new pond
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The dozer guy packed each layer of about 1' of clay before adding any more, then packed the topcoat of topsoil. I started to boxblade the dam smoother but was afraid I'd just loosen it where it might wash. I had him pile up the leftover clay that wasn't used in the dam so I could use it elsewhere later....
I have a mountain to move with the little iseki now.
According to my sight level the bottom is about 10'-11' to the spillway and the dam is about 2 1/2' above that. I plan to smooth out the yard around it this weekend and put down bermuda seed.
There is a large oak tree on the point we left sticking out into the pond. Once I clear out around it I plan to have a picnic table and some chairs, and possibly a small dock. I have some st augustine grass that I have been cultivating for plugging the yard that I will put down around the picnic area.
I have a mountain to move with the little iseki now.
According to my sight level the bottom is about 10'-11' to the spillway and the dam is about 2 1/2' above that. I plan to smooth out the yard around it this weekend and put down bermuda seed.
There is a large oak tree on the point we left sticking out into the pond. Once I clear out around it I plan to have a picnic table and some chairs, and possibly a small dock. I have some st augustine grass that I have been cultivating for plugging the yard that I will put down around the picnic area.
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Robert_in_NY
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It depends on your area. We had an excavator dig ours because it was all swamp where we put the pond and the only thing the dozer did was try to keep up with the excavator to clear the dirt away from the pond. A good excavator operator can out work a dozer for digging a pond but if you are digging a large pond the excavator will run out of room to set the overburden and be stuck moving it twice, while the dozer just keeps pushing each blade load to where it wants to. A small pond like your talking you can go either way but a dozer is probally the easiest way if you are going to do it yourself. But if you are digging in muck a dozer will just sit there till someone pulls it out.
My little iseki is really earning it's keep lately. Today I put topsoil and st augustine grass on the picnic area of the pond.Then I started removing the loose clay inside the pond, a lot of loose clay.
Sorry, no new pics today, barely had time to eat anything.
Final dimensions look like it's about 150' x 100' or so.
Does anyone know if ryegrass is ok for the inside area while I wait on some water.I have bermuda grass seed for the dam.
Tomorrow I hope to get to the outside of the dam. I'll try to take a few new pics tomorrow too.
Sorry, no new pics today, barely had time to eat anything.
Final dimensions look like it's about 150' x 100' or so.
Does anyone know if ryegrass is ok for the inside area while I wait on some water.I have bermuda grass seed for the dam.
Tomorrow I hope to get to the outside of the dam. I'll try to take a few new pics tomorrow too.
Anonymous Poster
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<font color="blue"> Does anyone know if ryegrass is ok for the inside area while I wait on some water. </font>
Interesting concept! I had not thought of that, as I have a spring that feeds my pond...are you planning on run off filling the pond?
I heard there is a pond up the road from me that is filled by rain run off only, but there are some steep hills near it to channel the water to it...do you get a lot of rain over your way?
Interesting concept! I had not thought of that, as I have a spring that feeds my pond...are you planning on run off filling the pond?
I heard there is a pond up the road from me that is filled by rain run off only, but there are some steep hills near it to channel the water to it...do you get a lot of rain over your way?
OK, I got some seat time this weekend.
I civilized the picnic area, removed all the loose clay from inside, smoothed things up {somewhat} and seeded the whole thing.
I hope the pond will fill by this fall with rains only. I know of a few spring fed ponds around, but they are the exception here. I have a pretty good hill behind the pond which is directed to drain to it, but I can add "wings" if needed. The dozer guy seemed to think I would get plenty of water by fall.
My ulterior motive for a pond is to water some lawn out of it and keep a few fish hopefully.
Water wells are almost impossible on my place it seems. I bought a DR Hydradrill and drilled three holes hoping to use one for lawn watering, only to come up with nothing. I have tried to get a water well driller to drill one for me, but he has stalled for almost a year now.I consulted a geologist recomended by the driller and he told me that my place was all on "Deese" formation which means "slim to none" as far as well odds go.
I have a big hole in my yard, so now it's not up to me.
Here's a before pic of the picnic area, I'll post an after pic next.
I civilized the picnic area, removed all the loose clay from inside, smoothed things up {somewhat} and seeded the whole thing.
I hope the pond will fill by this fall with rains only. I know of a few spring fed ponds around, but they are the exception here. I have a pretty good hill behind the pond which is directed to drain to it, but I can add "wings" if needed. The dozer guy seemed to think I would get plenty of water by fall.
My ulterior motive for a pond is to water some lawn out of it and keep a few fish hopefully.
