Green Farm Pond
 

Hey everyone,

We own a farm that has a 2 acre pond on it. The pond if fed from 2
springs we have on the property, and is 30 feet deep (yeah, it's
pretty big).

There are probably 200 or more Koi in the pond, ranging from
fingerlings to giant 2 foot long monsters. There are also abundant
minnows and we've even spotted a couple of catfish.

Now for the problem: The pond water every summer gets green and
stinky. Even when I can see by the outflow that water is still coming
into the pond. Since it is a dull green color, I can tell that it is
probably algae. When the dogs jump in the pond they always come out
stinking to high heaven.

The fish don't seem to mind this much, clearly they are reproducing,
and they obviously survive the Winter. Every Spring, the pond
explodes with frogs and tadpoles, so we got the amphibian angle
working there too - but for humans, it sure isn't much fun to
contemplate swimming in green stink water.

I've tried Cutrine Plus (last year) and it knocked down the matted
algae, and cleared the pond up a tad, but I'm looking for a better way
to keep this pond clean and clear. I'd love to find a better
"balance" for the pond with something to eat the algae, but there is
just so much of it, and I have no idea what kind of creatures I can
put in there to create a clean ecosystem.

I've got Zetts catalog - but when I called them, the guy on the other
end of the phone just told me to buy more Koi - "but I've got hundreds
already" I said. "Well, just buy some more" was his answer.

I've even considered having a buddy of mine who lives in Michigan ship
me some Zebra Mussels - they cleaned out the Great Lakes! (this is a
joke, folks).

Can anyone tell me what I should do to get this water clean and clear,
and not stinky anymore?

Thanks!

Dave.

Green Farm Pond
 

"Well, just buy some more (koi)" was his answer.

ak!
no!
Nutrients for algae are sun, new water, fish WASTE, fertilized run off, rotting
plants, blown in dirt.

You've got a lot of nutrients in the pond and they are decaying.
Is there run off coming into the pond, is it coming from an area that is
fertilized?
I'd get the water moving.
These folks are a lot of help
http://www.aquaticecosystems.com

Also
The following are great resources
for large, natural ponds.
Earth Pond Sourcebook
by Tim Matson
and the newsgroup
misc.rural
and the ask the Pond Boss forum
http://www.pondboss.com/cgibin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

and
call your county extension agent, they can be
a lot of help.

good luck!
And let us know what happens,

k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

Green Farm Pond
 

On 22 Aug 2003 17:28:08 -0700, (Dave) wrote:

Can anyone tell me what I should do to get this water clean and clear,
and not stinky anymore?

Since the springs are non-fertile, it's most likely caused by runoff from
fields.

I'm building a 1.4a pond, and I built a levee all the way around it to
prevent runoff from simply running in and carrying grass and topsoil with
it. I am making a choke point where all runoff will percolate through a
large filter bed.

A 2a pond is a bit large and laborious to build a continuous levee around,
but you can probably divert most of the runoff easily with partial levee's.

Also, try to reduce the fertility of the runoff area if it's feasible. Cows,
horses, chickens, ducks, and geese are unending sources of nitrates and
phosphates. :-)

If you have shallow areas anywhere in your pond, encourage water weeds to
grow and they will help absorb some of the fertility.

Good luck,

Bob

Green Farm Pond
 

Hi Dave
Sounds Like a great pond.
One thing that you might try that is low cost is toss in a couple of bales
of Barley Straw (get them now) in spring before the algae get a start. The
Straw apparently releases something that the algae doesn't like. But doesn't
bother anything else. It will add an oxygen demand as it needs to rot to
work. It will not fix any other problems with low oxygen etc. ( SearchYou
may wish to consider some sort of aeration to increase the oxygen level. I
pump cirulating water causing splashing would help. Or some sort of air
pump.
You may want to checkout the following links.
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/wildlife/nf429.htm

http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/GRENH2O.html



"Dave" wrote in message
om...
Hey everyone,

We own a farm that has a 2 acre pond on it. The pond if fed from 2
springs we have on the property, and is 30 feet deep (yeah, it's
pretty big).

There are probably 200 or more Koi in the pond, ranging from
fingerlings to giant 2 foot long monsters. There are also abundant
minnows and we've even spotted a couple of catfish.

Now for the problem: The pond water every summer gets green and
stinky. Even when I can see by the outflow that water is still coming
into the pond. Since it is a dull green color, I can tell that it is
probably algae. When the dogs jump in the pond they always come out
stinking to high heaven.

