Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Hello, and please help

I am looking seriously at buying a very small farm. The price is right but the property needs so much work(it was foreclosed on, they totally trashed the place, all the classic fix'm up stuff from TV).

Anyhow, I know next to nothing about ponds except that I like to fish them. This place does have a pond on it.

However what are things I need to look for in the pond (we are going to be asking for LOTTS of credits) to understand what state it is in. As in , its is viable, is it supporting life, how deep is it, is it polluted, is it spring fed or just deep enough that water from rain has settled there. I am sure there are books I could read but with all the other stuff and lack of time (is the roof leaking, will the electrical really work?) I just need to know the basics or how to find the basics out. Any help is greatly appreciated, and I am sure if/when we get this place I will be back with more questions about how to add water from the stream running by it(is that legal) and all the other fun stuff. I can also post pics after today if you would like.

thanks so much again..

chris

Also....Its about 1/4 an acer, not very big, but enough to be a huge bug nest!

Here's an item you should be able to check fairly easily - what's in the watershed? Is the land uphill from the pond, from which rain water runs into it, on the small farm's property (due you control you own destiny)? If not - what's in the watershed? Woods (good)? Hayfields/pasture (pretty good)? Plowed fields (fair)? A golf course or the feedlot from a hog farm (lousy)?

Chris, you don't give your location and that can be pertinent.

Have the water checked by a state lab (Texas A & M here in Texas). They will provide a lot of information that you will probably find to be intelligible. Post the results her to be deciphered.

Chris, Taking care of a pond is pretty simple and very enjoyable.Visit pond boss often,maybe subscibe to the mag, and learn the 875,946,578,3567,658,985,684,986 things that everyone else on this site knows.Its working well for me.Welcome to PB. Oh BTW a helmet helps to keep your head from explodig when absorbing all the knowledge in here!!!
Tom G

I bought a house witha 1/4 acre pond 4 years ago. I too, did not know anything about ponding until i made the purchase. I did not ask questions and I ended up either A, learining that ponds arent as clean and neat as i hoped. or B, that my pond is really dirty.
Questions I would ask now...
1. How old is the pond? Mine is 25 years old. you cant walk in it because the muck will swallow you. If you dont want muck then either dig a brand new pond and enjoy it for a few years or get a way bigger pond. 1/4 acre is barely able to sustain an ecosystem.
2. What % of the pond is deeper than 10 feet.
Mine has 2 holes at 15 feet the rest (80%) averages about 5 feet. algae...algae...ALGAE...ALGAE.
If yours is like that..plan on spending 80 bucks a year on weedtrine to kill the coontail and 80 bucks a year to control filamentous algae. (you need both). The dead algae becomes muck. BTW: everyone thinks they can remove algae by hand only once.
3. If the pond is close to the house and there is a septic system make sure they are not mixing. I didnt have that problem but its worth a look. Ask the home owner if you can pour a cup full of pond dye down a drain in the house run some water, wait a day or two and see if the pond turns blue.
4. Make sure there are fish in it. Or at least check for bull frogs. Bull frog tadpoles take 2 years to develop. If you see bull frogs then that is a sign that it dosent freeze.
5. If there is a dam. check for wet spots on the back side. Dont just look. Get back there and probe with a stick.

Thats a few things that i have learned from ponding. There are more but I have to go and dig some algae.

A good addition to the helmet is a pair of rubber boots. Don them anytime I post. On my stuff, the helmet is optional and could turn out to be pretty low mileage.