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Joined: Apr 2018
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Dilley Offline OP
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My 3/4 acre pond is just 1 year old. It is well fed pond with daily well water being added to it. The eco system is established I've added perch and minnows and they seem to be doing really well. I plan on adding bass in October.

Should I be concerned that the pond is still super murky? It doesn't seem like alge, but I guess it could be.

What do I need to do to unmurk it?

Last edited by Dilley; 09/03/19 10:49 AM.
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3 things come to mind to check.
Jar test water from pond
what is pond stocked with?
how much ground cover do you have, you might post a few pics showing your pond.

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Dilley Offline OP
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I don't have any vegetation in the pond itself at the moment. The banks and the dam have some grass and lots of weeds. blue gill and minnows is all i have fish wise. The BG are doing great they bite the hell out of me while I'm floating around.

I ordered a pond test kit to check it out.

Last edited by Dilley; 09/03/19 04:16 PM.
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Dilley Offline OP
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This is a pic I have you can't really tell but the pond has a very sandy colored murk to it.

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I had very muddy water until I got good ground cover established throughout my watershed. Waterways, ditches, and banks to the waterline all can contribute to suspended clay.

Jar test is collecting a jar of pond water and setting it undisturbed for a couple weeks in a dark spot. Taking a picture every few days to see if it clears and what settles out. Best to take in same lighting conditions every time and be careful moving jar so you don't agitate settled gunk.

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My original pond banks looked very much like that and so did my water. I'm not versed in Texas dirt or growing conditions but this was my process. Had farm service company test soil, then made necessary additions as recommended. For me, it was a good shot of ag lime and fertilizer to get soil a bit more fertile. Then I disc it a bit and planted oats and pasture mix to coincide with the rainy season (fall here). Got a good stand of greenery and things are much better now. The farmer who works with me spread a light dusting cow manure also and I got a nice bloom.

This is new pond, just planted 8-15-2019

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Dilley Offline OP
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Thanks for the info. The guy I bought fish from mentioned something like this said to just take bermuda grass and put it all along the banks. I'll try the jar test. I planted rye on the dam last year and it took pretty well because we got rain right away. Hopefully get some rain this fall also and get some growth.

Thanks again

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I limed my pond and it started clearing up

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Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
I limed my pond and it started clearing up

Yeah, liming could be a good solution for murky water.

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Dilley Offline OP
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Hey guys I did the jar test and the water is crystal clear after a couple of weeks. Curious what that means?

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Usually means you have suspended particulate matter. It can be algae or clay. The good thing is it settles out, so probably not an ionic type bond holding the matter in suspension. More likely something in the pond is stirring up clay, or you have surface water agitating the clay as it flows into your pond.

Is your pond full yet? I would bet you need more ground cover to keep the clay from agitating. It could be on your immediate watershed or from offsite as water flows to the pond.

Is there any green or olive color to your water? Algae bloom will reduce clarity and is normally a good thing. If you hang a white coffee cup in the water column, how deep does it go before it disappears? This is a redneck Secchi disc test.

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Dilley Offline OP
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My pond is full. I have a water well going to it. In light of what you are saying I'm also realizing that probably the well water is agitating the clay. I purposely made it "fall" into the pond so that it agitates the water to create oxygen, but where it comes in it's fairly shallow.

It has not rained here for months. I'm literally in an extreme drought so I have to run it daily. I do need more vegetation, but now I'm thinking I also need to move my well water further in to deeper water.

There is no green or olive color to the water it has the same color as the dirt. We have red dirt here so it's very brownish red looking.

I'm guessing I should plant some submerged vegetation as well? Definitely doesn't take much to cause the clay to make a mess of the water when you step in it.

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I had a similar problem. I buried the end of the pipe coming from the well in a nice size pile of rip rap (2 to 5 inch stone). The pile of rip rap dispersed and slowed the flow perfectly. Problem solved.


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