I dug a pond to raise fish about 5 1/2 years ago.Stocked it after the first rain 3 weeks later. Pond is 1/6 acre (50 wide x 150 long) Got a ton of nice blues and channels in there now. Also included lots of bluegill and red ear perch. and 5000 fathead minnows. Water has never cleared. Looks like clay, nice and TAN. Visibilty is less than 2" at best, Decided to build an aerator to go the length of pond, It's been in there for 48 hour so hours Temp outside is right at 100º. After reading the thread , to aerate or not and seeing the warning about the pond temp rising with each turnover, I ran out to check the pond's temp versus outside temp. The water in the pond is nice and coo, almost cold. Pond is 18' deep on one end and 12' deep on other end. How long can I leave the aerator on, since their hasn't been one on there until now?
Also, I read different websites on clarifying.
https://www.usagypsum.com/how-to-clarify-the-water-in-your-pond-with-recycled-gypsum So I did the test yesterday/today. I started with 10 T. of slurry. It did nothing in the 18 hours I let it sit. So I dumped 1 quart of the slurry into the test jar and it cleared up in 3 hours. I'm fixing to do the test again and only use 1/2 quart and see what happens. I just need to know how much gypsum to apply over the pond in lbs.
Is it best to add all the gypsum into a 100 gallon spray tank and fill it with clean water and go out in the john boat and spray the contents over the entire pond, or just broadcast the pellets?

So I tested with 1 gallon of pond water and 2 cups of slurry, pond water cleared about 9" in 3 hours. Now I am trying the same with 1 cup of slurry............

1 cup of slurry didn't clear it very well, so looks likle I'm going with a cup and half which by the guide, that's about 280 lbs of gypsum (7 x 40 lb. bags). Got a 12v spray rig already lined up. 30 gallons of clean water mixed with one 40 lb bag of gypsum into a slurry and sprayed from my shoreline, at 7 equal distant spots. Guy tells me it will easily spray to 25 foot mark. I'll take some before, during spraying and 3 days later

Welcome to PB.

Where is Wills Point?

I believe you're talking about a Redear Sunfish, often abbreviated as "RES" on this forum. I know a lot of people mistakenly called members of the sunfish family a "perch" but they are a completely separate species, with the most common being Yellow Perch and White Perch in the US.

Just east of Dallas it looks like.

55 miles due east of downtown Dallas, Sorry about the redear pearch, that is what they called them at the fish farm

so the only locally available gypsum (40 mile radius) was pelletized. Little pebbles, none bigger than a BB and most if it a lot smaller. That's not gonna work with the spray rig, so I guess the next best thing is to just broadcast the stuff from the bank, all the way around the pond. The bag says rapidly dissolving, so maybe it will before it gets to the bottom. We'll see (or not).........

Wow, a fish farm that calls a Redear Sunfish a perch? Must be a texas thing because I watch videos of pond owners on Youtube from Texas and a lot of them call them perch too, lol.

Wouldn't the catfish keep the water turbid even if gypsum or other product is added to the BOW?? I have a friend that has a few hundred bullhead in his 1/3 acre pond, and his pond NEVER gets to even 6" water clarity and retains a tan, clay appearance. The catfish (bullhead) simply work the pond bottom too much to let the clay settle. And if your newly installed aeration is located on the pond bottom, that also contributes to pond water turbidity. You may have difficulties clearing the water even after applying gypsum or lime due to the fish species you have. Others with more "water clearing" experience may have a more optimistic response and suggestions for you.

As long as you have """Got a ton of nice blues and channels in there now.""" you will never have clear water. The cats stir the sediments for several reasons and the aeration helps keep the suspended sediments in suspension. IMO even if you have 5-6 cats in the pond with aeration the water will always be relatively turbid based on number and sizes of of catfish. Various sizes of catfish create varying amounts of turbidity. The fewer cats you have in there the clearer the water will become. Trying to clear the water with that many catfish in there is a waste of time and money.

Bill, I can't find my source, but I'm nearly positive I've read that blues don't create turbidity issues because they stay higher in the water column. Any experience as to whether that is true or not?