My pond was mucked out last fall and filled this early summer. Prior to mucking out, it was always muddy I believe due to a high population of crawdads. Now, when it is remotely clear it has a light tea color. I suspect it is from the 3 medium sized Osage Orange root wads that I put in for structure. These root wads had from October last year to June this year to dry out before the water level covered them. The Secchi depth is at 24" at it's clearest, the FHMs have been very happily multiplying all summer, all other inhabitants are doing well (frogs, waterbugs, snakes, etc). There was minimal amounts of leaves present when the pond filled and my 20 acre watershed keeps the pond refreshed and overflowing with the multiple 3 plus inch rains we have had this year, but the tea color seems to remain constant once the muddiness settles which takes about a day to two after a heavy rain.
Do you think tannins from the root wads are to blame and, if so, how long before the wads tannin-out and the water starts looking normal?
