Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction What did you do at your pond today?

Not sure but it looks .Ike something is suspended

It has went from this color.


To this color in 10 days. I've never seen it this dark brown color before. The areas where the BG spawning beds are look like you are wearing brown tinged sunglasses.


I'll try putting some in a jar and see if it settles out. Water clarity is increasing daily. Secchi disk reading on 5/13 was 5 ft. 2 in. which is way too clear. Was 2 ft. two days ago.

A plankton bloom (Phyto and or Zoo) probably crashed. Very rarely does silt, sediment, detritus settle out that quickly. Be aware DO could quickly decrease. Watch for stressed fish in the mornings. As long as the sun daily shines DO could stay higher where fish are not stressed.

Thanks Bill

Water clarity on 5/13/25 was 5' 2 inches, it started raining small amounts on 5/23 and was cloudy for then next 16 days. On 6/5 we had somewhere between 2.5 and 4 inches of rain in the watershed, that is when the top picture was taken.

Well, That’s a color that would certainly get my attention. I’ve not seen our water that dark, ever. I tend to overreact to everything. I also overthink everything. I was floating out in the pond yesterday (cooling off from more mowing) and tiny fish, less than an inch long were jumping out of the water all over the pond. I’m sure they were recent hatches that were being pursued by fish in the 1.5” range. I immediately thought, I have an overpopulation issue. I thought, I need to bring in some LMB to correct this. Haha! I’m leaving it alone. Having lots of tiny fish is a good thing.

Learnin,

I always associate that dark brown stained water that is clear with humic acid conditions in a pond. I used to fish a lot of "forest" ponds and they were always that color. (But I didn't have a test kit and wasn't a PB member then!)

Humic acid forms due to the decomposition of organic matter. I think a Kansas pond in June should have a green tint. I suspect your algal bloom has peaked and then began dying off. Also, the terrestrial plants on your pond bottom that were above the water surface are now dying after being submerged. Finally, your Pondweed that was in shallow, clear water may also be experiencing a die off when your pond went to full pool and muddy water after the rains.

I think you had long term plans to add some aeration to this pond? If so, now might be a good time to expedite that plan.

P.S. If I am correct about the humic acid conditions, then you might want to invest in a cheap pH testing kit. The change from your usual conditions to this condition would probably be easily observed on your test strips.

I stood at my pond thinking to myself... I really need to get this tree out that
fell a few months ago. It's not going to be easy I'm afraid.

You got a tractor? If so put chain out in water near top and drag it sideways to up root it then pull it out where you can cut it some if to heavy to drag. I can’t tell how big it is on my phone

Great info Rod!

I've got an API Freshwater test kit and tested the following at 1 to 3 ft depths. When I collected the sample I waded in the deeper part of the pond and was standing in at least 12 inches. I used a 12 foot pole, with the bottle attached to the end. Rinsed it a few times, lowered the test bottle upside down then tilted up to get the sample.

PH is between 7.6 and 8.0
Nitrate N03 is 0 PPM
Nitrate N02 is 0 PPM


From what I've read rain can alter the results. We received a half inch of rain last night so I'm going to test again in a couple of days.

Learnin,

Glad to see that your pond is right in the healthy range!

You also need to write down the "time of day" if you start keeping records on your pond pH.

pH varies during the day due to the photosynthesis cycle. It is generally lowest (most acidic) first thing in the morning. It then goes up during the day as your photosynthesizing organisms start taking up the dissolved CO2 in the pond water.

P.S. I hope I didn't sent you too much rain. We recently got another massive rainstorm and our creek flooded over the bridge on the county road for the second time this spring. The poor beaver has been working his a$$ off, but keeps seeing his construction projects getting completely blown up!

I do not have a tractor, but I did hook a chain and pull a smaller one out earlier this week with my truck. They were both "leaners" and fell at the same time. The sad part is we are having a road put in to access three lots we are selling. The guy doing it told us he would come take them down for us with his track hoe at no charge since he was already there anyway. Typical of my luck they fell before he came. I will give what you said a try, nothing ventured, nothing gained. The tree is probably about 50' tall and about a foot in diameter at the base?

