Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Possibly oil in pond

I have a new pond that has been filling up all winter and is now about half full at about 7 ft. Early in the filling process I noticed some oil at the corner of the pond where there is a good amount of runoff. The builder of our pond said that it was probably just a little oil from the oil filter that he changed a few hundred yards away that washed down to the pond. He said that it should dissipate over time and it should be fine and this was about 3 months ago. It wasn't much but if I scooped all of it up, it would've probably been half a gallon of oil. The pond is a little over one acre, stocked 1500 CNBG yesterday. Today I went out and moved a Christmas tree that was on the bottom of the pond and I saw oil rising to the surface (rainbow film). I noticed one 4 inch blue gill dead on the bank today. I don't think that the dead fish was from the oil. I noticed a bunch of fish swimming around today in the pond that looked fine. Is that amount of oil harmful to the pond? If it is harmful, how do I fix it?

Welcome to the forum.

I'm interested to hear the answer to this myself. I recently trimmed a lot of trees around my pond with a pole saw and was surprised by the amount of bar and chain oil that ended up in the water. There are now several "oil slicks" all around my pond...hoping this clears itself up.

The oil should not hurt the fish as it was used to kill mosquito larvae back in the old days. It could be tannic acid instead of oil. If you cut or dug up oak trees, they will seep tannic acid for a long time. The leaves are really rich with this acid. This acid is why many southern waterways are a dingy brown color.

Have had oil from an old pipe line that I did not get removed, There was enough oil that most of the pond (about 7 acres)had a film on it. with the hot days of a Texas summer coming on the oil disappeared, it did not take long THANK GOD----but the source of the oil was easy to identify in my case. In your case the oil could also go away,----but where is the oil coming from and how much is there? keep us posted

I got some oil in my pond when it was filling from some uncovered 5 gallon buckets of oil on neighbors property. Every time it rained the oil overflowed out of the buckets. I removed the buckets of oil and solved that problem.

I noticed when the wind blew it caused all the oil to go to one end of the pond. I put straw on top of the oil and let it set all day, then removed all the straw the next day. It got out 90% of the oil.

Yeah when I first noticed the oil a few months back it was all in one corner from the wind. And after a few weeks it disappeared. When I scrubbed the Christmas tree along the bottom I saw some oil film or a look alike come to the surface. Which me to believe it might have sunk down to the deeper parts of the pond. I believe the oil was from our pond builders machinery and he said he changed some oil filters a few hundred yards from the pond that could have washed. When I saw the oil it was black and thick and if I could have scooped it up it would have been no more than a gallon

I am told by oil people that oil will naturally seep up out of the ground her in Texas. Have seen it myself offshore on calm days just popping up and making a bubble and sheen.



Pat

Are you still having oil troubles?

Oil seeps up from the ocean floor into the ocean all the time from the earths crust. As long as the oil amounts are very small, mother nature and her natural "bugs" will take care of it. Now if it is large amounts or covers the whole surface of the pond, that is another matter entirely. Small amounts from a chain saw or outboard motor or other source should not be a problem.

No my fish seem to be happy and haven't seen anymore oil. Ponds a little over half full and visibility is only about 5 inches. So that's my next project on the pond