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P.S. I do have tons of cedars to clear from my fields. I also have lots of hedge apple trees that I can prune for crib material. I could build some wood cribs with the hedge and just keep throwing in more cedar trees as the previous cedars decay.

Is it possible to run a decent "natural" pond with just lots of surface area for periphyton to sustain the base of the food chain?

I have seen trout ponds and CC ponds that were essentially "sterile" clay basins. That worked in those situations because the fish were fed and intensively managed. I can't pull that off on our farm. (However, I would like to do a small pond adjacent to my proposed larger pond that is just a CC pond with feeder and a few RES.)

Anyone in here mess with Aquaponics? We have a small raised garden now that's about 4'x16'. I was thinking it'd be pretty easy to make this water tight and replace the dirt with the gravel used for aquaponics. Then I could put a 1-200 gallon plastic tank at the end of it. Put maybe 25 blue gill in it with a small auto feeder. Then just use a cheap fountain pump and some pex to run the water from the fish tank at the end, to the far end of the garden to push water through it to filter the water, feed the plants, and aerate the water. Figured this would serve as a big boost for the garden and serve as a way to grow out some BIG bluegill to go back into the normal pond.

Thoughts? I have well water at the house, so I could use it for makeup water. Maybe run it through the garden before going into the "pond"?

Good news, the project worked and we once again have a pond with water despite the long-term drought.

I did forget the first rule of pond projects: You must design your project to match what the actual soil conditions give you!

I rented an excavator and started digging out the corner of the pond adjacent to the dry stream. Water started filling my hole once I got below the current groundwater level. However, I could not deepen the hole because the wet sand just kept flowing in. I tried cutting shallow banks, but they were very unstable.

I then conceded defeat and went back to my old test pit that was in the middle of the pond. I kept deepening and widening the hole, but I couldn't access the nice sand that held the groundwater aquifer. I was worried any newly constructed pond at this location would not be a viable water source since my "re-fill rate" would be too slow without a lot of connection to the aquifer.

Finally, the little light bulb went off over my head and I realized this soil distribution was a good thing!

The solid clay portion gave me the ability to excavate a stable hole that could act as a water storage sump for the new "down-sized" pond. I therefore dug out to a depth 8' below the old pond bottom. I then worked my way back over to the sand layer, which I eventually encountered about half way between my two test pits.

The new pond filled up in a few hours and I have 5' deep water in the clay sump and about 6" of water covering the sand bank and keeping it stable.

I have not run a pumping rate test yet. However, I should be able to take out significant amounts of water and then maybe rest a day to let the pond re-fill.

Two large scale ways to remove chlorine from tap water are to use evaporation and UV radiation.

The reason "letting it sit for 24 hours" works is that much of the chlorine will evaporate out of the water over that time period.

There is also a lot of UV radiation in sunlight, so leaving the water for a period in direct sun would also break down a significant amount of chlorine.

For a tiny garden pond I think you could fill a kiddie pool in the morning and leave it all day. Fill the garden pond from the pool the next day and the fish would be 100% safe.

However, you need to deliver WAY more water than that for a 1/2 acre pond!

I am thinking maybe run several sprinkler heads to the upwind side of your pond. You do NOT want a lawn sprinkler that you move around on the end of your hose - that is designed to expel streams of water. You want something that makes water droplets. (I think that will get you the maximum evaporation of chlorine over a short period.)

Maybe build a manifold from 3/4 PVC pipe and spread out 3 or 4 sprinkler heads. Just put a female garden hose thread on the inlet so you can attach your hose.

I think the biggest safety factor for your aquatic creatures will be DILUTION. Even if there is some chlorine remaining in the water you are adding, it should be quickly diluted to safe levels in your pond.

I would definitely run an experiment first. Try whatever method you settle upon, and then raise the pond water level 1-2". Observe your creatures for a week. If everything looks fine, then try to raise 3-4" as your next increment. I would certainly add the water in baby steps!

[I am definitely NOT an expert on the level of chlorine that becomes toxic to fish. I do know that if your pond water gets shallow enough and hot enough, then fish will die. So you are making a trade off. Maybe an actual expert will drop into your thread with some better guidance.]

P.S. Many water systems charge a significant premium price for water if you greatly exceed your usual monthly usage. One acre-foot of water is 326,000 gallons. To raise your 1/2-acre pond a single foot, you will need 163,000 gallons. Make sure you can afford that BEFORE you start filling.


Good luck on your fish protection project!

I was talking to a dirt contractor about a 6.5 acre pond project and here is how he deals with excess water.

IF there is excess water in the ground, he said they put a french drain around the perimeter of the work site, 10' deeper than the deepest part of the pond. They have pipe risers connecting to the french drain, and hook up large dewatering pumps to the pipe risers so they can suck the water out of the ground before it gets to the area that they are digging. They pump that water away. Sometimes there are field tiles that are available to tie into, sometimes there are ditches nearby to pump the water to.

This particular pond project will be 20' deep, so he would set the french drain at 30' below the soil level.