Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Help with farm pond

I have no clue where to turn and stumbled upon your website while doing some research. I'm writing this post on behalf of my fiance. We live in central Illinois and purchased a 40 acre farm four years ago. It has a one acre pond directly below our home. It has vegetation surrounding it, other than the bank up to our house and a small corner of it. I'm not sure how deep it is, but I'm guessing at least 15' in the center. There are no streams feeding into it. It has several inlets and from looking at some other posts I think we have duckweed. We already have five HUGE grass carp and the pond has bass, bluegill, crappie and catfish. There is also some type of weed growing from the bottom along the shoreline (reminds me of what we used to have in our aquarium when I was a kid). And there is deep muck along the shoreline that really smells if you get it stirred up. We don't want to use chemicals because we want to use it for swimming. The duckweed (if that is what it is) will go to the inlets if we get a good wind and it's not too hot. Other days it will blanket the pond. We also have swam in it a couple of times when it is clear...is that safe? How can I get the water tested? I called the local extension and they said that don't do it. Guys, we are totally clueless...I'd like to get some advice from people who KNOW what they're talking about...my fiance comes up with some crazy ideas! Any info you can give me would be appreciated. We're thinking we need to aerate...what are your thoughts about a fountain?

What local health dept should be able to do your routine water tests for bacteria etc. Read as many posts as you can here at PB, and subscribe to the magazine to get an understanding of ponds in general and then your pond specifically will make more sense to you as you learn about aquatics.You may also want to poke around on the bottom with pvc pipe or similar to see how much sediment (muck) you are dealing with at different depths throughout your pond. Your local Soil and Water may be able to give you some information on date built, watershed etc. You will also find a Terraserver in these posts that may give you an air photo of your pond which at times help establish when it was built and what other sources of water may feed it.Do you have electricty nearby if aeration is desired? Ted Lea

I would say that you want to aerate. A fountain is for asthetics and show more than aeration. You may want a fountain too.

An aeration system down in the deepest areas of the pond is the best thing you can do for any pond. The smell will be pretty bad when you first turn it on. Also dependind on how old the pons is and how much muck you have you will need to gradually aerate. A few hours a day, otherwise you may kill your fish if you stir too much of the "dead" water to the top at once. The dissolved oxygen levels at the bottom will be near zero and the anerobic bacteria will make quite the stink in the beginning. My pond was just a year old when we turned the aerator on an wow did it smell for a few hours. during the hot dry months I'm running it 24 X7 and what a difference. No smell, no stagnant water, and much more uniform temperature which makes it great for swimming.

The smell will depend on the amount of organic material being eaten by the anerobic (non oxyegen eating or bad) bacteria.

The aeration cleans up a pond like chlorine cleans up a pool with out the chemicals. It alo destratifies the water by stirring the warm and cold water and then allows the dissolved oxygen to be at good levels at all depths.

Add a beach with sand if you want to swim. Otherwise you will always have the "squishies" between the toes from the shoreline mud. We are using good quality mason sand from a local quarry. Adock is also something nice for swimming and boating.

I would search out a local pond expert to test the water for pH and alkalinity as well as all the other things they test. The will also advise on fish stocking and weed control.

PLGT - From your short pond description, I am guessing your pond is fairly old (25-40 yrs) due to presence of duckweed and deep, shoreline, smelly, muck.

First task is to get out there and measure the maximum depth. I am guessing 8ft to 10ft based on your comments. If it is not any deeper than 8 ft think about rebuilding the pond within the next 10 yrs. Deeper than 12 ft at your latitude the pond has 10 to 20 years of good life left in it before rebuilding. Duckweed is a sign of old aging pond and going downhill fast.

Do a search about duckweed learn about it. Search for aeration topics. Lots to read and learn.

Great Foum! I've been reading for several months now and will start to participate. Bill, why do you say that duckweed is indicative of an older lake/pond? I know that one of the lakes that we are working with has a duckweed problem and it is quite new, although nutrient rich... Thanks for your insight, here and on many of your other posts.

Mike P. Duckweed does not usually appear in ponds until they have had numerous years of dead organics inputs and nutrient accumulations. We rarely see duckweed in newer ponds that are farily nutrient poor and "fresh". I consider duckweed an "indicator organism". As you have experienced duckweed can become established in newer water bodies if they are prematurely stimulated or enriched with organic nutrients. Typically this annual duckweed problem does not happen until the pond is "middle aged" or in "older" stages.