Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Tannic acid

How can I clear up tannic acid in my pond?

Greetings, Seamus, and welcome to the Forum!

We have a fair number of owners of tannic stained ponds here, so stand by for first hand experience and info.

In the meantime, be aware that if the pH is unfavorably low for fish, the pond can easily and safely be buffered with aglime. Do you happen to know what your pH is?

Good morning Seamus,welcome to the forum.I see your an early riser,so you'll become addicted here sooner than most.
Unfortunatly,I cant give much advice on this cause I havent figured out how to clear mine yet.
Theo,Ill be testing my water today.Will post the results when I do.

Welcome to PB. Do you know your alkalinity or have soil info from the pond area? If the alkalinity is low then ag lime should work. Ag lime is a base and lowers acidity of tannic acid. It also acts as a buffer to ph swings (a more favorable and less volatile envior for fish).

Thanks for such a quick response, Very Impressive ,,, My pond is brand new that I dug this spring, It's roughly 800,000 thousand gallons and it fed by a few small springs and property runoff. I have 20 acres with a slight uphill angle so I harnessed as much runoff and springs as I could. I dug another small pond 300 feet away and this will be later used for bait fish. I haven't tested the water yet and This is all new to me. Before I put any fish in I would like to clear up the Black Water as they call it upstate. Thanks all for some good advice !!! And again I am a Newbie at this so any advise is appricated!

Seamus, welcome to the forum.

I'm with the others on adding Ag Lime. I would suggest heavily liming as much of your watershed as well to help break down any decay in it. An inexpensive test will determine a any lime/fertiliver needs and amounts required for correction.

Seamus, what species of fish are you looking to add to your pond?

There is a trout farm about 45 minutes away from my upstate place, I was thinking about some brown trout and some rainbows.

Is your pond spring fed? How deep, what size is it?

I dug a drainage trench years ago to dry up my property and it runs like a brook, after I dug the pond by my house this year I dug 300 feet to tap into my man made brook and along that trench I hit 2 small springs ,,, I dished out an area about 90' by 65' with a dozer and than rented a large excavator, In the center I went down 25' So I have about 20' of water in the pond, I also dug a 5' moat around a couple of trees and made a little island.

Do you think the water temp will stay cool enough for the trout? Trout are fairly pH tolerant, to and extent. Too low and it can affect their growth rates.

Seamus, welcome to pond boss, and good luck with your new pond.
As has been mentioned check your ph to see what is necessary and ag lime can increase your ph but if your water inflow is too great it could be a waste of money.
If the ph stays above 5.5 your trout should do fine cause I don't think you expect them to spawn, and the 20ft. depth should be good for the winter, but you'll need to monitor the summer temps. If you get a temp meter with a wire probe you can monitor the pond temps below 5ft.
One more good piece of equipment would be an aerator to help increase dissolved oxygen.

AP, let him know the system you use for your pond's aeration. I think it would be perfect for him as well...

This is the aerator I use, it is small but for me it will keep an area open in the winter, and i run it to help cool the water at night in the summer.
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=139_267_532&products_id=1187

I have 95 gallons a minute flowing into the pond so I don't need a larger aerator for O2, but it sure wouldn't hurt to get a larger one to be sure.

More good ideas, Thanks ,,, I don't plan on putting fish in until next year sometime and I don't plan on them spawning. I did mount a pump on a float and it shoots water about 30' in the air, It does look nice but I'm sure I'm not aerating much. In the meantime I will get a Ph kit and a temp meter. And once again, Thas for all the good advice

I would test the water to determine whether the tannins are high enough to kill fish. They certainly wiped out everything in my pond years ago. Just get some minnows and put them in a minnow bucket in the water. See if they last.

Dave, How did you clean up your tannic acid years ago? ,,, Jim

Welcome Seamus. Quite a few of us suggest fathead minnows when the water is above your ankles. They're cheap and reproduce like crazy and even if they don't spawn now, they'll be ready to in the spring

Seamus, after enough chlorine applications to kill everything in about a dozen Olympic sized swimming pools, I pumped it dry. In my case, I pushed some big, freshly knocked down, post oak trees into the bottom of the pond. It rained a lot a couple of days later and the water turned black. I stocked and it was lethal.

However, not all tannin colored water is lethal. Do a fish test and see what happens. You may not have a problem.

Some species of fish are highly adapted to tannic waters as well. It may limit your options, but there are options.

Question from a newbie here

Seems like we are taking about two things. The first is the water staining from tannins, the second is the effect that tannic acid may have on the fish in the pond. So I guess the next question is are all tannins acidic and therefore effect the ph of the pond, or are some not acids and just affect the clarity?

I'm no expert, but I would say all tannins are acidic and therefore affect the pH of the pond they may run into.

I do like the look of the pond by my house upstate, The excess fill from the pond allowed my to finish my property frontage, The place is lookin great and I get alot of compliments, By no means am I in a rush to stock the pond, That would just be an added perk. I am going back up next sunday (9-13) with a PH kit in hand, I'm very curious to see what my PH is. I have to Thank you all for some GREAT advise, Thanks. Jim.

One of our lakes is a murky, cloudy color, different than the rest. The Lake Co. believes it is because of all the leaves in that lake, tannins.

Hello once again and how is everyone doing? ,,, I just came back from upstate and added some AG lime to my pond to try and clear up some of my tannic acid ,,, Here are the results so far ,,, PH 6.2 ppm ,,, Total Alkalinity ,,, 100 ppm and total hardness is 90 ppm ,,, I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas with these tests to try and further clear up my rust colered water ? ,,, And once again I do Appriciate ALL Replys. Jim.

Jim, those readings sound pretty good, what were the readings before adding lime, and did you measure visibility?

My PH was at 6 before adding lime ,,, It only came up .2 by adding 160 lbs of lime ,,, the pond is roughly 700 - 800,000 gallons ,,, I am not in any big rush to clear my pond up but I would like to gain some headway this year, As far as visibility goes ,,, You can only see a few inches before it turns to rust color.

Jim, if your pond is at ph6 or above I don't see a problem especially considering the acid water we have upstate in so many lakes and ponds.
My pond has never gotten above 5.8 and the trout, PS's & GSH grow very well. The water is tea color but my visibility is usually atleast 2 ft, with visibility much better in the spring and fall.

I don't know what would be the best way to clear your pond but being new it might just need time to settle suspended particles.
Some members report that their ponds cleared significantly after adding DB100 to help seal leak problems. It might be best to let your pond settle over the winter and see how it looks after ice out.

Is there a lot of iron in the soil or groundwater? Cecil has some issues with high iron levels.

Jim: If you take a water sample and leave it set in a glass jar for a few days, does the water clear up by particles settling down to the bottom? If FHM will live in a minnow bucket in the pond, I'd try and stock FHM this Fall.

That is 2 or 3 acre feet of water. If yo can, try to get a local co-op or feed mill to bringa couple tons of AG lime and spreadit in the pond with their truck. Ag lime can't raise the PH above 8.2. The rise occurs pretty slowly and will last for at least a few years.