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Jan 10th, 2023
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Joined: Nov 2013
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OP
Joined: Nov 2013
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We have some smaller ponds that we are thinking of re-starting as forage and/or nursery ponds. Has anyone used alternatives to rotenone to clean out the current ponds? I'm thinking something like sodium sulfide (chemical), whey or molasses (biological) that would take the dissolved oxygen out, but then allow it to rebound over time. Maybe there are other approaches?
Thanks for any feedback! Dale
They've gone to plaid.
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I think some folks use lime to pH shock the water and kill off fish, but an expert will likely chime in soon.
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Hydrated lime will do the trick. Be careful with it though. It will hurt you if you don't take safety precautions.
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Hobbyman, Hydrated lime is an outstanding and fairly inexpensive solution for what you want. The least expensive method is to drain the ponds as low as you can, then use the remaining water to liquefy powdered, hydrated lime (Slaked Lime or Calcium Hydroxide used in concrete) to mix about 800 pounds H Lime per acre foot of water. Be sure to spray concentrated lime on all pool areas that may have dried also because some species of fish can live for days burying themselves in mud.
The easier method, but more expensive is to not drain and simply saturate the pond with the Hydrated Lime. This method will kill most everything and be safe to restock in 2-3 weeks.
If draining and treating, you can restock upon filling.
As Chris said, use precautions with Hydrated Lime. Dry Powder is harmless, but wet, it is very caustic and will cause some bad chemical burns on skin when prolonged wetted contact happens.
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Hydrated lime will kill everything including plankton etc. Wait at least 2 weeks after the pond refills and you have planktonic activity before trying to stock.
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Hobbyman, Hydrated lime is an outstanding and fairly inexpensive solution for what you want. The least expensive method is to drain the ponds as low as you can, then use the remaining water to liquefy powdered, hydrated lime (Slaked Lime or Calcium Hydroxide used in concrete) to mix about 800 pounds H Lime per acre foot of water. Be sure to spray concentrated lime on all pool areas that may have dried also because some species of fish can live for days burying themselves in mud.
The easier method, but more expensive is to not drain and simply saturate the pond with the Hydrated Lime. This method will kill most everything and be safe to restock in 2-3 weeks.
If draining and treating, you can restock upon filling.
As Chris said, use precautions with Hydrated Lime. Dry Powder is harmless, but wet, it is very caustic and will cause some bad chemical burns on skin when prolonged wetted contact happens.
Seine, drain, and then treat with hydrated lime is exactly how I spent this last week. With only 6" of water left, less than $80 (ten bags) of hydrated lime was all that was needed to treat a drained 1/4 acre pond. Rex mentioned fish burying themselves in the mud, so I posted this pic to show how much ground water affects this process. The reeds on the far side of this pond are at full pool. The sheen below the reeds shows the amount of moisture still leaching through the soil 7 days after this water was dropped. Every footprint, old CNBG nest, and any other low areas were given extra lime. I don't need this pond until spring tilapia are available, so I'll let it rest until then. It's a lot of work, but much, much cheaper IF you have access to water to refill the pond after the lime treatment. 
AL
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Joined: Nov 2013
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OP
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OK - sounds reasonable if we can remove most of the water from the ponds. Is there a target pH to reach?
Anybody try caustic soda? We don't have good access to these ponds, so maybe we could pump a caustic solution easier than pumping a hydrated lime slurry. I have a grout pump so I could do either, but with caustic we could mix in a poly tank (I know it will get warm) and pump with a trash pump a lot faster than slurry with the grout pump.
Anybody try quicklime? We could boil the pond with that stuff.
Thanks for the feedback and ideas. Dale
They've gone to plaid.
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Just thought of another question. I think we're trying to eliminate fish limited to bluegills, bass, and golden shiners. Do these bury in the mud? Is there a timing issue with eggs surviving treatment?
Thanks again, Dale
They've gone to plaid.
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Hydrated lime has several names including quicklime. Hydrated lime can be done in a slurry as easy as caustic soda. I would still throw some out as piced above to be sure. Just dump some on top of any water and on the bank. It will quickly move the ph to 11 and kill everything - fish ,plants etc. It may not kill tuberous plants that it does not touch. Fish / eggs etc will all be killed.
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Joined: Nov 2013
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OK - I think we have a plan. This will be much easier once we get a dozer and improve access, but that's not going to help us this spring. Thanks for the assistance. Dale
They've gone to plaid.
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Hobbyman, Home Depot has Hydrated Lime for about $7.49 for a 50# bag. If possible, 2 trash pumps work best. One pump to fill, and circulate the Hydrated Lime slurry, and a second pump to apply it onto the pond. Below is the setup I use on my boat to apply Alum and Hydrated lime. I setup the pumps and tote on a utility trailer on ponds too small to use the barge on. If you use valves, or tinker with throttles, you can keep the tote full and just pour bags of lime in as you apply it to go MUCH faster. You can use the pond water you are treating as your water supply....Once tuned on input/output, it took be about 20 minutes to apply 1800# (90 bags) of Hydrated lime. I'll also forewarn you...Hydrated Lime trashes trash pumps pretty easily, so use cheap ones you don't mind losing.... 
Last edited by Rainman; 02/08/16 05:35 PM.
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Now that is a good use for a tri toon. You have a great set up Rainman.
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Now that is a good use for a tri toon. You have a great set up Rainman. Thank you sir! It's about due for a major upgrade!
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Wow was that water brown before you treated it!
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: May 2023
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I used lime to kill fish this past weekend and it worked well. I used pumps to reduce the size as much as possible, dumped the lime on a flat rock near the water's edge and then used the pump discharge to wash the lime into the water. By the time the 2nd bag was going in, the fish were on the way out. I think we got a total kill (30-40 small bass), and didn't have to wait and schedule a Rotenone kill with someone that has an applicators license. Glad this info was available!
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