Old Pond, need some help! New to this. - 04/28/20 01:53 AM
Hello everyone! I am a new member and just posted in the new member board. This is my first post out in the main forums and am looking for some advice. I am a first-time pond owner and I am afraid I am in over my head, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
For a bit of background, I just bought an old property that has a pond. The home is from 1936 and I suspect the pond is 50+ years old, I do not know the exact age.The previous owners moved in back in the early 1980s and the pond was well established at that point in time. In 1999 an official survey of the pond determined that the max depth was 5.5 feet, the max depth is now just over 2 feet.
The actual "pond" area is approximately 2 acres, however the vast majority of that area is now cattails with no water depth at all - its mostly just a marshy wetland. However, there is about a half acre that ranges in depth between just over 2 feet to about a foot. As you get closer to shore the water is only several inches deep. I've been in the pond and as soon as you step off shore into the shallow you sink about a foot or more into a thick layer of muck. As you try to move away from shore it gets much deeper. I've used a standard oar to measure and if I push as hard as I can, in some spots, I can push the oar almost all the way into the muck without touching bottom. So there is a very thick layer of muck that has accumulated over decades that was not addressed at any point. The vast forest of cattails are slowing encroaching in on what water is left which is something else I will have to look into. I have seen maybe a handful of fish and they are extremely small bluegill if I am not mistaken. We have a large population of frogs, some turtles, a muskrat that hangs around and the passing by duck or goose from time to time.
I am extremely worried this pond is on its way out and I want to do all I can to help restore it and build up a reasonable fish population of bass and bluegill eventually. I don't seem to have many options as far as dredging as its not something I can do myself and have not found local companies that do this. I have since introduced an aeration system. I've been incrementally increasing the run time and at this point it runs for most of the day and I shut it off at night. I have been using it for a few weeks at this point. I am noticing the water is clearer, but the algae continues to grow on the surface and I am not sure if its just because the sun is beating down on the water causing it to grow or my aerator kicking up all the nutrients on the bottom of the pond - it is possibly both.
Either way, I can probably continue on here, but I will leave it at that. Mostly I am looking for recommendations on how I can restore this pond, if it is even possible.
Thank you!
For a bit of background, I just bought an old property that has a pond. The home is from 1936 and I suspect the pond is 50+ years old, I do not know the exact age.The previous owners moved in back in the early 1980s and the pond was well established at that point in time. In 1999 an official survey of the pond determined that the max depth was 5.5 feet, the max depth is now just over 2 feet.
The actual "pond" area is approximately 2 acres, however the vast majority of that area is now cattails with no water depth at all - its mostly just a marshy wetland. However, there is about a half acre that ranges in depth between just over 2 feet to about a foot. As you get closer to shore the water is only several inches deep. I've been in the pond and as soon as you step off shore into the shallow you sink about a foot or more into a thick layer of muck. As you try to move away from shore it gets much deeper. I've used a standard oar to measure and if I push as hard as I can, in some spots, I can push the oar almost all the way into the muck without touching bottom. So there is a very thick layer of muck that has accumulated over decades that was not addressed at any point. The vast forest of cattails are slowing encroaching in on what water is left which is something else I will have to look into. I have seen maybe a handful of fish and they are extremely small bluegill if I am not mistaken. We have a large population of frogs, some turtles, a muskrat that hangs around and the passing by duck or goose from time to time.
I am extremely worried this pond is on its way out and I want to do all I can to help restore it and build up a reasonable fish population of bass and bluegill eventually. I don't seem to have many options as far as dredging as its not something I can do myself and have not found local companies that do this. I have since introduced an aeration system. I've been incrementally increasing the run time and at this point it runs for most of the day and I shut it off at night. I have been using it for a few weeks at this point. I am noticing the water is clearer, but the algae continues to grow on the surface and I am not sure if its just because the sun is beating down on the water causing it to grow or my aerator kicking up all the nutrients on the bottom of the pond - it is possibly both.
Either way, I can probably continue on here, but I will leave it at that. Mostly I am looking for recommendations on how I can restore this pond, if it is even possible.
Thank you!