Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Alum Kicks Clay Butt!

MPD, check your costs for each. A 55g barrel of liquid AlSO4 is equal to 1, 50# bag of powder/granular alum.

The liquid is usually 3-5 times the price of the dry form.

I planned on checking prices, I just hadn't seen anyone talking about the liquid.

MPD74---I forgot to add that you need to have a CDL with a Hazmat endorsement to buy/pickup/haul the liquid. Part of the new Homeland Security requirements placed on all chemical companies---dry Alum does not require anything like the liquid does.

Got some powerded stuff that I'm picking up this week and applying this weekedn. I was thinking about trying to spray the slurry over the water with a pressure washer. Any one got any thoughts on if this will work, or why I shouldnt try?

The nozzle on the sprayer is small so you want to dissolve the Alum very well or it may plug up the tip. High pressure usually means a fairly low flow though. You won't want the spray pattern too fine or it will blow all over the place and get in your eyes and lungs.

I cleared my pond yesterday. I have .35 surface acres and calculate that at 2.07 acre feet based on my average depth. I did the jug test and it took about 3 tablespoons of alum to clear the jug in 12 hours. Based on the TAMU table, I used 5ea 50lb sacks ($17/bag at Estes in Houston) of Aluminum Sulfate (250 lbs) mixed in a 55 gallon drum (one at at a time) and sprayed out over the pond using a 2" trash pump with a fire nozzle on the discharge hose. I then followed up with about 120 lbs of hydrated lime. It has cleared somewhat in the first 18 hours. I thought it would be much clearer at this point since I used a little more alum than my calculations called for.

Will it clear more as days go by?

I did catch a bass on my first cast this morning. They obviously can see much better than yesterday...

Sounds like you did things just right. Good job. It probably cleared more than you think. You just about have to measure visibility with a white coffee cup or sechhi disk. A muddy pond with 8" or 18" visibility doesnt look much different. If you caught a bass on artificial, sounds like its working.

Billfish, phytoplankton growth will explode with the added clarity of the water and can make the clearing seem less than it is as well.....Good job!!!

I know my FHM spawn and the other little fishes are all very nervous right now. I think the Blue Cats and Largemouth are all going to get fat real soon

I just got home from my place. My pond doesn't look like it's cleared any more. I applied 800 lbs of alum and 300 lbs of lime 3 weeks ago. Not sure what's going on with it but it will not clear up. I did catch a bass in the smaller pond. The small pond is muddier than the big one.

Cisco, your clay may be exceptional in it's negative charge, or, you may have some serious mechanical disturbance occuring. Either by fish or wind/wave action.

I don't think it's fish Rainman. I drained the pond and dug it out in August of last year. I thought it was due to the CC but we caught most of them (I think) out. But after the draining and digging, it still cathces some wind but we moved all the silt/mud up around the pond so it's not getting near as much as it did. I'm at a loss as to what's causing it. I'm about done with dumping the $$ in it. Wait, I'll never be done with that will I!!

Let me be a little clearer. I think faster than I can type, the only fish in the pond now are the BG,RES and FHM I stocked in December.

Rainman,

I got the amount of alum and lime you recommended (200 lb alum and 100 lb lime) and as soon as we find a pump, we will be ready to apply.

.7 acre feet of water and a surface acreage of .068. 3 years ago stocked 100 cc, 100 bg and 10 lmb. The largest cc I've caught has been 8 lb. Bg the size of my hand. We only caught one lmb last year, so I recently added 10 more.

Should I be worried about errosion? Added pic to show current clarity.

I'm also wondering about when is the best time to do this? I have a backyard party planned for this Saturday. If I do this today or tomorrow, will my pond be appealing Saturday? Will the floc be unsightly?

Also, I tested the Ph with a pool strip and it was above 9.0.

Well I added 400LBs alum. sulfate and 200lbs lime first week in april. no noticable change. i did notice a change as i sprayed, but went away. This weekend I will be adding 300 more lbs alum. sulfate and 150lbs lime. Im just hoping that my average depth estimation was too shallow.

I've seen where people have tried two or three times to clear the water, and after the next application BAM, the water clears like magic. I think it's all about getting the correct amount of stuff in the pond. Calculating water volume is a hard thing to do in a pond!

Chandler1, your PH can change dramatically thoughout the day, but 9 is pretty high. I would opt for a much more accurate test to be sure. Some organic floc may float, but suspended clay will sink rapidly...with the rather high alum rate I suggested, your pond should be very clear in less than a day and unless runoff flows though the pond, new erosion will sink as well.

I would get the eroded spots covered with some decorative rip rap if it were my pond in such a beautiful setting!

It looks great!

Thank you for answering!

If we do not test any further, but apply the alum and lime that we bought, are we in danger of harming the fish? That is our biggest worry. We worry that our measurements are off and the amount of alum and lime may not be correct. Is that a viable concern?

>I've seen where people have tried two or three times to clear the water, and after the next application BAM, the water clears like >magic. I think it's all about getting the correct amount of stuff in the pond. Calculating water volume is a hard thing to do in a pond!


You hit the nail on the head. Not using enough alum will fail to clear it every time. Blaming other things just takes you on a wild goose chase. Not saying to just add alum until the water clears, because runoff ponds can easily become too acidic. As long as water is pH 7 or above, you can probably safely add alum until it clears up.

Chandler1, as chemicals, the alum and lime pose no danger to your fish. Your high PH would allow you to add only the alum, which should always be applied first anyway. The hydrated lime can raise the PH to lethal levels rapidly and is why it should never be applied first.

Alum will lower your PH, but it occurs slowly. With your PH at 9, you might benefit from not adding the hydrated lime at all. Keep some test strips handy, test your PH BEFORE applying all 200 pounds of Alum and then check your PH every 15 minutes or so after all the alum is applied for a couple hours. If your PH only drops by .1 or .3 every 15 minutes, your fish will be just fine with no danger of PH shock. If the PH drops by more than .5 in 15 minutes, broadcast spread the lime to counteract the alum, but I don't see you needing to do this.

Thanks, Rainman! Hopefully, we will get around to doing this in the next week. I'll post after pictures!

We have a water well and Allen plans to run a water hose to a tub where we will make the alum slurry to broadcast on the pond. It doesn't make any difference if it's a slurry made with well water versus slurry made of pond water does it?

Also, we have a make-up pipe run to our pond. In the summer, have a timer set to run well water into the pond weekly to keep the water level up. Will that have a negative effect on our clarity once the water is clear?

IMHO, the well water will work fine to make the slurry. The well water running into the pond this summer will probably help with the clarity issues. Number one the well water will itself be clear and number two keeping the water level up should prevent erosion of any shoreline that is not vegetated. The one caveat is the pH of your well water. There are two major aquifers in your area, the Woodbine & Trinity, and both have high pH's..du

Thanks, David. I hope this works. Saturday is the day. Do you have any idea where I can get some rock rip rap?