Ron, I don't have aeration but treated as soon as the water temps reached 60 degrees and then again last week. I treat half of the pond, wait 2 or three days then treat the other half. I have very little black muck in only a couple of areas. My pond was built late 2003. I swim in the pond often. I have a small dock with some sand around it to I don't have to walk in the mud. It seems as though you are having an awful lot FA and muck problems for your first season. What is in the watershed coming into the pond? Woods, crop fields, lawns? Maybe you can post a picture as we all seem to have different standards wrt a BIG FA problem.