The fish don't seem to mind this much, clearly they are reproducing,
and they obviously survive the Winter. Every Spring, the pond
explodes with frogs and tadpoles, so we got the amphibian angle
working there too - but for humans, it sure isn't much fun to
contemplate swimming in green stink water.

I've tried Cutrine Plus (last year) and it knocked down the matted
algae, and cleared the pond up a tad, but I'm looking for a better way
to keep this pond clean and clear. I'd love to find a better
"balance" for the pond with something to eat the algae, but there is
just so much of it, and I have no idea what kind of creatures I can
put in there to create a clean ecosystem.

I've got Zetts catalog - but when I called them, the guy on the other
end of the phone just told me to buy more Koi - "but I've got hundreds
already" I said. "Well, just buy some more" was his answer.

I've even considered having a buddy of mine who lives in Michigan ship
me some Zebra Mussels - they cleaned out the Great Lakes! (this is a
joke, folks).

Can anyone tell me what I should do to get this water clean and clear,
and not stinky anymore?

Thanks!

Dave.

Green Farm Pond
 

I know the Zett's family.. nice folks, but the advice they gave you is
incorrect.
I have 2 farm ponds.
Initially I had the same problems as you (back in 1982- 1984), and I used
herbicides (simazine).
Then I thought about what I was doing and went "natural".
I bought a number of lilies (from Zett's actually), and planted marginals
(water irises), waiting a year to allow the simazine to dissipate (there are
studies saying it accumulates in soil).
Within 3 years the ponds (which have no significant spring feeds) totally
cleared up!
I have them stocked with lge mouth bass, perch, rosey red and fat head
minnows, and crayfish.
I love Koi, but they stay in my gunnited water garden/Koi pond, as they keep
the water much too dirty (as they are benthic feeders and constantly root
around in the mud) in a farm/mud pond.
Good luck,
Greg


"Dave" wrote in message
om...
Hey everyone,

We own a farm that has a 2 acre pond on it. The pond if fed from 2
springs we have on the property, and is 30 feet deep (yeah, it's
pretty big).

There are probably 200 or more Koi in the pond, ranging from
fingerlings to giant 2 foot long monsters. There are also abundant
minnows and we've even spotted a couple of catfish.

Now for the problem: The pond water every summer gets green and
stinky. Even when I can see by the outflow that water is still coming
into the pond. Since it is a dull green color, I can tell that it is
probably algae. When the dogs jump in the pond they always come out
stinking to high heaven.

The fish don't seem to mind this much, clearly they are reproducing,
and they obviously survive the Winter. Every Spring, the pond
explodes with frogs and tadpoles, so we got the amphibian angle
working there too - but for humans, it sure isn't much fun to
contemplate swimming in green stink water.

I've tried Cutrine Plus (last year) and it knocked down the matted
algae, and cleared the pond up a tad, but I'm looking for a better way
to keep this pond clean and clear. I'd love to find a better
"balance" for the pond with something to eat the algae, but there is
just so much of it, and I have no idea what kind of creatures I can
put in there to create a clean ecosystem.

I've got Zetts catalog - but when I called them, the guy on the other
end of the phone just told me to buy more Koi - "but I've got hundreds
already" I said. "Well, just buy some more" was his answer.

I've even considered having a buddy of mine who lives in Michigan ship
me some Zebra Mussels - they cleaned out the Great Lakes! (this is a
joke, folks).

Can anyone tell me what I should do to get this water clean and clear,
and not stinky anymore?

Thanks!

Dave.

Green Farm Pond
 

(Dave) wrote:

Now for the problem: The pond water every summer gets green and
stinky.

This may be repeating what others have said... view it as from the
department of redundancy department.
How old is the pond? Mine (only 2/3 acre) was quite green the first few
years until a variety of plants got established. I have a number of hardy
water lilies potted in plastic pails, but they probably don't "eat" enough
to matter compared to the various sedges, cattails, and unnamed aquatic
things on the bottom. Farm runoff could well be the problem as well.
I have only large-mouth bass, rather overcrowded; the fat head minnows that
were stocked with them some years ago have become extinct. I'm considering
a separate minnow pond as a breeding spot. With all this wildlife, the
water is rather _too_ clear since most of the nutrients have fins on them!
A local fellow recommended the "worm and six-pack" method of bass thinning.
Works fine!
(Pictures on my personal page, in the .sig below).



Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G