Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Murky/muddy pond

Hello all, I have read quite a few of the posts about muddy ponds and not sure if any of them are quite the same as mine. My small pond (about .36 acre) has no visibility. I can only see down a few inches or so. I can't see my fish but know they are in there because we fished some bass and blue gill and sunny from a friends pond and dumped them in and have no floaters. The bass were about 10-12" and I have noticed a decrease in the frog population. Also, I have NO growth which leads me to believe that my water is acidic and will have to have it tested. I am thinking that I will need to add lime and that will settle it and sweeten it up. I have tall grasses around the East side where the sun hits all the time but not in the shaded areas. There is brush and trees all the way to edge of pond on those 3 sides where the trees are. Should I let more sun get to the pond or what? I have sooo many questions and issues with my pond. Also, the water has a faint smell to it sometimes when my dogs are swimming near the edge. Also, have killed 3 snapping turtles in the road but have not seen any in, near, or around my pond but they must be there? There are quite a few ponds nearby.
My well water is very high in sodium content also and I am taking a sample of my pond water to have it tested tonight.

You didn't say if your pond was new, but it sounds like it. If so, did your pond fill with mostly rain, or mostly well water?

Hi bobad,
No, it is not new. It is 30 years old and average depth is about 8ft. Right now it's actually deeper than that since I measured it last year in the dry season. I was going to do another set of measurements to see how deep it is when it is swollen. I also have no overflow outlet. I'm guessing that when it did fill it was rain water. We just bought this place in fall of 2005 and it was the same then as it is now.

If your pond is that old, it's highly unlikely your water is soft, even if you get a lot of rain and flow-through. Still, a water analysis would be useful to see where you stand.

Do you have catfish and/or carp in the pond? I bet something is stirring it up. If that's the case, no amount of lime will eliminate the muddiness.

Is the low visibility from mud, plankton bloom, or both?

A simple jar test will quickly identify mechanical turbidity. Take a mason jar full of pond water, and let it sit. If it settles and clears in a day or so, something has been stirring up your water. Time to catch some catfish!

If the water does not clear up, and is mud color, then lime may help settle it over time.

If the water does not clear up and is greenish in color, it's probably a heavy plankton bloom, which isn't entirely bad.

If it is a heavy plankton bloom, why would it be like that all the time? Also, I don't think there are any carp or catfish in there. I would hear them splash when I walk around the pond and there has been no sign of fish other than I saw a tiny little minnow the other day near the surface and I know the bass are in there because I dumped them in in April or May and the frog population is down. The only thing stirring up the pond is my two dogs, Lab and Rott who are in the pond every day. Lab swims with me while I'm in the paddle boat and Rot wades on the edge. I have had a jar of water sitting since Thurs night and it still looks the same except for some algae looking stuff that settled to the bottom of the jar, it's not green though, it looks reddish. I think I'll just take some pictures and put them on here so you can see for yourself.