens, great water quality grows great fish.

It wont be for swimming at all. It has some steep hillsides to it so the water was pretty dark.

We were told all the trees around the edge have to come out. Is that a pretty standard thing to do. I've seen many ponds with trees right up to the banks. We were also told all the trees growing on the levee have to come out. That too?

I've never heard that trees in other areas other than the levee are an issue. The trees on the levee are the problems. The best action is to ensure no trees grown on your levee.

Once they have grown, they can blow down causing huge levee breeches.

Also, as they grow bigger, they make more prolific root systems so when the tree dies (or gets cut down?) then the roots will die also and leave spaces in the levee soil which can degrade your levee's strength. However, I don't know if you should cut a large tree once it is established.

There will be other opinions shortly with more information than I've learned.

Dan

The biggest concern I know of, for trees close to the edge of the pond, is due to the amount of leaves they dump in the pond each autumn. It shortens the life of the pond due to the buildup of organic matter.

Lots of sunken tree leaves also result in lots of decay and unnecessary oxygen consumption which increases the chances of fish kills in both summer and winter.