Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Pond fertilization help

This begins the second year of my pond, which is about 1.3 acres ad currently about 6' deep in the deep end; 3' in the shallows. Up until this point I've done a pretty poor job of managing it mainly due to getting my house built. For most of the past year the water has been as clear as bathtub. My few weak attempts at fertilization had almost no effect. Well lately, I've been monitoring water temps and last week got above 60 degrees. Because of the clarity, I have a good bloom of Widgeon grass coating the bottom. That is why I want to solve my clarity problem before it begins absorbing all my fertilizer. I'm trying to turn my pond green with phytoplankton.

A week ago I put a gallon of liquid pond and about 12 lbs of water soluble pond fertilizer (both very high in Phosphorus) with very little effect. I'm wondering if I need to add lime. I'm in Driftwood TX where the water is very hard (I'm pumping using a well right now to maintain its level), so I would "guess" that the water is pretty alkali.

The problem is that I don't know what to expect. Should I add more fertilizer or add lime or both? At this point, my plan is to check the ph and add lime if necessary. Any help from you guys would be appreciated.

Before adding anything else I would send a sample of the water to Texas A&M University to get it tested. You might find that there is enough nutrients in the water already but something else is limiting the phytoplankton bloom.

It might be alkalinity and not pH that is limiting the bloom.

I agree. See this for links.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92617#Post92617

Thank you. That looks like the logical next step.