Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations what a difference

I visited a buddy's pond for the first time last weekend and was amazed at the difference between his pond and mine. His is a year older, is dyed but crystal clear, and seemingly devoid of life. In my time there, all I saw was one ten inch bass. The pond was certainly very pretty. My pond is just teeming w/living creatures. You can't step anywhere there aren't frogs of every species and toads hopping around. I have snakes, turtles, insects, and so many minnows the surface of the water constantly quivers w/their activity. I also have regular algae blooms that are a little annoying but I'm assuming are beneficial. Am I correct in assuming the difference in our ponds is fertility? Of course, I have also heeded the advice of this forum and have built an enormous forage base before adding predators.

Possibly, but in my opinion there could be other factors in play also.

Is the shoreline maintained the same on both ponds? (mowed or natural)
Does your buddy manage his pond for fish? Are the goals ( from a management viewpoint) the same for both ponds?

Remember also that crystal clear water means the fish might be able to see you just as well as you can see them.

Yeah there is waaaaay to many what if's in your question! Two ponds are never alike! If there ever was a "it all depends" question yours is one of them for sure!

I mean your two ponds could be way different because.... Ahh you fill in the blanks. It could be anything from where pond is located v.s. yours to water to bad soil or like spark said you just didn't see any fish cause fish saw you? No telling. Maybe his pond isn't right for frogs? Hence no frogs no snakes??

RC

This is called "confounding" in an experiment - when a single factor cannot be isolated from the many factors that differ between two experimetal units - the difference in the outcome cannot be attributed to any one factor or even the combination of all factors (because one factor may or may not contribute to the observed outcome). Couple that with no replication and its a crap shoot. BTW - "crapshoot" is the highly technical term for this

I know I would rather have a pond teeming with life than a pretty one, but that's just me.

Hey Shorty I agree. My pond is much like Brook's pond in this situation and I too would rather have that then the other, but as to why the other is the way it is could be a 1,000 reasons.... Makes me kind a light headed just thinking about all of them....

RC

Agreed' lots of reason why...

However, odds are if the other pond was not dyed and was more fertil it probably would be holding more life as in general more fertile ponds hold more life.....

Say they stopped dying it and started fertalizing it might indeed have more life after after awhile....at least "in" the pond.

Yeah your right there, that would be my first guess also. All the dye is killing everything off I would expect. Although I have dyed my pond in the past and did not see that type of thing, but never for a long period of time. Maybe he keeps that pond with some dye in it all the time that would explain some of it for sure.

RC

I dye the HBG pond, and think it helps quite a bit. No negatives that I am aware of, at least none that interfere with raising HBG.

I was just curious. Yeah, I blindsided you all. Here's some data. The ponds are at most a mile apart and are similar in size, shape, and depth. He has a high, narrow. nearly vertical dam while mine slowly tapers over 100 ft. He wants fish like I do, but he also wants it for some swimming. I'm not interested in swimming, but I also plan to use mine to irrigate some as well. His is more wooded while mine receives a bit more sunlight. He pumped water from the local river to fill it while mine was filled w/runoff. Mine receives a lot more runoff than his. Neither has its shoreline mowed. I have fescue, clover, and wildflowers surrounding the banks; his has a sparse woods. He dyes/I don't. We both have put in underwater structure. I have a lot more shoreline structure along w/a dozen pallets. He stocked all fish at once. I have waited on the predators. Neither has many aquatic plants. I'm considering some as I feel I may have too many nutrients with the numerous algae blooms I've had and I like their aesthetics. I do get maybe a little more agricultural runoff. I'm at the pond daily while he is not, and I feed regularly. I'm just wondering if it's perhaps a higher nutrient level that has led to more life. Then again, maybe it is just a crapshoot. If that's the case, I feel fortunate. Then again, I'm not at all "dissing" his pond. I'm just amazed at how different they are in numbers of living creatures for having a lot of similarities.

I use Aquashade as a management tool when I want less macrophytes and phytoplankton. I've even seen more oxygen under the ice in the ponds I shade on a regular basis due to less plant growth that dies and decomposes using oxygen.

I think it may slow down the food chain some, but if your fish are pellet fed fish what difference does it make unless you depend on natural recruitment?

IMO the difference between the two ponds is mainly either nutrient inputs and or chemical additions (algaecides) including dye. Did you inquire about his use of weed chemicals other than dye?

No, I don't know if he uses any chemicals. However, I would suspect my pond receives more through the agricultural runoff. I was just amazed that I didn't see a single living thing other than that one bass. My first thought was that what bass are in there have cleaned out all the other life forms. I do know he went to a lot of trouble and expense to stock larger bass instead of fingerlings. Still, you'd think you could find a bug or frog or a turtle floating around somewhere.

Possible heavy algae treatments?

You feed, he doesn't. His water is clearer than yours.

Your fish sense your footsteps and equate that to getting something to eat, plus your less clear water gives them a sense of security from "above the water" predators. His pond is just the opposite. Footsteps may just mean something with a sharp hook in it, and clearer water means they are more susceptible to "above the water" predators. The fish might be there, just hanging out in deeper water where you can't see them.