Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Wow what a difference in price!

I will be using some aluminum sulfate to clear up my pond (water is too hard for gypsum or lime to do much and the hay thing is a joke) that got stirred up with high winds this spring and won't settle even after days and days of calm weather. First I will put in rip rap to prevent the problem in the future and will test how much alluminum sulphate I need by the "jar test."

Anyway depending on how much I need I may not need to buffer as our alkalinity is almost off the scale up here in Indiana. Here's point of my post: I can purchase Alluminum Sulfate for $15.00 per 50 lb. bag from a local chemical supplier without paying shipping while the Pond supply catologs get AT LEAST three times that much. Baraclear would cost me a fortune and I'm not sure I would trust a Haliburton company anyway.

Sometimes it pays to shop around. BTW, when I refer to pond supply companies I am not referring to pond management companies as the ones that come on here and are gracious enough to give free advice.

Hey Cecil, The same is true in whatever you deal with. The deer hunters are bombarded with "Special Deer Food" If you read the seed contents on the bag you can go to the local feed and seed store and buy and mix the ingredients yourself for a fraction of the cost! You are either paying for convience or for the "Name" on the bag. Everyone should read the labels more often.

James,

That's true. I was wrong about the price though it was only a little over $11.00 per bag. I've put in the rip rap on the side of the pond that gets the most abuse (will add more later) and I'm ready to add the aluminum sulfate. I've done this before on a smaller pond and I'm not crazy about all the mixing in garbage cans for this larger pond. It's gonna be a job!