Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction I want to swim in our pond...

Hello!

We just moved to a home with about an acre and a half sized pond in the front. It's beautiful to look at but I'd like to know more about maintaining it for fishing and swimming. I'll tell you all I know as a noob, and maybe you all can tell us more about what we have from the wealth of knowledge here. Here goes:

The pond has large trees around it. I have learned the leaves of these trees is the reason for the tea color. I can see my fingers in the water up to my elbow - beyond that it's dark coca cola and I can't see anything. The pond also has two small trees leaning into it leading us to believe the level has come up a bit over the years. The level, by the way, remains consistent, it overflows in heavy rain and returns to its regular level in about a week's time. There is a pipe that drains what it can to a ditch, but the pond is downhill and so is the drain. Once the pond and the ditch drain downhill, the water has nowhere else to go, so it over flows.

We have blue gill and LMB, snapping turtles (not fond of those!), slider turtles, a heron and a white egret that come to visit occasionally. I have not seen any snakes or leeches. We didn't stock this pond, every creature we have was there when we moved in last May, so they have survived the winter. The property sat alone and empty for 6 months. Seems the fish got on fine without human help.

I looked up the weeds around the pond and it appears we are rife with alligator weed, but we don't mind it as it doesn't seem to want to spread into the water beyond the banks, so they act as a nice filter for the run-off I suppose. We have a small dock to get in and out and to dock the canoe.

The surface of the pond is always clear and the water seems to always shimmer. Occassionally there's a film on it in the mornings, but by afternoon it's gone. Sometimes small patches of floating vegetative debris can be seen, but everything gradually drifts to the banks.

When we do get in to swim, there are at least two patches of really cold waterin two places (groundwater or springfed maybe?), the water is clear to my elbow, but tea colored as mentioned above. I haven't let my feet dangle on the bottom too long for fear of snapping turtles coming after my toes, but the bottom is probably 8-9 feet at the deepest part near the dock. Where we can feel the bottom, our toes feel something soft and flowy. Disturbing this stuff brings up flecks of matter. When I got out and peeled off my suit, there was a bit of what looked like rich garden soil stuck on my hip. Not mud-like or clay, but black and plant-like.

Our pond is about a half a mile away from the inter-coastal waterway in Wilmington, NC. Our well water is full of iron and -ugh- sulfur. The man we bought the house from never lived there, so I know nothing of this property's history.

So, what can you tell us about our pond and what can we do to make it swim friendly? I don't want leeches, so we're keeping the fish!

OH! And we inherited a friend's small paddleboat. Do you think paddling around in that keeps some aeration happening now and then?

Thank you!
BKeller

Hello and welcome to the best place for pond info available. Others that know much more than I will be along shortly but for now here is something to consider. With trees all around you surely have a bunch of sediment built up, that was what got stuck in your trunks. You should start researching aeration but be sure you have the right system and know how to start it properly. Good luck and keep us updated as you get more and more addicted. Bob-O

Hi Bob-O

Too late, I'm already addicted. I just edited to add that we have a small paddleboat - wondering if it would aerate things enough? I'm interested in a system though, the more I read about them.

Thanks for the reply!
Bkeller

I am going out on a limb here and going to say no to the paddle boat. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. Not big enough and not consistant enough to really do anything for your D.O. in the water. Sounds like a great place though. Congrats!!

RC

Yeah, I cannot imagine a paddle boat having any real impact beyond a few inches down for the time you are paddling.. If you want to cut the muck, you need to drive O2 down lower to break it down faster, and run it 24/7..

Welcome to the forum! A great bunch of people here making the addiction a hard one to moderate.

What type of trees are they? Oaks are notorious for tannin releasing in the water making the tea like appearance.

BKeller,

First, welcome to Pond Boss. We're always happy to have new people join us. Your questions, and the answers, will help many others.

We have a number of active members here ranging from coastal South Carolina, well into Florida. Your winter weather may be just a little bit cooler, otherwise, you should have about the same weather and water conditions as they do. Hopefully, several of them will chime in.

At one time, I knew your area fairly well. We owned a home on Oak Island for many years. The whole area is a beautiful and wonderful place.

If you are in the low areas anywhere around Wilmington, South Port, etc., I would say that you will always have tea-colored water. But, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Your fish won't care. It won't affect you when you swim. It is just tinted brown from the live oak and pine.

As for your well -- that is a whole 'nother story. I hardly know anybody in the area anymore, but I'd suggest you contact a local well drilling company and ask them for suggestions on how to clean up your well water. I'll probably get in trouble for this -- but I'd strongly suggest a well drilling company vs. a water treatment company. Generally, the well drilling companies know a lot more about what works and what doesn't work.

I'm assuming that your pond is a dug-out hole in sand, and not a dammed reservoir in clay. Assuming that, your water table is extremely high in that area. That is what keeps your pond filled. The top of the water is going to be close to the sea level at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. It is almost like digging a hole in the sand at the beach during low tide. It will fill up with water pretty quickly. You are probably far enough away from the saltwater that the sand is filtering much of the saltwater, but it is still probably somewhat brackish. Again -- no problem for the fish or for swimming.

Fish are good in the pond. You should be able to grow monsters in there.

As for aeration, it depends on how open your pond is to wind. If your pond has ripples or small waves on it all day long from the wind, you may not need aeration. If it remains very glass-like all day, and it is nestled in the trees, you probably will need aeration to keep it clean and to grow decent fish.

You mention alligator grass -- I wouldn't be too concerned about it, but I would be a little careful about alligators. If you've ever walked on the brow (gang-plank) of the USS Wilmington, and looked down to the water, you may have noticed dozens of 'gators in the water. I've met a lot of them in the inland waterway when netting mullet for bait. Most are small (less than 4-foot), and they aren't very aggressive. But, be aware that they may just think of your pond as a pretty good buffet.

Regards,
Ken

Oh thank you all for your helpfulness! Ken, we do love it here. I bet you miss it! Today I went out to look at the water - friend brought his little boy and his new remote control boat to play for a while and after a huge storm with monsoon rain yesterday, it was kinda murky. The tea color, I don't mind at all. So I fed the fish some bread to see how many would come and how big they are and boy did they come! Little 3 or so inch blue gills. They should be bigger than they are though, shouldn't they? The boys caught a 14 inch bass not long ago. We are looking into an aeration system of some sort. It would be worth the investment I think. The water does seem to be moving all the time, it's fairly still in the early mornings, but by afternoon it's a constant ripple. That may be what's keeping it algae-free, but I'm not sure of the muck. It's so soft and I'm still afraid of the bottom to do much feeling around with my feet.

And no, we don't see a dam anywhere, just a drain pipe in a box at the far end, downhill of it. I'll post a photo as soon as I figure out how to do that here. It's a really cool one taken at midnight during a lightning storm. I'll go fetch it...

Thanks again!
Bkeller

Here it is:

bk

Here is a rather old thread:

USS Enterprise Docks in Catmandoo Pond

It is just one of the many great experiences of owning a pond, whether for fishing, swimming, or hosting an aircraft carrier.

Here's a day time photo (with a pretty egret!) that shows the water movement:

Oooh! So fun! (Meant this as reply to your toy boat photos) Thanks!