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Joined: Apr 2020
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Hello everyone! I am a new member and just posted in the new member board. This is my first post out in the main forums and am looking for some advice. I am a first-time pond owner and I am afraid I am in over my head, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

For a bit of background, I just bought an old property that has a pond. The home is from 1936 and I suspect the pond is 50+ years old, I do not know the exact age.The previous owners moved in back in the early 1980s and the pond was well established at that point in time. In 1999 an official survey of the pond determined that the max depth was 5.5 feet, the max depth is now just over 2 feet.

The actual "pond" area is approximately 2 acres, however the vast majority of that area is now cattails with no water depth at all - its mostly just a marshy wetland. However, there is about a half acre that ranges in depth between just over 2 feet to about a foot. As you get closer to shore the water is only several inches deep. I've been in the pond and as soon as you step off shore into the shallow you sink about a foot or more into a thick layer of muck. As you try to move away from shore it gets much deeper. I've used a standard oar to measure and if I push as hard as I can, in some spots, I can push the oar almost all the way into the muck without touching bottom. So there is a very thick layer of muck that has accumulated over decades that was not addressed at any point. The vast forest of cattails are slowing encroaching in on what water is left which is something else I will have to look into. I have seen maybe a handful of fish and they are extremely small bluegill if I am not mistaken. We have a large population of frogs, some turtles, a muskrat that hangs around and the passing by duck or goose from time to time.

I am extremely worried this pond is on its way out and I want to do all I can to help restore it and build up a reasonable fish population of bass and bluegill eventually. I don't seem to have many options as far as dredging as its not something I can do myself and have not found local companies that do this. I have since introduced an aeration system. I've been incrementally increasing the run time and at this point it runs for most of the day and I shut it off at night. I have been using it for a few weeks at this point. I am noticing the water is clearer, but the algae continues to grow on the surface and I am not sure if its just because the sun is beating down on the water causing it to grow or my aerator kicking up all the nutrients on the bottom of the pond - it is possibly both.

Either way, I can probably continue on here, but I will leave it at that. Mostly I am looking for recommendations on how I can restore this pond, if it is even possible.

Thank you!

Joined: Jan 2011
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pondman93 welcome to the forum. Where in Pa. are you? I grew up in Berks County many long years ago.

You can save your pond. Refurbishing it is possible. Probably a first thing to do is really define goals for the body of water (BOW). Considerations include, but are of course not limited to, are you committed to a pond of that size and in that very location? Does the pond have a dam or is it a hole dug in flat ground? If there is a dam, evaluate it for integrity. Call in an expert if you want professional advice. Typically, a slot is cut through the dam, the muck is allowed to dry for many months, heavy equipment gets in there and starts pushing the muck out through the dam breach, the cut is repaired, and the pond then refills.

Alternately a long reach track hoe can stay on solid ground and scoop whatever muck can be reached, depositing it along the shore where other equipment relocates it. The muck is very fertile; it can be a wonderful soil amendment for gardens or fields. However, it's rather costly to truck very far.

Sometimes it is cost effective to build a new pond in a new location and maybe use the spoils to fill in some of the present area. You could retain some of the marsh, if that's what you'd want for a wildlife area. It could be that your marsh area is nearly perfect wild duck habitat.

How does the pond get its water-runoff from land uphill, a creek, a well, etc.?

Tell us more about the pond. Pics could help. We have some real pond building gurus here, and their wisdom is given freely.

Subscribe to PondBoss magazine. There are many published articles that can help you. You've got days, weeks, months, years of fun and rewarding experiences ahead of you.

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4CornersPuddle, thank you for the reply.

I don't have much of an option in terms of where to have the pond. I think pretty much where it sits is where I need to keep it given the layout of my land and where the inflow/outflow locations are. Ideally, since it encompasses almost half of my property (including the wet land area), I would like to keep it where its at.The pond is dug into flat ground, however, the far end has a decently sized outflow/spillway that was recently re-enforced as well as the car bridge that goes over it. Our driveway runs along that side of the pond and crosses over the spillway via bridge. This end of the pond is up against our driveway, as I mentioned, and then further over away from the driveway the land drops off. Pictures would help to explain what I am talking about, but for all intents and purposes there is no dam per say.

I am hesitant to have it drained and/or dredged. Given the construction of the pond there is no real way for me to actually drain it. It is fed by a creek (which fills the wetland area and water runs from the wetland to keep my pond full). My outflow feeds a rather large creek system that runs through my township so any alteration to my pond could affect that. It is also surface fed based on where it sits (lots of rain water runs off the hillside into it). While I would not be opposed to starting over, I would not have any clue on where to begin there. What are your thoughts on sediment removal services that use large industrial vacuums to clear some of the muck? Although, I've not found a company near me that will do this type of work.

Also, what are your thoughts of the use of beneficial bacteria products that are intended to feed on the muck? Any specific aeration recommendations? How about anything related to keeping algae under control? The previous owner used copper sulfate and it seemed to do what it was supposed to, but I think killing all that algae over the years contributed to silt build up, fish kills, etc.

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Joined: Jan 2011
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Maybe one of yous moderators would combine this thread with pondman93's other thread on the very same subject. "New Member"


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