Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Muddy Water returning

I have roughly a 2 acre pond, with an average depth of 5 - 6 feet, no cultivated ground anywhere near the pond, and grass growing and touching the water line completely around the pond.

I applied Gypsum (2500lbs) last summer, and then followed that with Alum and Sodium Bicarb. The Gypsum did not touch the turbidity, the alum (1500lbs) cleared it up. The turbidity returned within 2 weeks of the Alum being applied.

My questions are what now can be done to address this issue? Are there any consulting services that might be employed to come and make some recomendations on site? I live in SW Oklahoma.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks for your time.

Jeff, I would talk to the NRCS and local pondowners. There are some areas around the Red River that never clear. In any case, the local guys should have run into this before and be able to provide some intelligence.

If you have bullheads in your pond the water may never clear. Might want to set some fish traps to see if bullhead are the problem.

Thanks for the suggestions. NRCS was not much help I will ask some of the local pond owners.

I have a fish trap on the way and will check to see if I have any bullheads. Any suggestions on how to remove them without rotenone?

Thanks Again

Jeff

Rod and reel or fish traps. You could add adult bass large enough to eat the bullhead but they will eat everything else small enough to get in their mouths too.

Jeff my channel cats keep the pond muddy once the water starts warming up. 4 years ago when they were stocked the pond stayed clear all summer now forget it. We just learned to live with it in the summer. I wasted money on gypsum also.

Bob

Thanks H2O, I will use the traps and see how it goes. I have some good size bass in the pond many 3 - 4 lbs and a few bigger, just do not know how well they can keep up with the cats since the water is so muddy ( about 4 - 6 in visibility).

Bob thanks for the response, I tried to catch some catfish last night with no luck. Will try the fish trap and see if there are any in there. Except for 2 weeks after I applied alum last year my pond has had the 4 - 6 inch visibility for about 2 years now. And the fishing is none existent, I have not caught a single fish since that 2 week period after applying alum.

I appreciate all the suggestions guys. Will move forward with trapping to see if I have any bullheads, I bet I do.

Jeff

http://wildlife.tamu.edu/publications/taexponds/0905a.pdf

Try this link and run the slurry tests for the correct amount of gypsum and alum to use. Also, need to get test run for alkalinity and pH of pond, soil office should be able to help with this or buy the test kits and do it yourself. Alkalinity should be above 20 mg/L. If not need to apply lime. Alkalinity above 50 mg/L gypsum won't be effective.

With high rates of alum and low alkalinity (below 20 mg/L) Hydrated lime must be used with the alum to reduce the acidifying effects of alum. The rates of alum usually run 150/250 lbs /acre. Without hydrated lime, the acidifying effects could cause low survivability of your fish.

Gypsum works real well if you can stop the clay from coming in. Otherwise I have found that a suspended clay tank (pond) with a feeder is perfect for catfish. Never a problem with weeds or other fish getting in, and the water is always 10 degrees cooler than clear or just green water. I put in fatheads with the cats but do not know how well they survived. I add about 10 lbs. of fatheads each year. I feed floating feed with one spincast feeder. Four years now and have channel cats to 9 lbs. Only feed from March to end of Nov. here in S. Texas. One feeder 150 lb. each 4 weeks. Tank is approx. 2 acres and solid suspended clay. Tried 2 tons of Gypsum which cleared another tank just a bit smaller, but it did not phase this one. I know Gypsum will work but it would be too costly to stop the clay coming in and I would worry about tank water then. If you like channel cats you have a winner.

Read all of the comments above and I would like to make a few comments and ask a few questions.

I have a three acre pond with a lot of big bass in it. I have been trying to clear it for three years with little success. I put gypsum in it last year with no success for about five weeks. Then one day during the hot summer the pond turned over. I guess the gypsum was laying on the bottom because overnight it completely cleared up.

It stayed clear for about five months and during that time I caught a lot of fish. They went crazy.

But then it went murky again and the fish stopped biting.

I also fertilized while the water was clear but did not see any change. The water is so murky that vegitation will not grow.

The pond was built about seven years ago by a bass pond building professional. It has all the underwater ledges, cover and sponing areas for growing big bass but the murky water is a very big problem. The bass are now getting thin with big heads.

The edges of the pond have clay exposed and I was thinking about bringing in some gravel or rock to put around the bank but I don't know if this would help. Anyone have a comment about that?

Anyones thoughts would be appreciated.

Jeff, I live in SW Oklahoma, and I have fished many local ponds, none of wich have been treated with anything to clear the water. No matter if they are spring fed or just a hole to water cattle. If they have any catfish, or bullheads they are muddy as you described. The ponds with only bass and BG, are really clear. But too many cats and not enough bass its murky. I dont know if your pond will ever clear, but if your get the cats down to a level the bass can manage them, you may see some clearing.

There are several threads on this forum for traps that catch bullheads.

Thats just my $0.02, And I cant catch a bass in a muddy pond either lol. JB.

Lake Fork Big Bass Pond,

You should have a soil test to be sure, but you probably need ag lime, at least 5 tons per acre. Everyone I know in this part of Texas needs lime to neutralize the acid conditions. Other fixes generally are just temporary...ag lime is also temporary but temporary is several years in this case.

Lunker!
Thanks for the reply. Do you know how I would put lime in a 3 acre pond? Where do you get the AG lime and how is it dispursed into the pond?

When I put the gypsum in the pond I poured it out the front of a boat as I motored around the pond. The prop of the motor mixed it, I thought, but I guess it just sank to the bottom. When the pond turned over the pond cleared.

I have found that a three acre pond is a whole lot bigger than you think when you try to spread something out over it.

I would think a spray truck like they use on road construction would be about the only way to get the lime, in a liquid form, spread over the pond.

Have you had any experiance with the actual application of the lime to a pond of this size or have you heard of anyone that has done it?

Thanks again for your reply.