I know I haven't been updating this in a while but the past year has been insane and I have not been able to get to the pond as often as I would like. The wife and I bought a fixer upper in Virginia and spent lots of time and money bringing the house to life so pond concerns were put on the backburner. So now that the new place is done and the move complete I can get back to worrying about this pond. Here are my main questions/issues:

In October I stocked 50 yellow perch and I am worried about the lack of grass for them to spawn on.

I have not been able to establish any grass on a permanent basis. In 2012 I finally got an area of corkscrew eelgrass to establish after 3 attempts but it was gone by the spring of 2013 (once it died off it never returned). I planted two rounds of new lillies and eelgrass in spring of 2013 and none of it established. I know that geese are eating some of it but I also worry about the soil not being able to support the grass and lillies. When the pond was in its first year I did get some lillies to establish but as soon as the geese came by they wiped it out.

The soil has lots of small rocks in it, some parts are like a sandy beach. The shallow area where the stream flows in has a mucky bottom (when it was dug this area had a good clay bottom) as leaves and sediment have been deposited there as anything that flows into the stream ends up in that shallow area. Throughout 2013 the muck covered the middle of the shallow area and the clay bottom I succesfully planted lillies on in 2013 has been inundated by muck. The pond is aerated and as I understand it the aeration should prevent the muck buildup; however, the diffusers are not located in that shallow area (one is near the dam in 3' of water and one is in the middle in 11' of water). I have a feeling that the lillies and eelgrass I planted in the shallow stream inflow area were blown away in a storm or covered in muck (if the geese did not get them).

The more that I think about it we have not had any success getting plants established since we installed the aerator. The water went from being visible to 3' to now being visible to .5-1.5'. Is it possible we are doing something wrong with the aerator and causing the water clarity to suffer? Could this be a result of excessive feeding?

My Dad is quite particular with how he wants this pond to look and has not been thrilled with the shallow pallets I laid down since he can see them if he looks in that area. I was thinking I could weigh down a large portion of a pine tree or a bush and put it in the shallow area to give the YP a spawning area for 2014 but it won't be able to stay there long as my Dad won't be thrilled.

To date I have only seen one Golden Shiner and it was dead (August 2012) and that was 5.5 months after stocking. I know they are tough to trap and I did see bigger splashes in the summer when the feeder went off so I think they are still there; however, the total lack of vegetation makes me worry about their spawning success. Dead Shiner:

So I guess what I want to know is:
1) Are there plants that will survive in a sandy/rocky substrate in Northern Virginia?
2) Can I plant anything in the muck and if not what is the best way to prevent the muck from building up?
3) Is it normal for aerators to reduce water clarity and if so how do I get my water clarity back to where it used to be?
4) If I cannot get plants established what should I do to ensure that my YP have a succesful spawn next month (they tend to spawn in late February in this area, at least on the tidal Potomac)?
5) What can I do to ensure my GS have a succesful spawn in 2014 (reminder my Dad would probably insist that a sunken xmas tree or bush be removed as soon as it's warm enough to walk in and grab it)?

Thanks for any and all help!!