Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry What to do this winter?

I bought an aquaculture kit from Lamotte and ran some tests today. Background: 2.5 acre pond, max depth 28 ft, average depth 12 ft, built last summer in central Arkansas, stocked last Oct with RES, bluegill, and FHM, stocked this spring with LMB and a few CC.
Visibility right now is about 36", and there was not a good algae bloom this spring (I did not fertilize). Alkalinity is 20ppm, pH is 6.75.
The fish are growing but I want to optimize the conditions and maximize the growth potential. I'm planning on stocking threadfins in December if I can find some.
Should I add lime this winter to prepare to fertilize next spring? If so, how much, what type, where to purchase? Anything else I should do to prepare for next year?

Thanks in advance.

Bumpety. 'sperts?

Thanks Jeff. TShad now (could be late for fall) or early next spring. See the TShad archive about needing a plankton bloom.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=106122#Post106122

and fertilization archive

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=96127#Post96127

More lime would be good - ag lime from the Co-op, about 5 tons as 20ppm is ok but higher would be better for several reasons.

Chad, I think your water will get too cool for TFS. Golden Shiners may be a better option for your location.

15 pounds per acre of size 12 or bigger sound right with young bass??

EDIT: Since you are right on the edge of the northern border for TFS, you may be OK if the abundant springs feeding your pond flow year-round though.

Rainman is correct. You could lose your TShad due to cold weather. Happens about once every 5 or so years. This is one situation ( TShad survival) where ponds and big reservoirs are different in your area.

Thanks for the info. Five tons of ag lime total or 5 tons per acre? How do you apply this to the pond? Can it be applied at anytime or do I need to wait until spring?

A total of 5 tons. The co-op should have a spreader truck that can back up to the pond in a couple of places and put it out. Now is a good time .

All,

How should I prepare my little 1/2 acre pond (avg depth 7 feet) for the cool weather. It is only 10 months old and has a very healthy population of LMB, CNB, FHM. They are all growing well. I have added lime in the summer and have had blooms. Should I add more lime in preparation for the fall (with all of my oak trees in the area starting to shed)?

Bill

Do you know your alkalinity ? How much ag lime was recommended and added and when? Do you have much water flow through ? You probably don't need any more for winter as ag lime lasts for a while.

I'd try to get the alk. up to about 50 or better and the ph around 7.5. Guys, am I wrong by assuming that the ag lime will help in this regard?

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=9658&Number=161821#Post161821

This is where I left off. I will check the water this weekend...

How fast is the ag lime supposed to dissolve? It was placed about 5 weeks ago and still looks like tiny gravel.

What did the water look like in the first 5 mins after it went in ?

I would bet it is doing its job now. It does take a while (few weeks) and builds over time. In our ponds it has about an 18-24 mth bell cuve cycle.

Ewest can you explain this bell curve in more detail. We rec. 4-5 tons/acre on average. in this case I thought (maybe wrongly) it will take about 3-4 months to start helping with max benefit in less than 8 months. Curious what your seeing?? We hope to not have to lime again for 4-5 years at this rate but depends on water flow as well as current conditions when applying.

I wasn't there when my contractor put the lime in. There are piles of it around the shoreline where it was placed and recently my pond dropped 2 feet (due to ice in air vent and siphon starting). The piles that were under water don't seem too much different than the piles on dry land.

Another thing to check on siphon systems, I didn't think of this one. I was/am concerned about the trap on the exit freezing and not letting water out in the early spring and the is a big rain event. Mayb some day that will be a problem for me I hope so, it means my leak is fixed.

cmfulmer this is not the way to put out lime. it needs to be spread in a manner to attempt to cover the entire pond bottom. You will not see the full results from this applicaiton. You can try to get in there with an outboard and stur it up so it drifts around. Otherwise hate to tell you this you need to get in more lime and spread by hand or hire a barge to spread across the sntire surface of the pond.

Usually put out by spreader truck. Just shovel it to deeper water. It is better if it is spread over the entire pond bottom but will do ok if spread around the near shore water bottom ( about 20% of the bottom but in different locations).

Greg the effectiveness and absorption rate depends on lots of things as you noted. When we put in 1 ton per acre (when alkalinity gets to about 20) we see a quick upturn ( a week) of about 3-4 ppm as the initial gray cloud of limed water spreads out. That is the part that dissolves on contact with the water and turns the water cloudy gray. In about a mth to 6 weeks we see a gradual rise start which lasts for about 8-10 mths . At that point the alkalinity stabilizes for about 6 mths and then starts down at a gradual rate for about 8-10 mths. At that point it is back to about 20 ppm. If you plot that you get close to a bell curve.

Ok ewest so the bell curve takes into consideration the downturn that makes sense now. Similiar curve for our clients at 4-5 tons/acre but takes place over 3-4 years.

Hey we finally added some pond mgmt you tube videos. cmfulmer this is one way to apply lime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52GUUajiK1M

I put 5 T in and around 3/4 acre little over 2 yrs. ago and am lucky to have 20ppm. Lots of pines around, acid soil. Great for tomatoes.

BM how do you apply the 5 tons? Did the alk ever get over 20 ppm?

a spreader truck ran thru the pond, over the dam, and in an acre or so of watershed upstream. I also had them dump several hundred # in the entry stream or ditch.
Not being there all the time, not sure what it got up to, but measured roughly 40 at one time. Only using pool strips and interpreting.

Ok you did get to 40 after the app. that is what I wondered about. Yes in the acidic situations like we have the lime does not last long.

That sounds about right. Recall my comments are for a pond at 20 and moving it up and keeping 20 or better. When we started at 9 we added 5 tons in 2 parts first 3 tons then 6 mths later 2 more tons. That also works well for extending the curve.

I think I may have mislead you when I said piles of lime by the bank. The lime was spread out over the entire lake with a spreader truck. There was a little overflow at certain spots that piled up by the shoreline. That is the lime I'm looking at to see if it should change with time.

cmfulmer we used to rec. spreader truck applicaitons to save clietns money. Our water quality testing has shown very poor results. Unless a major portion of the lake can be hit with the spreader truck it works poorly. We also made sure when they did use this method to not pile it up they move often and as it hits water spreads with enough areas covered it can work. Problem is most do not have a situation where enough application areas exist. The cost has went up also with spreader truck $40-$55/ton bulk dump $30 so with extra barge fee depending on size of job cost is closer than folks think and we can ensure even coverage with the barge.

If piled up I think you will not get the water quality you wanted. That area is obvioulsy high in alkalinity but too many places may exist around with no lime on the soil with poor alkalnity thus overall the alkalinity in the pond does not rise to desired levels.

If you can circulate the water via aeration, you will be just fine.......I just went back and saw surface area and max depth of 28 ft. It will take a high pressure pump, but 1 aeration station should really circulate the water well in 25 ft. water

I recently tested my water and here are the results: alk 20 ppm, CaCO3 20 ppm, pH 6.5. Not what I was expecting. Even after adding the lime over the winter, nothing changed. I want a good plankton bloom but I'm wondering if I should fertilize. Right now, secchi reading is about 36". If I fertilize, if it will help, what type do I need to use?

Maybe I should post this in the fertilization area. Not sure how to do that.