I am in Bolivia. I am just filling a pond that I dammed up over a year ago and has since filled about a quarter way with rainfall. I'm currently filling from a well and it is about 3/4 full at this point.
I just contacted a local well respected fish expert. He recommends treating the water with lime and cow manure before stocking. The idea, he says, is to get algae and plankton to grow for the fish to feed on. (I will be stocking Surubi (a South American catfish) and Pacu (an omnivorous distant cousin to piranha). He said the goal is to end up with dark emerald green water.
Of course, at first though, putting manure in the pond where fish I will be eating live don't sound right. I did find an article describing this practice in asia
http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0541e/T0541E0d.htm but it seems the technique is just used to reduce the amount of feed needed.
I prefer to have water as clear as possible and don't mind extra feed.
Just throwing this out for ideas and opinions. Do you think Id be just as well off clearing the muddy water up with lime, NOT using manure, and just planning on feeding more?
Thanks in advance.
