We had a big party a month ago and a lot of people swimming. This always stirs up the water for a week or so, but it is not settling down. It has a grey tone to it which I am sure is suspended clay. I have read that lime or gypsum powder used to bring the PH into balance eliminates this.

I had 5ft of visibility before and have less than 6" now. How long can the fish survive in that? I can't see any of them. I have not had any floaters but I do have a heron hanging around.

I did have a school of baby bullheads I saw this summer. This is the first summer we have seen them. Could they be big enough to be a problem? Do they stir up the bottom like carp do?

The pond is 2/3 of an acre most of it 10 ft deep, 16ft on one end. The bottom is all clay. I have had it for 3 years and it has never done this before. I have an aerator running 24/7 and a Kasco water circulator rotating the water around the pond.

We did do a lot of shoreline cleanup right before the party and and stirred up a lot of black murky soil, but that was done other years with no problem as well.

take a water sample in a clear jar and watch the suspended particles. If they drop in a few days, the Kasco and the diffuser may be keeping it suspended. For imediate results there are some polymers available to settle out the material. Alum may do the trick as well. Otherwise it may be a form of planktonic algae. Bullheads do cause alot of problems in high numbers. Do you have any bass?
Robert B fishmgr@hotmail.com
Wisconsin

On the Mississippi Fishing website, the State Fisheries Biologists recommend old, not green, hay to settle clay.

It will probably clear back up on its own.....

The muddy water should have no effect on your fish unless it is extremely shallow water, and it stay muddy for a long time.

Go fishing.....

The water is not too shallow. Most of the pond is 10 ft deep and it is 16ft on one end. I do have bass I think. I had it fully stocked last year but had a bad winter kill last year and I have not had a chance to restock. I was going to add some fish this fall but didn't want to put them into muddy water.

I shut the Kasco down for a week and it didn't help at all. I figured this was long enough if the Kasco was the issue. I have run it for years though and never had this before. I don't dare shut down the aerator.

I am having the PH tested tomorrow based on a post I read on here about the clay particles being charged if it is way off.

I think this is the first year of having the bullheads and there are less than 100 in a 2/3 acre pond. Probably 50 or so young ones.

Any input is appreciated.

I forgot about the reply about the hay. I was thinking of adding some barley straw anyway. Any idea if that would help with this as well as the algae.

I had my water tested and the PH was 7.68 and the turbidity was 81.3%. Neither of these numbers mean anything to anyone else? I don't know much about it.

Brian, Regarding the hay, go to www.mdwfp.com/forums and scroll down to the "Mississippi Farm Pond Management" thread. The hay information is under a recent post by Raymond Johnson and a response by Dennis Reicke, a State Fisheries Biologist. I personally have no idea of whether it works.

Dave