"If you measure your secchi depth at the same time of day, you should be able to easily track the changes in your pond."

"Awesome thanks, but I guess I don't even know how far down I should be able to see if I do everything right?"


There is no "right" answer for pond clarity. The tiny, photosynthesizing algae that make your water green are the base of your entire food chain.

As you diminish the primary producers, then you cannot support as many organisms that are farther up the food chain.

One way to reduce the algae and "clear" the water is to add pond dyes. From reading your post, I assume that the blacker dyes would make your pond LESS attractive to you. There are some dyes that render more of a blue color. That could be more appealing to you AND still reduce some of the sunlight available for algae production.

The other way to reduce algae is to increase the number of rooted aquatic and shoreline plants. Your nitrates might be at zero because it is the algae that are polishing off the last bit of your nutrients? Some more un-invasive shallow water plants or even floating islands might help a bit to make fewer nutrients available for algae growth.

However, your pond might actually be pretty clear right now, but if your bottom is mostly unoxidized muck, then that typically appears black or very dark. Do you have a white painters tarp (or similar material) that you could put on the bottom of a small section? If you can easily observe your fish against a light background, then the pond water itself is not the problem.

If the dark background IS the problem and you want to see your fish more clearly, do you have a nearby source of inexpensive crushed shells or white sand? Maybe you could create a small area with a white bottom? The added calcium carbonate might also help your water quality. If you hand-fed the fish over a white bottom, maybe you could get better observations of your populations? (If you do go that route, make sure you put down ground fabric first. Otherwise your white sand will disappear surprisingly rapidly into the muck.)


I am just throwing out some ideas for you to consider. I am definitely NOT an expert on Florida ponds!