i have a small pond 9' deep at its deepest point surronded with 5 or 6 very large shagbark hickory. the water color is dark brown. no tests done on it yet. pond has CC and BG in it from what i can see. would like to add some LMB and maybe some YP. would the shell husk from the hickory nuts cause the water to be so dark? do they cause any problems? its sprind fed. lots of cattails and grass around the perimeter that i am working on removing, just started spraying some with aqua star.
thanks for any info

Redrockhunter, welcome to the forum! My guess is that your water contains tannic acid. For sure the chemical is present in oak and walnut, so it's probably in hickory too. I'm really very ignorant on this subject but wanted to at least acknowledge your post. I hope someone with scientific knowledge wades in to better answer your question. I've been having trouble getting answers to my questions too lately.

Tannic acid is my guess also. Just like tea coloring. The first time I went to Canada and back into the wilds for good fishing I was shocked to see the water was colored tea like. The fishing was great. By the way, I made a walking stick 20 years ago from shagbark hickory and I still use it every day.

Welcome to PB. The water is more likely to reflect the dirt in the area than a few trees in the watershed. This is especially true of spring fed ponds. Some ag lime would help if it’s to acid. Best place to start is have the soil and water tested.