Water wells are almost impossible on my place it seems. I bought a DR Hydradrill and drilled three holes hoping to use one for lawn watering, only to come up with nothing. I have tried to get a water well driller to drill one for me, but he has stalled for almost a year now.I consulted a geologist recomended by the driller and he told me that my place was all on "Deese" formation which means "slim to none" as far as well odds go.
I have a big hole in my yard, so now it's not up to me.
Here's a before pic of the picnic area, I'll post an after pic next.
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DavidD, use this time before the water rises to put in a pier and a few "obstructions" for the future fish poputaltion. I dug a few smallish holes to give the pond some underwater character. The peir will give the fish a place to hide also.
Have you got a fish supplier near there that can help you to put the right fish population percentages in your pond? A couple of grass crap are wonderfull to eat the grass/weeds that try to grow near the edges. One cattail becomes 50 within a year.
good luck with your water
gary
Have you got a fish supplier near there that can help you to put the right fish population percentages in your pond? A couple of grass crap are wonderfull to eat the grass/weeds that try to grow near the edges. One cattail becomes 50 within a year.
good luck with your water
gary
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I agree with gmason. Now is the time to put in the posts for your pier. And that nice smooth bottom looks nice, but fish like structures of various types. You could cut some trenches and dropoffs, build some small mounds, and maybe anchor some logs or other items to the bottom to create ideal fish habitat.
MarkV
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David,
You may want to check out www.PONDBOSS.COM for a nice forum on ponds and lakes. One of the members here on TBN recommended it to me and there is a great deal of knowledge being offered by some very nice pond and lake management professionals.
MarkV
You may want to check out www.PONDBOSS.COM for a nice forum on ponds and lakes. One of the members here on TBN recommended it to me and there is a great deal of knowledge being offered by some very nice pond and lake management professionals.
MarkV
froggy
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I have subscribed to "Pond Boss" since its inception. It's a great magazine and has an excellent website.
We finally had some rain......{Thank You}.....I believe I have plenty of watershed. We had about 3"- 3 1/2" and now have about 6 1/2 ' of water in the pond. We went to the minnow place and bought some "fathead minnows" and some channel cats today, just to get a start. Hopefully we will get some more rains to finish filling it up this summer.
Any ideas on how to settle a new muddy pond anyone?
David
Any ideas on how to settle a new muddy pond anyone?
David
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Glad to hear the plan is coming together!
Don't forget to share a picture or two with us when you get a chance!
Don't forget to share a picture or two with us when you get a chance!
rmorgan
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David--
First, I'm totally jealous that you get 6' of water from 3" of rain; I get about 3.5:1 in our pond. On the other hand, you're sure going to be shedding a lot of water in hard rains after it's full; keep a mightly close eye on downstream conditions, because you're going to have a whale of a lot of hydraulic force coming out of the overflow pipe (which you didn't mention, unless I missed something; how is it configured?)
Anyway. Muddy water in clay-bottom ponds can be a real challenge in terms of water clarity. In some cases (like ours), the clay became negatively (??) ionized, resulting in turbidity--clay suspended in the water in such fine particles that it will not settle out. After two years, I applied filter alum to the pond, the effect of which is to flocculate (clump) the clay so that it can settle out. The result was good visibility, after which it reverted somewhat; visibility is now about 2'. Too much visibility, however, and Katie-bar-the-door on bottom growth and algae; the deeper the sun can penetrate, the more stuff can grow. However, I wouldn't think about doing anything for awhile, for a couple of reasons. The bottom of the pond, if it's like ours, will be complete soup for awhile until the clay gets packed down (I think by the weight of the water--anybody know?).
If and when you decide that alum application is necessary, the source I used for filter alum is Aquatic Control in Seymour Indiana, 8000-753-LAKE. I used a stock tank to dissolve it and broadcast it with a small gas pump.
Next, you haven't mentioned aeration. Especially, but not only, in a stocked pond, aeration is critical, especially in summer. Without it, the water will stratify, with oxygen-depleted water at the bottom (resulting from the decay of organic matter, which consumes dissolved O2), and the water at the top will maintain a measure of oxygen because of atmospheric contact. As a result, fish populations must live at the surface, and the bottom of the pond becomes dead. Under certain conditions--for example, a hard summer rain--the pond can "turn over"--the exygenated air at the top, which is warm, becomes mixed with cold rain and sinks to the bottom. The "dead" water at the bottom comes to the surface. The fish die in the dead water. This happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago. Like Bill Carlson, we use an aerator with a stone diffuser at the bottom; we also have a waterfall which contributes somewhat to aeration.
As to a dock, we built a floating dock instead of a fixed pier. It rises and falls with water level; we were down about 14" during the drought last year, so the floater was good for swimming. Also, we can cast it loose and pole it around the pond when we want. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
As to fish structures, there is a hot-tub store near here and I grabbed some pallets off their "free" pile and submerged them to provide spawning grounds. This is a pretty standard approach.
