Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water brown water & ammonia

My pond is 4 years old and just under an acre. About 5' avg. depth. The water color is a light brown with very limited visability, maybe 2". It was primarily filled with deep well water from the Paluxy aquafer. This well water is crystal clear. I had the pond water tested and the results were: Total Hardness 34 which was described in the poor range, Total Alkalinity 102 good, pH 8.0. Also the total ammonia was 1.2 which was described as dangerous. A company in Georgia provided me with this info and I was about to purchase some products from them until I found out the shipping was as much as the cost of the products. So I am looking for other alternatives.
1. I read an article (which I can't locate anymore) that you could use gypsum to clear a pond. I set aside several test glasses of water. The untreated water never cleared and the ones with just a pinch of gypsum cleared almost overnight. Could I use gypsum? If so, how much? Would it hurt my pH and other levels?
2. Microblift was recommended to treat the ammonia at a rate of 1 gal. now then .5 gal next week and another .5 gal the next. Does anyone know of a source near the DFW area that would not cost so much to ship.
3. Their recommendation said not to add any lime until the ammonia level is corrected. Is the gypsum in question 1 considered lime?
Thanks for any info that can be provided.

I think if you spend your money on a aerator system and use a water clarifier like revive then not only will you get the quick fix that you are looking for but will stop any future problems to keep the pockets stressed.Let us know what you come up with.DOC

ghg was the compamny in GA Ken's Fish Farm??? Hardness of 34 is excellent. Ammonia of 1.2 is hard for me to believe. To answer your question no lime is not the same as gypsum. Gypsum is CaSO4, agricultural lime is CaCo3 calcium carbonate. Read more hear on this site and get a subscription if you don't have one, money well spent.

Greg and Lakedoc,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, an aerator is on my wish list, I should have one by summer. Greg, yes it was Ken's. I do have a subscription and read everything I can. As a matter of fact I found the article about gypsum in the current issue. The gypsum was recommended by Paul Dorsett. The more I read about ponds the more they resemble personalities, everyone of them are a little different. I will pick up a few bags of gypsum in the next few days and see how it goes. I will keep the message board posted. Thanks again.
ghg

ghg,
Keep us informed about how the gypsum worked. I have seen them and would not believe anything you got in the report from Ken. A diffused air system is hard to beat for many reasons.

This is a follow up to my muddy pond problem.
I have applied a total of 720 pounds of gypsum to the pond at 1 week intervals and have seen no change whatsoever. I put the gypsum on a tarp and slowly washed it into the pond with fine spray from a hose nossel. I did this at several locations. I am told not to be discouraged if the first treatment does not take care of the problem, just keep at it.
I have also just installed an aeration system and am running it 2 hrs. in the morning and 2 hrs. in the evening as a start. This schedule was recommended by Stoney Creek who sold me the aerator. I will gradually increase to 24 hrs. per day. Does anyone have any other suggestions on the intial run schedule? I would like to run it as often as I can, however don't want to turn the pond over to quickly.
I will keep board posted on my progress.

I have a small pond, about 1/4 acre. I have this staining problem 2-3 days after a heavy rain. What my experience has shown is the influx of fresh water is upsetting the balance of the water. I would expect the same when furnishing a water supply from a well. I have had excellent results with a beneficial bacteria called Bio-Clean available from pond solutions.com. A little on the pricy side, however, I have had good results.