Hello everyone,
so hopefully some of you can help me out and give me some solid advice. I am brand new in every way... to this forum and to pond ownership. So I have a few questions and need some help to clarify or expand my extremely limited knowledge. I have a pond now (constructed approximately 10 years ago) on our new property that was put in by the previous owner who hired professionals to build it. It is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an acre and approximately 6-8 ft deep in probably 50% of it or more. Doesn't seem to leak or evaporate too quickly, so that's the good. Now for the bad, at least I think its bad. The pond water is murky/silty and a brownish color all the time now, it's much worse now than when we bought the house a couple of years ago. The original owner claims to never have had to do anything to the pond to keep it clear the majority of the time. I assume from my limited research this is colloidal clay in the water column not settling to the bottom. I also assume that this situation is being made worse by the high number of (75-100) catfish in the pond as the result of the previous owner stocking the pond with them. I am not sure what kind of catfish, but I am thinking they are bullhead due to their color. I read that catfish, and in particular, bullheads root around in the substrate constantly looking for food, making the turbidity in the water worse. There are also large amounts of bluegill and some other smaller (too small to make a good guess) fish in the pond. There is no vegetation in the pond, the pond is completely surrounded by grass and rock embankment which stretches around three sides of the shoreline which sizes from pebble to about 12" across, and several Large (2 Sycamores and 4 Walnuts that are 24-36 inches in diameter or larger and 75'+) trees either at the edge of the pond or within 10 feet of the waterline. No livestock have access to the pond except for the local deer that sometimes graze at the edge. I have been researching Alum and Gypsum to figure out what to do about the current clarity of the water. The more I research, the more questions I seem to have. So now that I have given you a good description, on to the questions.
1. What happens to the clay after it binds and falls out of the water column using one of the recommended methods for clarifying? Does it just stay there? Once bound does it harden or remain bound even with agitation over time or will the catfish eventually just stir it up again, making the whole endeavor of clarifying worthless?
2. If it doesn't bind and turn into something harder or more dense, will I have to drain the pond and dredge the clay out with a backhoe or bulldozer to fix it?
3. Is there a way to fix the problem without removing the catfish or killing them all off? I could be wrong about them being bullheads, how do I tell for sure? I thought I read somewhere that LMB and Channel cats will eat bullheads, would this include larger ones (the majority of the cats in the pond all range in size from about 10-12 inches)? Will any species of catfish in the pond be just as problematic? We have otters that come and occasionally eat the fish and I wouldnt want to chance accidentally poisoning them in the process.
4. Is there a way to filter the suspended clay particles out of the water instead of binding them, or would the cost to do so be exorbitant enough to make it not worthwhile?
5. Can I replace the grass around the pond with something shorter in height that will benefit the pond or the soil surrounding it. Mowing around the pond is problematic since three sides of the berm are too steep to mow without tipping over the mower or sliding into the pond, so that leaves weedeating which of course slings grass and weeds into the water which will just create a new problem (thats the current method being used, and we try to be careful not to get too much in the pond, but, you know what happens). Any recommendations for replacement plants instead of grass to cut down on that maintenance would be a godsend.
6. Should I plant some kind of vegetation in the pond to help with filtration and shade the water to cut down on temps and water loss due to evap? If so, are there any really good, non pervasives that you guys would recommend? I live in the Ozarks of Missouri if that helps with making a rec?
7. Should I aerate the pond, what would be the best method of doing it for a pond this size?
Any other advice or recommendations not already touched upon would also be greatly appreciated. I am a big believer in "knowledge is power", so TIA for any help.
