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#412723 05/25/15 11:46 PM
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Hi, all -

I’m new to the forum, but I'm in need of some help and guidance.

My wife and I moved into a place here in VT about 5 yrs ago. The previous owners had a 60' x 80' x 5' avg (8' max) pond dug into clay soil. They had it dug with steep sides, supposedly to control cattails, so it provided no shallow breeding habitat. On top of that, they threw in a bunch of danged goldfish. With the help of an uncontrolled population of crawfish, it looks like the goldfish ate every speck of vegetation, leaving algae to fill the void and creating an ugly brown/green cloudy water condition. I’m wondering how typical this situation is. Does anyone else have experience with a goldfish infestation? Is the demolition of vegetation expected? What do they normally do to water quality and pH?

Anyway, over the past couple years, I've been working on restoring the pond to a balanced ecosystem. I've trapped, fished with, and eaten over 100 lbs of crawfish. I put in a bottom aerator. I've drained the pond and created some shallow breeding areas. I've added some SMB, BG, YP, and one 18" catfish to help control the crawfish! I've tried to replenish the vegetation, but most of that has been eaten - with the exception of some healthy bulrush and a couple water lilies.

After all that, this spring, the water quality was the worst it‘s been, so it was pretty clear I wasn't out of the woods. A couple weeks ago, I bit the bullet; I put on my waders, rigged up a 50' seine, slogged twice around through the muck, and trapped out over 70 goldfish - some up to 10" long. With any luck, I'm hoping I finally may have gotten to the root of the problem.

The big question is where do I go from here? After nearly 5 years trying to sort this out, I'm hoping this could be a pivotal year. I'm figuring I need to add a hefty biofilter to correct the algae and water quality issues, but I'm not clear on filter sizing and flow rate. Most sites are making recommendations for smaller ponds and are recommending turnover in a matter of hours. What's an appropriate minimum turnover rate for a pond of this size and nature? As far as filter designs go, I’ve looked at a whole pile of bio filter plans online, and they seem to come in a lot of styles. Does anyone have any favorite filter designs?

From there, I'm also considering the need for UV filtration and the power source for driving everything - wind driven pump, wind electric generator, or solar. Ideally, I'd prefer to avoid having to bury 110V AC lines, as I'm sitting on a lot of ledge. I'd love to hear from anybody with firsthand experience on any of these fronts.

Another critical step will be replacing the plants that the crawfish and goldfish munched last year. Seems pretty easy to find water lilies and things like that, but I'm more interested in deeper water plants for habitat and oxygenating plants, especially ones that will do well up north. Can anyone steer me towards a good online source of plants? There's a local guy here in VT, but I've had mediocre luck with him. We're at the beginning of our growing season here, and the pond is still about 2' below full level; I'm thinking that makes this a good time to work on that piece of the puzzle

Beyond that, I'd love to hear any other suggestions for rehab – things like adding forage fish, . Obviously, the de-facto ecosystem (almost exclusively goldfish, crawfish, salamanders, cattails, and algae) was stable, but I wouldn't call it healthy. The pond is right outside our door, so we’re really shooting to have it as natural and balanced an ecosystem as possible. I know your time is valuable, so any help is hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
uj

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uj,
Welcome to Pond Boss. Lots of good info and helpful folks here. Post some pics of your project when you get time.


...when in doubt...set the hook...
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Unclejoey,

I don't have any answers to your problems, but was wondering what part of VT you are in. I have relatives around South Royalton and Chelsea mostly with some cousins scattered around the north parts too. Beautiful place.

Good luck with your pond and +1 on the pictures suggestion from stickem'.

CMM


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I'm up in the northwest part of the state, near Lake Champlain, halfway between Middlebury and Burlington.

Here are a couple of pictures of the pond. The first is an overview showing the pond at full water level. The second shows it at the current level, while I was netting out the goldfish. Note the water quality and the lack of vegetation below the normal waterline.

Thanks to all for your time and wisdom!

uj

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/0hu14wzf3tjw68j/Overview_Full.jpg?dl=0[/img]

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/4d1ftxd2xwhabel/Spring%202015_Seining.jpg?dl=0[/img]

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Would you be willing to kill off the whole pond and start new?
Possibly seine the pond and set aside a few of the SMB and YP for stockers after the kill...

Till more help comes along, might check into threads that talk about clearing up water like you have. It might be that it won't settle on it's own. Seems like I have heard explanation of why this occurs, but never paid attention to the conversation. It may never settle until you treat it? Catfish can also stir the water up, and also aeration if not done properly. Take a jar of it and let it sit undisturbed for a while. Does the particles settle to the bottom on their own?

Others may be along with better help, best I can do.

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I'm hoping to avoid having to kill off the whole pond to start over. That's why I drained and seined. I think I did a pretty thorough job, as I haven't seen any more of the orange buggers. If I do, any further goldfish that I may have missed will be shot on sight.

I did try to see if the water settles out, but it doesn't. That leads me to believe I've got an algae overgrowth, not just silt and turbidity. It has been that cloudy almost constantly for the last few years, except when it clears up in the wintertime.

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Uncle, I was in your area last fall visiting a friend in Wanooski. Given the relatively small size of your pond, and how you said it is "easily drained", in my opinion, a complete kill off would be your best, and least expensive option. Properly applying Hydrated Lime is not only effective, it is short lived on the pH increase and leaves behind calcium.

As F&C suggested, keeping some current forage and predators to restock after cleansing the pond of unwanted fish should not be all that difficult. You could make a small, sterilized pond within your pond for that



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Wow, that's some impressive work! I can't believe the transformation in clarity.

At this point, I'm hoping to avoid having to drain the pond. The bass that are in there seem pretty settled, so I'd hate to disrupt them and the rest of the ecosystem.

Here's a less intrusive plan I'm hoping might work out. I'm pretty sure I've got to get some oxygenating plants going, plus some shade plants (like water lilies). I'm figuring I can start those on the edges as the pond starts to refill.

For this "bounce back" season, I'm thinking of rigging up a big, temporary biofilter - scaling everything for a turnover of once per day. If I really want to work on the algae, it seems like I could add a UV filter somewhere in the flow.

With a plan like this, do you think it would move things in the right direction? I'm not seeking perfection this season, just an improvement from where I'm at.

Thanks!
uj

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Throw in a well designed bottom diffusion aeration system. Or use a surface agitator, like Kasco makes. Plants make O2 during the day, but use O2 at night. There is more O2 generated by phytoplankton in ponds that have a good bloom going than by plants.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).

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