Just to back up a little, Soilfloc came to TJ's and my attention right around the same time, so we have both been researching it and following progress over the years. I wanted to hold off to get an idea if this is a long-term fix or something that I have to apply every few years. From what I have seen so far, it is long term enough to be of no real concern. Where I am usually busy as hell with more than one project at a time, I have unable to reach out and help very often. TJ has been exceedingly generous with his time and effort of helping keep costs under control, how to apply, what not to do, and what to expect. Reach out to him for any questions.
I generally post here and try to keep things light and useful when possible.
A little information: My pond is almost exactly 1/2 acre. I was able to treat from the shoreline out about 24ft of just the dam on the downhill suspected seepage area with more than enough material, maybe even a little too much, with only 2 units. I purchased 4 units (4x A, 4x B) for insurance and the possibility that I discover a leak somewhere else if the first application didn't meet my expectations. There is no hard rule that you have to purchase and apply all of your material at once. The last thing you want is 20 huge bags of material you cannot get wet floating around in your shed for years. Imagine this stuff popping inside your shed/barn then getting wet!
I prepped my pond by manual weed removal as much as i could as I had large mounds of chara in the bottom with a highly alkaline pond. I simply had a large landscape rake on a thin rope and got really good at tossing it out to 24ft from shore. I talked to a local pond maintenance crew about treating the pond chemically for chara, and they claimed the copper treatments kill the stuff, but it takes a long time to break down when in water to a clean bottom, especially if the bottom goes anaerobic when the thermocline shows up in summer. The curly-leafed pondweed in general doesn't really grow on the dam much, but on the flat bottom, so got rid of that too. I wanted the best shot of success so I made darned sure it was as clean as I could get it.
I removed the piles of stone I had created to be used as walk-outs for fishing and shelter for small critters. Partly because they all sunk into the mud and were useless, and partly I wanted the soilfloc under them when I replace the rocks later. I also need to put down a sheet of landscape fabric to keep them from sinking as much when it put them back in. I like the idea of sitting on the rocks and fishing. Adds a little interest to an otherwise plain bowl.
Now I am not so sure I want the rocks back, as I may want to hit things one more time on pond full to be satisfied in the application.
