thanks for the replies--ewest--pond is as described by theo above--iwould really prefer not to have to fertilize but will if necessary also the pond will not be heavily fished--greg yes we talked/emailed and i followed your recommendations on liming---am willing to feed catfish once a week or so to supplement them but that's about it-- would prefer not to start a fertilization program unless i have to--may want to swim in pond some--if i find i have to fertilize i will---and will discuss this more with you --will get with you on ordering some fatheads and bream and a few CC as soon as pond is 1/2 full--there should not be much flow thru problems--what flow thru there will be will be via siphon system from 5 or 6 ft below surface--so this may make fertilization easier and more economical? (greg do you have an estimate on what it would cost me to keep this fertilized?) i may go with 750bg/res/acre total 75cc/acre and later 50lmb/acre based on what ya'll tell me here--have 3 good size holes/3 mounds/6 fish attractors--what else would ya'll recommend structure wise? dang this is sorta very much like work. thanks again very much.