Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction New Pond / Fish Habitat

Just completed a pond install on our property, appx. 1.5 to 2 acres in size and average depth of 8-9 ft. I have placed some fish habitat such as Concrete and Cinder Blocks. I have a large brush pile that has been burnt over the last couple years and there are 3 or 4, 8-12 foot long trees (no branches just trunk and root ball) that are black from being burnt. I have read some of these threads and are worried of these being toxic to fish because of the possibility of tannins? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Pond Boss!!

I'm not certain, but I think oak trees might have some toxicity to them. Let's see if anyone else knows for sure.

It may take a while for some of those 'trees' to actually sink.

Green wood (Oak) is much worse than seasoned Oak. You will need cover in there with small openings between the branches for small fish, You will need enough cover to equal 3/8 to 1/2 acre of the pond, depending on whether your pond is 1.5 or 2 acres. So, your journey in putting cover in the pond has just begun. Welcome to the forum!

Maybe some types of oaks are ok but neither live oak or blackjack are acceptable. When my 2 acre pond was dug, a lot of trees, mostly oak, and some cedars were cleared. I had them pushed into the bowl for structure. We got a dang good rain and I stocked bluegills, about 50 catfish, fathead minnows and crawfish. I started feeding and was happy. Then the water turned black and fish quit feeding. The crawdads crawled out on the banks and died. All fish died. I went to the bait store and bought a dozen minnows, put them in a minnow bucket full of the pond water. They died.

I pumped the pond dry and let our abundant Texas summer sunshine dry everything out. Next, I used my tractor with blade and front end loader to scrape the contaminated dirt.

I found that oaks have tanins which are like fish poison.

All oaks might not be the same but I will stick with cedars for fish cover/structure.