Hi Forum,
Just found you a week or two ago, and been reading up -- thanks for all the info! I need some help getting started on my pond. I figured this was as good a place as any to post since my main question is aeration.
I've lived here for 3 years, so I know this pond -- but I haven't owned the pond so I've never done anything to it. Now I own it and you'll see it needs work.
Notes:
It's a 1/4 acre pond in Connecticut. (surrounded by forest, so leaves are a thing)
It has an inlet that dries up in droughts but most of the year trickles in.
There is a dam and an old "spillway" <-- not sure my terms or type of dam for something like this.
It was dredged ~3 years ago to fix a leak in the dam.
It used to have fish in it, but now there is nothing but a huge frog population.
It fully freezes in the winter for a month or two (good for skating up here)
Obvious algae problem - this is Duckweed right?
Goals:
- Get it clear. obviously. The old owner of this property had hand-built a contraption for getting the duckweed out that I don't think worked. It's a pretty pond when clear.
- Potentially over time stock some fish in it, just for the neighborhood kids to throw a line in - type of thing.
- Make it more appealing. Clean up the area around it that is a bit unruly. Not sure which plants are good/bad yet.
Questions:
1) At first I was going to aerate this and get things moving a bit better in an attempt to get rid of the algae -- but then I read a thread or two on here last night that made me think that wasn't going to help. Looking for advice on how to clear the algae.
2) Do ya'll suggest water test or soil tests or anything like that for someone just starting out with a pond? I see some of those test results floating around the forum -- but haven't seen a guide for what's important to monitor or anything like that. Would love some reading.
3) Anything else I'm missing....
Much thanks!
(higher-res pictures:
https://imgur.com/a/UxvKzOK )
