Hello,
I am new to the form, This is my first post.

I have a 2 acre pond. It has a concrete perimeter with natural dirt floor. The sidewall was created by trenching the perimeter during construction and filling this hole with concrete and rebar. We use the pond for fishing, swimming and kayaking.

This summer our water has been very scummy on top with a green algae film. The scum always blows to the downwind side We do not have any plant growth or filamentous algae because we have grass carp in addition to channel cat bluegill and bass. Most years my water clarity ranges from 1 inch to 6 inches

Since our prevailing wind is out of the south, I built a skimmer box at the north end of the pond. I intend to put a pump in it and pump that water through a 30’ x 30’ gravel bed/ bog then a stream and waterfall back into the pond.

You can see my pond from Google Earth at 10795 111 Road Dodge City KS.

I have several questions and will welcome any questions, criticisms, or advice.

1. Is this a foolish undertaking?
2. Will it noticeably improve my water quality?
3. Will my stream and waterfall be full of filamentous Algae?
4. Do you have any other suggestions for me?

Thanks
Mike

Go for it. what can be lost?

The scum might be filamentous algae.

Can you post good pics of the scum, or see if your NRCS person can identify it for you?

It is difficult to give accurate answers, if we aren't quite sure of the problem.

It definitely won’t hurt, but it won’t give you koi pond clarity. When you look at the natural swimming pool videos on YouTube you can see how big they make their bog filters. I think the water movement should definitely help the sheen just by moving water. How big will your pump be? I know with fish ponds, they want to “turnover” their ponds water a lot. It also depends how much do you want to add to your electricity bill? A better investment may be aerators. And on a lot of fish ponds they like to use UV filters, but I am not sure that is applicable to a 2 acre pond. If you look into monsterfishkeepers.com you might find good information. Also, look into Bama Bass on YouTube with his five acre pond build. He made his pond water pretty clear, but then stated that’s actually not the best environment for growing monster bass so he fertilized his pond. If your clarity is dropping in the summer, it could just be that the algae and other plant life in the pond is hit into overdrive and you may find dyeing your pond works to prevent the micro plant growth. Which then goes back to aerators helping with plant growth because it helps to lower the nutrient available in the pond on the bottom

Snip

I have several questions and will welcome any questions, criticisms, or advice.

1. Is this a foolish undertaking?
2. Will it noticeably improve my water quality?
3. Will my stream and waterfall be full of filamentous Algae?
4. Do you have any other suggestions for me?

Thanks
Mike

Mike, Welcome to the forum. No it isn't foolish. It should help the surface, but as for the complete pond water clarity, I don't think it will help a lot. The filter/bog systems you see for natural swimming pools are equal in size to the pond area. The waterfall and stream will have filamentous algae growing in it just because nothing will be in it to eat it.

I am concerned that you say the water visibility is between 1" and 6". If that's due to phytoplankton, then you will end up with a summerkill due to a low O2 level at night once the biochemical demand in the pond increases. Is the lack of water clarity due to muddy turbid water or phytoplankton?

If you need someone to take a look and give you some help, I can get you hooked up with our DDC Fisheries Biologist. I'm sure he would be glad to take a look and offer on-site advise. (Free)
Any chance you are the Mike W that worked for Crotts???