Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Using presure treated wood .

Will presure treated wood afect the fish in my pond?

I am building a slow down silt dam on my entrance creek from presure treated wood, unless told otherwise.

I would be very surprised if it will have any effect unless the pond is tiny.

Copper sulfate is used extensively in treated lumber and will dissolve out fairly readily while submerged. Copper is not a friend of plant life, but I don't know how much will leach into your water. Water will preserve the wood where it leaches out, but the junction at the air/water will rot quite quickly with today's treatments. Older treatments were nasty stuff but would last much longer in pond conditions I am told and didn't leach out as much.

For my dock I purchased a special kind of treated lumber where they seal in the preservatives and add something else that stabilizes the copper so it is not soluble for use in fresh water such as waterways. 84 Lumber can special order it, and it is only a small adder to the wood cost (10%). I will see if I can find what it is called again and re-post.

Unless you are a termite, the old wood treatment was plenty safe. I wish that I could still buy it! Copper is hard on fungi and is used in fungicides (sprayed on crops). I never heard of it being hard on plants, but anything might cause plant damage at high enough levels.

Copper kills many green plants. I doubt what is contained in a few boards will effect a pond. It is used a lot in piers etc.

We used copper wire to tie Christmas trees to cement blocks for structure piles. I questioned this activity of using copper wire in a pond and was informed here, not to worry about it.

There is town 30 miles east of me with a 600 acre lake in the town. They treat that lake with copper sulfate at least once a year. I believe this is to keep the moss weeds in the lake under control. Makes the fish bite like crazy for a day or two.

shift your concern to mercury poisoning from CFL's

Thanks for all the replies,its 12 feet wide and a 6 foot high ground bank on either side, still wondering about the sides and washing the ground away, pictures to follow.

A picture of the creek entrance and the banks on both sides, I can build it 1 to 4 feet high.

This will slow the creek water and all the sediment behind the new wooden dam--( or rock dam )
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o303/Crappieman1/002-105.jpg

For dock longevity, read this. Now I am concerned about the anchors I used on the concrete footings corroding away quickly. Not much I can do now... Wish I knew about the alternate non-copper treatments.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/PDF/Free/021160082.pdf

Holy cow, what an education that read is, thanks, maybe I'll just build a rock dam.

green treat + stainless steel fasteners = happy longevity
don't be skeered; just do it

Brettski, how does the tensile and shear properties of the SS fastners compare to grade 5 fastners? (I wouldn't think of using grade 2 or ungraded fastners on any structure where they'd be in shear)

I know it's a moot point because of the properties of the treatments, but I'm curious.