You should be able to move it with the truck if you can get a good footing and four wheel drive

If the track hoe has a thumb and is of any size he will be able to pluck it out easily.

Agree with Learnin.

I don't think my F-150 could drag out that tree.

However, a decent size track hoe can. Even if you don't have a thumb, there may be a hook on the bucket for a lifting chain. Even without a hook, a skilled operator should be able to safely rig a lifting chain.

I have drug some large trees with my F-150 before a lot larger than 12” dia. If you drag it sideways it should get it to dry land to access chainsaw

Planted 40 white pine and 200 eastern white cedar around the lake, my back didn't like that. Saw a school of LMB fry and dipped some. Looks like the 3 I put in a couple of years ago made it...

I agree, it could probably be removed with a truck and I would try that if I didn't have any other option. However since he has to option of a track hoe removing it. I would opt for the track hoe if I had the option. Especially for free.

No risk of tearing anything up.

I probably use as much Redneck Ingenuity as anyone on the forum and have paid my fair share of dumb tax.

Take today for an example. I thought I was a safe distance from the pond while mowing with my John Deere 4440 with a 9 foot mower. However I fell into a soft spot and buried it to the drawbar in an instant. Since this was the inside wheel the front tractor immediately headed for the pond. I was able to stop it and back up just enough to be on stable ground. I could have used my Chevy 3500 dually truck, and that probably would have done the job, but opted to use my 4020 tractor, with a good neighbors assistance to safely pull it out.

Drove the 70 miles, got on 4 wheelers and looked at all ponds but one. Full at last and grandsons have finished using the tractor to drag out some whopper oaks out of the big pond. They are about 1/3 through cutting up and splitting those trees. .

Awesome report Dave.

Thank God for Grandchildren and kids that have similar goals as us.

It is a full size track hoe and it does have a thumb so it will be easy for him. The downside for me
is he is working me into his schedule and he might work a day this week then skip a week then work
again. That's ok with me cause I won't have to pay him so fast. I'm just working on it when I
have the chance and he can pull out some more later.

That could have been a lot worse, I'm glad it ended well!

This is what I have to work with. A 26 year old truck that has a V6 and it's a five speed. However it does have a lot of torque that has surprised me in the past. It pulled this tree out with no problem at all. There is about 15 feet that broke off and wasn't in the frame but it did ok. It won't do what your F-150 will though.

I got the tree out of my pond. I had planned to wade out to it and hook a chain to it and pull it around like
someone suggested. However it didn't take long to realize that there are are places where I would sink up
to my knees in the bottom which isn't a good feeling. I went to plan B and cut it off and dropped it in the pond.
From there it was just a matter of dragging it up on the bank a little at a time and cutting it up. Now I have to
tackle the stump. It won't bulge when I hooked a chain to it. I can take a chainsaw to it and cut it up but we know
what will happen as soon as the blade hits that dirt. I might try taking a mattock to it and try to knock a lot of the
dirt off so I can have a decent place to cut? If they can build the pyramids by hand, I should be able to tackle a stump!

Good deal! I was going to suggest cutting it off the rootball and process the "tree" without it being attched to the ground, but apparently thought it instead posted it.
The rootball itself is tricky. They just are plain old difficult. Dirt will ruin a chain. They are heavy as hell. They don't burn worth a darn. And there are likely roots still attaching it to the ground. Without machinery of some sort I fear you're in for a lot of digging and swinging. Good luck!

Learnin, the old guy (82 yoa) now is arthritic and can’t do what I used to. Glad I have those guys. It’s turned into a family place 70 miles from town. Not unusual to go there and find grown grandsons and/or their lifelong friends there. Recently, a daughter and her husband hauled their 4 year old grandson there to do some fishing, 4 wheeling and a tractor ride.

We recently had a huge windstorm. It took down 5 huge oaks. One into my big pond. Within 3 or 4 weeks that stuff has mostly turned into too much firewood. Not by me.