Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - 5 year old pond never cleared?

Hello, my 5 year old pond never cleared at first, I thought it was turbidity from 3 koi and probably 20 channel catfish. I'm starting to think that's not the case. Please recommend, what the problem is. Tannins maybe? I have to figure out how to add pictures... thanks

A jar test and filling a bucket are 2 completely different things. If you do a jar test, and it doesn't settle out on it's own, go buy some alum (aluminum sulfate) and do a test to see how much you will need to use in your pond, with your water.

Watch the pH levels, too fast of a change/too great of a change will kill fish. Alum can be buffered with hydrated lime Basically figure out how much alum you will need, then use 50% of that by weight of hydrated lime to buffer it, but still check with a pH strip or meter. Take a reading before you start applying to get a baseline.

You can try all sorts of things to clear the water, but my "go to" is aluminum sulfate/hydrated lime. I don't have time to be testing different things on customers ponds. They want a 1 application = result scenario.