it reached 112 here yesterday, and is gonna be about 110 today.......whew. nice to come in to AC and yak at fellow pondmeisters.
TBay, based on the combined posts above, i think determining the depth and volume of pond WRT possible winterkills is the first thing to figure out. Its too bad you cant get there more frequently. all the other details (water quality tests etc. will only provide value to you if you are not going to (or dont have to) drain and re-do everything.
when i surveyed my pond, i made and carried a scaled sketch of pond w/ me, and estimated my location and recorded the depth, then made a "quickie" topo map of pond. I made notes where I thought muck accumulation was thickest. this helped me later when estimating pond volume, excavation volumes, and how much material (clay) to import. i knew i was digging.
i cant see any downside to aeration (unless your diffuser becomes frozen in solid ice��it should help keep the pond from complete freezing)....adding it to a pond that is not yet stocked is even better, and as learning on the aeration posts, it will help remove a signif. amount of muck and combat new accumulation.....looks like you could have quite a bit based on all the trees by pond.
I think Bill suggested you stock YP minnows...however, i dont think it would hurt to put in something additional like Gambusia (if they would survive your winters....i dont know), i like those little guys, they do real well here at least.
Hope you find some value in my rambling��
