Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New pond owner question

What is the minimun depth for a pond in central Texas to avoid problems. I have a new 1.5 acre pond-max depth now 8ft,average about 6ft. It has steep banks. It gets over 100 in the summer quite a lot. If it gets full it will be 15ft in the center, will that be deep enough?

The answer depends on where you are in central Texas and the runoff area. Some areas get a bunch of rain and others, like mine, don't.

If you are saying that the pond at full capacity is 15 feet deep, then you're not at risk of going totally dry. Ponds at 12 feet are normally safe, so you're in the clear.

Of course, that all depends on the soil and watershed. Assuming that these two variables are satisfactory, then you'll have a wet pond for a long long time.

What I mean is how much water do you have to have to prevent fish dying? I am new to this and don't know how haot the water gets , or if it is even a problem. I am not to worried about it going dry. However I would like to know how low it could get without causing problems.

The answer is "it depends"

What kind of fish do you have/plan to have? If stocking cool water fish, e.g. trout you will have problems in Texas regardless of depth.

More important than temp, at least for the commonly stocked warm water species, is the consideration of DO, dissolved oxygen content, of the pond. The higher the temps, in general, the more concerned you need to be about DO.

This is a somewhat complex topic that can take us into a discussion of aeration, thermoclines, nutrient content, stocking rates, fertilizers, etc. There are several folks on here that can really drill down into those topics should you desire to do so.

For the "tree top" view, 15 feet is entirely adequate, so is 12 feet and 8 feet. Just remember to watch your water carefully in summer, especially on cloudy days that have followed long spells of hot weather. DO levels can plummet in a hurry leaving you with problems which can include total collapse and the death of your fish.

Search the forum for those topics, especially fertilizer as it is one of the highest contributors to this catastrophe from the standpoint of what we pond owners can inadvertantly do to ourselves and our ponds.

It was stocked in Feburary with catfish,blue gills and black crappie. All the runoff is from my property and no fertilizer is used anywhere. The pond is like a bowl with solid rock bottom, it maintains depth right up to the sides. We have not been getting the rain we normally do. i am just wondering at what point i should be worried.

From your description, I wouldn't worry about the depth and DO too much. You should be in good shape as long as you don't allow the numbers of fish to get overcrowed.

Which leads me to a concern I would have, black crappie. They tend to overpopulate small ponds badly. Watch that carefully, remove as many as possible.

Where are you in Central Texas? A pond with an all rock bottom is pretty rare.

I am between Brady and San Angelo. I wanted to go deeper but could not. We used a belltec and drilled 32 inches down in several spots and did not get through the rock.