Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction testing supplies

Hello everyone.

We completed a new pond about 2 weeks ago. We dug into the water table with a goal of 10' depth. The soil is very sandy with some clay mixed in. It was s..l..o..w..l..y filling with ground water, then it rained 12+ inches is less than a week. The builder made a berm along the length of the pond to keep out runoff but left the up hill and down hill open. We now have a pond 30 yards wide and 140 yards long. The topsoil is acidic (pH 5.5) and low in available phosphorus and the pond is very muddy. I am pretty sure liming will be needed. I will introduce pond weed soon, then FHM. BG & RES this fall and LMB next spring. I will manage for large BG. The first 15' of exposed bank is subsoil and hard as rock. Not sure what vegetation to plant.

I have worked in a lab and studied limnology. I would like to do my own water testing. Where can I buy the needed testing supplies to help me clear the pond and monitor water quality?

Are looking for pond turbidity clearing agents or water chem testing kit supplies?

Your pond size is close to 0.8 acre as a long and narrow rectangle. If you ever aerate it, plan on using 3 to 4 diffusers each spread out along the long axis of the pond to get good daily pond turnover. IMO each diffuser mixes water basically as a deep bowl shape and does not spread water actively away from the main boil much farther outward than 100ft as a diameter.

Thanks for the aeration advice Bill.

We made the pond a stretched out "S" shape, narrow and long on an East-West axis to minimize the effect of our frequent 30+ mph wind. I didn't think about D.O. I hope to establish submerged vegetation down to 8 feet or so. About one third of the pond is 10 feet deep. I thought if the pond has 8 feet of oxygenated water, it can support fish. The extra depth can collect sediment for the next 20 years.

Other than lime, I don't plan to fertilize the pond or feed the fish. I am not trying to maximize productivity. The goal is reasonable numbers and size of fish in clear water. Fish management through selective harvest until that doesn't work anymore.

Testing to determine how much clearing agent is needed first and periodically afterwards.

What else do I need to know about the pond? If D.O. is an ongoing concern, what is the most cost effective way to check it down to 10 feet?

When dinosaurs roamed the earth, we used a Secchi disk for clarity measurement ( I bought one), a Kemmerer bottle to sample water at various depths for lab analyses and Hach kits to use in the field.

I thought about getting a binocular microscope to look at plankton and benthos. It would be fun for a while, but does that have any practical value for pond management?

Am I am overthinking this? Maybe just throw in ag lime until it clears. That should raise pH, create a pH buffer and increase available phosphate until the lime is chewed up. If that fails after 2 or 3 tons added, go to alum/hydrated lime or gypsum. There are simple tests using gallon jars to determine the amount of treatment.

1. Submerged vegetation down to 8ft and secchi disk to 4+ft should keep DO adequate at that depth and usually down to 10 ft with 4 ft of clarity. If submerged vegetation can grow at 8ft, water will be clear enough for plants making DO at 10ft. Submerged veg. competes with Phytoplankton making the water less turbid. As you should know clearer water has less plankton.

2. Measure the alkalinity. With adequate alkalinity above 40mg/L you will not need lime. If alkalinity is low,,, lime will be needed on a regular basis to maintain good alk. for better plankton for food chain.

3. "Testing to determine how much clearing agent is needed first and periodically afterwards." First do the jar Settling Test to determine if suspended solids will settle out during winter and calm conditions. Establishing marginal plants will help reduce wave action that resuspends shoreline sediments. New ponds often trend toward more turbid until a good biofilm develops on the basin. Once the biofilm develops wave action has less affect of resuspending top sediment clay layer, then the water trends more toward clear. If solids settle out for jar test then the water should become clear and clearist of the year coming out of winter at snow melt.

4. "D.O. is an ongoing concern, what is the most cost effective way to check it down to 10 feet?"
Most cost effective is still the test kit Winkler Method. Time consuming but cheap.

5. "not trying to maximize productivity. The goal is reasonable numbers and size of fish in clear water. Fish management through selective harvest until that doesn't work anymore."
One can grow BIG fish in clear water; just not lots of them. Manage the numbers properly, harvest and use predation to minimize overcrowding and remaining fish have will plenty of foods to grow well. Slow growth usually means too many hogs feeding at the trough. Thin out the hogs to match the pond's productivity and remaining hogs will grow well.

6. "binocular microscope to look at plankton and benthos. It would be fun for a while, but does that have any practical value for pond management?" Plankton requires a compound microscope (100X-400X+) and benthos requires a low power binocular microscope 10X-50X.. Both have value if one knows what they are looking at. A 64um mesh plankton net or filtration bucket is beneficial for monitoring the zooplankton diversity and density as the basis of the productivity. Most ponds with water clarity of 2ft to 3ft usually have good zooplankton if lots of copper based algaecides are not used.

7. "Maybe just throw in ag lime until it clears." I would first do the jar tests. Determine solids settling ability. Wind action and sediment exposed shorelines and watershed turbidity will tend to keep the pond turbid despite lime and or alum action.

Thanks again. I filled a gallon jar yesterday.

Let the gallon with pond water set a week. Compare with fresh pond water. Report back with results. Maybe a Picture of both gallons side by side?

I caught a sample today. Not much improvement. The jug on the right has been setting a week.

I got a test kit for alkalinity as CaCO3. It is not very precise. Each drop is 17 Mg/L alkalinity as CaCO3. Due to the turbidity, I am not sure about the endpoint. It is somewhere between 2 and 3 drops. Splitting the difference gives 42.5 Mg/L alkalinity as CaCO3. I got the same result on three samples.

You do have very turbid water. Emphasis on turbid. The jar on the right does appear to have a little more clearing near the middle area. I would let the jar on the right set another 2 to 3 weeks to see if any more settling progress occurs. No grassed water shed will continue to contribute significant turbidity after each rain event that delivers water into the pond. No vegetated shoreline margins nor rocky shoreline will also always add turbidity from wave action on the shoreline.
While the pond is turbid,,,, nature’s activities will still begin the establish biological activities to develop a fish food production ecosystem, although at a reduced rate in the muddy water.

In the meantime read through the information in the posts about using alum. Then make a few alum application settling tests to see how much alum it will take to get the water to clear to your acceptable clarity. See DYI instructions in the posts below. IMO I would not try and clear up the water until you get grass or a cover crop established on the water shed. Until then, each measurable rain event will continue to add significant turbidity to the clarified pond.

There are lots of helpful and good suggestions in these many post links.
https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=16&page=1

Alum test methods and discussions
Alum Kicks Clay Butt
https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=124005#Post124005

Alum Kicks Clay Butt Again
https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=283542#Post283542

Do keep us advised to your pond progress.

Thanks Bill, I appreciate the help.

The pond is excavated into the water table with berms along it to block wind a little and keep most runoff out. The upper end drains a few acres of bluestem pasture. Most of the bare soil that will contribute dirty runoff is within 20 yards of the pond. The first 20 feet of exposed bank is low fertility, hard, sub soil. I am thinking of spreading old prairie hay ( I have plenty) to help things get established. Will that cause any problems?

Off to Walmart for a little alum.

Sandridge, welcome to the forum. I deal with turbidity and erosion issues daily - happy to provide some direction - you have some options available. I'm a volunteer moderator here and my time is free to my PB family - feel free to reach out anytime.

tj@hudlandmgmt.com

Thanks TJ. PM on the way.