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#47833 05/09/04 01:03 AM
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I am 15 years old, and I fish at my grandpa's 4 acre pond a lot, well noticed it is leaking, a hole bigger then my fist water running constantly through it, we have tried many things to stop it, even tried concrete, the hole is at on the bank. We refuse to drain the pond to fix it, money is no issue we just want it fixed without draining/losing fish. It is getting pretty low, the deepest part is 5 feet. I heard about Gel Bentonite Clay, how well does it do? Also I think it may be a muskrat hole. Please reply with ideas to stop it from leaking, we will try anything unless it deals with draining it. The pond has lmb,smb,catfish,bluegill,brim,and crappie that I know of, the pond is 50 years old. And another thing does bush killer harm fish or anything, we have lots of bushes growing around the pond that we want gone.

#47834 05/09/04 06:35 PM
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any ideas?

#47835 05/09/04 09:36 PM
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The bottom line is that you have a hole through the dam. You may have to drain it. Or, at least down to where your leak is. If it is as large as you say, it is most likely draining itself.

Brush killer: Unlikely that any of it is approved for use in water. I use it and just don't get any of it in the water.

#47836 05/10/04 06:02 PM
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 Quote:
Originally posted by W. Robinson:
Get some clay, and pack the hole. Sounds like it is on the edge of water near full pull?
Yeah I have thought about this, but the special clay that I have found, it says its for seepage, this is more then that, it's a pretty good sized hole so i'm not sure if it will fill it up good since it's much bigger then just seeping out.

#47837 05/12/04 10:35 AM
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Rebel:

Could you try packing clay (either standard or bentonite) in sand bags and piling them up over the pond side of the hole? The bags would keep the stuff from washing out, and would eventually rot away. Hopefully, by that time, the hole itself will have collapsed or sealed...

Just something quick and cheap to try.

Matt Clark


In a lifetime, the average driver will honk 15,250 times. My wife figures I'm due to die any day now...



#47838 05/14/04 12:42 PM
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how about diggin some area out around it, maybe 2 ft by 2 ft and 2 feet deep, line it with thick plastic, then fill in with a bunch of bentonite and lap over the plastic edges by quit a bit.. also, get rid of the animal that you think caused it to begin with! mark

#47839 05/14/04 01:03 PM
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This sounds exactly like the work of a muskrat if the hole is just underneth the surface of the water. It is the protective entrance to his den.

I've had this exact problem and I can tell you that it's not that easy to fix, but it can be done. Follow the steps below.

1) Trap or shoot the muskrat. You can use a "have-a-heart" live trap. Muskrats like carrots and apples. Put it near the hole, halfway in the water. Cover it with grass and wait. Or, hang out around dusk or dawn with a 12-gage and shoot the punk.

2) Don't waste the bentonite unless you are dealing with tiny seapage holes that you can't see. Find good red clay (hopefully near by) and bring about a wheel-barrel load to the hole. Try digging down into the bank near the hole, you will likely find an underground stream that is eroding your dam. When you find it dig around enough so the whole width of it is exposed. Now, start packing in that clay. When you've got it blocked off pack clay into the original fist-sized hole and pack it in tight. Then I would recommend another wheel-barrel load of gravel-soil mix on top of the now-plugged hole. If it still seaps *then* pour a blanket of powdered bentonite, or look for more holes. Muskrats are busy little bastards.

A good passive muskrat prevention method in the future is to remove catails from your pond. If they still hang out there you may need to line the dam with chicken wire, down a few feet from the surface.

Good luck!

#47840 05/14/04 01:28 PM
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Regarding brush killer. If you are talking about Roundup, then no, I wouldn't use it in the vicinity of the pond. However, there are lots of aquatic approved glyphosate compounds (same active ingredient as Roundup) that will work just fine. Aquatic-approved is the key . . . you don't want the other stuff that Roundup has in it.

Check with your local coop or chemical company.

#47841 05/14/04 05:14 PM
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REBEL:

I'm not the pond expert that a lot of these people are, but I still feel qualified to post a response. Sounds like a muskrat for sure. Kill him! Next, fix the hole! One of the posts made a lot of sense to me. That person said that the muskrat basically has made a freeway inside your dam. I like that post and one other post's solution to your problem with one further sugestion from myself. I like the idea of filling sandbags with clay and trying to plug the hole on the pond side, or at least slow it. Next, I would dig the hole out and take a gander at the damage. I would then shove in the regular clay deep down into the hole until you get to where you can easily work on the rest. Now, I would line the rest of the hole with plastic and fill it in with large rocks/bricks, rebar, and cement. After it all dries, I would remove the sandbag from pond side and fill that part of the hole in with clay and rocks/bricks. Hopefully that will work. Good luck! Hopefully I will have my own 2 acre or larger pond in the near future!


CATMANDEW
#47842 05/14/04 05:18 PM
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REBEL:

Regarding the brush thing; I would just dig them up, or cut them down. No chemicals that way. I would prefer to handle it that way if it was my pond.


CATMANDEW

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