Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Hello from Louisiana

My name is Joey and I’m a new member from south Louisiana. I am planning to dig a small pond (~1/4 acre) on our 2 acres in order to help with drainage and start building our house pad. I have someone lined up for next week if the weather permits so I want to make sure we do it right the first time. I’ve been searching through the forum a little to get some tips on small ponds but any advice here is appreciated. My main concern is how to minimize the algae and grass growth and what to stock it with. I’ve been looking into aeration systems but trying to find something that won’t break the bank. I’m also planning to stock it with bream, bass, and catfish. Bream first then come back and put in the bass and 10-15 catfish once the bream grow some. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Limit inflow of nutrients and don't make it too shallow, although edges should be sloped for safety. Channel cats are fun to catch, but they are vicious predators that compete with LMB. Don't overstock the bass or catfish if you want them to grow fast, and wait till the FHM are thick before adding things that eat them. Not sure what species "breem" are? Consider RES to help with snail control (they generally do not overpopulate).

Welcome to the forums Joey!

Fighting FA (filamentous algae) and weeds is best done with steeper banks and deeper waters...to a point. Too steep and the pond can become difficult to enter and, more importantly, get back out of (read drowning hazard). Steep banks can also lead to small land slides which can be dangerous and tend to fill the pond back up faster with the dirt.

Before you get started reading a bunch here at PB, you will need to know how to decipher all the acronyms...here's the key...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442

Small ponds are not usually the best for growing large LMB, but rather larger bream. Small ponds can be great for catfish. Large fish of most any kind can be grown in small ponds, but the hobby time to manage it increases exponentially. So, do some homework and give it your best shot...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=189988#Post189988

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255372#Post255372

There is also the option of going with hybrids (HSB and HBG), but I will leave that advise to someone from your southern area as HSB tend to like a bit cooler waters.

Here is the best thread I know of for building an inexpensive aeration system (Thanks RC!)...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=245867&page=1

I think RC51 eventually went bigger, but you should find it adequate for your pond size depending on how deep it ends up being. There is quite a bit to making sure you design your system right, so do some homework. Here are a few threads to get your head spinning in the right direction for understanding aeration and how to design them...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92494

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=491318

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=495180

Don't let the info overwhelm you, take your time and get it right the first time and ask for help if you need to.

Thank you RAH. I’m planning to do a 2-3 ft safety ledge about 5 ft wide around the entire pond. I have 2 boys, 5&7, and they love catching catfish on rod and reel with me. I only plan to put around 10 in it. By bream I mean bluegills. Considering hybrids. Not sure what RES is but I’ll check the link posted below to learn the acronyms. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for the info Quarter Acre. We are going to try to dig it 15 ft deep with a safety ledge around the perimeter and a shallow area with some gravel for spawning. The guy doing the work suggested stepping it down past the safety ledge instead of one steep slope.

I’m not looking to grow huge bass, just want to manage it well enough for my boys and nephew, once he gets a little older, to be able to go out there and catch some fish. We also plan to expand it one day to finish the pad and build a pad for a shop. It’s in a low area that doesn’t drain well so that’s what’s driving us to dig it.

This might be a dumb question but is it easy to install the aeration system after the pond fills? It probably won’t take long to fill with our wet climate down here.

Thanks again. I’ll start looking at the links you gave me. We are laying out the pond and pad this evening and hoping to get it dug early next week.

With such young children, I suggest having them wear life jackets near the pond until they are very good swimmers. We had a recent tragedy near us that no parent should have to endure. RES is Redear sunfish (shellcrakers).

Not a bad idea. Luckily it won’t be close to the house and they’re getting better at swimming.

Re your previous question, it isn't hard to install aeration system after pond fills. Most people do it that way.

However, you need to be very aware of the dangers of overheating pond from top to bottom with improper aeration during blazing summer days. The fish must have a thermal refuge!

Has anyone ever used a trompe compressor to aerate. This is an old lost technology that uses falling water to make compressed air with no power requirements.

You may want to consider coppernose bluegill along with redear . Coppernose are especially well adapted for southern heat.