Links follow to articles on the aerator and suspended-clay turbidity. You might also look at the Farm Pond Discussion Forum, which is run by the Purdue Ag department.
Farm pond turbidity
Aerators
Have fun!!
First, I'm totally jealous that you get 6' of water from 3" of rain; I get about 3.5:1 in our pond. On the other hand, you're sure going to be shedding a lot of water in hard rains after it's full; keep a mightly close eye on downstream conditions, because you're going to have a whale of a lot of hydraulic force coming out of the overflow pipe (which you didn't mention, unless I missed something; how is it configured?)
Anyway. Muddy water in clay-bottom ponds can be a real challenge in terms of water clarity. In some cases (like ours), the clay became negatively (??) ionized, resulting in turbidity--clay suspended in the water in such fine particles that it will not settle out. After two years, I applied filter alum to the pond, the effect of which is to flocculate (clump) the clay so that it can settle out. The result was good visibility, after which it reverted somewhat; visibility is now about 2'. Too much visibility, however, and Katie-bar-the-door on bottom growth and algae; the deeper the sun can penetrate, the more stuff can grow. However, I wouldn't think about doing anything for awhile, for a couple of reasons. The bottom of the pond, if it's like ours, will be complete soup for awhile until the clay gets packed down (I think by the weight of the water--anybody know?).
If and when you decide that alum application is necessary, the source I used for filter alum is Aquatic Control in Seymour Indiana, 8000-753-LAKE. I used a stock tank to dissolve it and broadcast it with a small gas pump.
Next, you haven't mentioned aeration. Especially, but not only, in a stocked pond, aeration is critical, especially in summer. Without it, the water will stratify, with oxygen-depleted water at the bottom (resulting from the decay of organic matter, which consumes dissolved O2), and the water at the top will maintain a measure of oxygen because of atmospheric contact. As a result, fish populations must live at the surface, and the bottom of the pond becomes dead. Under certain conditions--for example, a hard summer rain--the pond can "turn over"--the exygenated air at the top, which is warm, becomes mixed with cold rain and sinks to the bottom. The "dead" water at the bottom comes to the surface. The fish die in the dead water. This happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago. Like Bill Carlson, we use an aerator with a stone diffuser at the bottom; we also have a waterfall which contributes somewhat to aeration.
As to a dock, we built a floating dock instead of a fixed pier. It rises and falls with water level; we were down about 14" during the drought last year, so the floater was good for swimming. Also, we can cast it loose and pole it around the pond when we want. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
As to fish structures, there is a hot-tub store near here and I grabbed some pallets off their "free" pile and submerged them to provide spawning grounds. This is a pretty standard approach.
Links follow to articles on the aerator and suspended-clay turbidity. You might also look at the Farm Pond Discussion Forum, which is run by the Purdue Ag department.
Farm pond turbidity
Aerators
Have fun!!
MarkV
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Another discussion group with some pond management professional participation is www.PONDBOSS.COM
MarkV
MarkV
I like the fact that it is filling fast, but I think I will redirect some of my runoff from the pond pretty soon. I used my boxblade to cut two "ditches" angling up the hill two directions behind the pond,effectively catching about 10 acres of hillside runoff.
It appears to be too much runoff now, I didn't put in a pipe system, just have a spillway on the north end onto undisturbed grass lawn, and an emergency spillway on the south end about 10" higher onto grass lawn. If I cut down the input, hopefully I can get away with this. I have sprigged st augustine grass around the spillways which will be very thick and hard to wash out {I hope}
I read the article on turbidity from suspended clay linked from the pondboss site,and I must say the article and the Pondboss site are very informative.
I removed all the loose clay from the pond interior before it started to fill but the runoff was over a lot of fresh cut clay ditch.I will probably battle this for some time to get it cleared up.After I get the grass going close to the pond, the runoff should be mostly through oak woods above the pond.
Thanks for the tips
David
It appears to be too much runoff now, I didn't put in a pipe system, just have a spillway on the north end onto undisturbed grass lawn, and an emergency spillway on the south end about 10" higher onto grass lawn. If I cut down the input, hopefully I can get away with this. I have sprigged st augustine grass around the spillways which will be very thick and hard to wash out {I hope}
I read the article on turbidity from suspended clay linked from the pondboss site,and I must say the article and the Pondboss site are very informative.
I removed all the loose clay from the pond interior before it started to fill but the runoff was over a lot of fresh cut clay ditch.I will probably battle this for some time to get it cleared up.After I get the grass going close to the pond, the runoff should be mostly through oak woods above the pond.
Thanks for the tips
David
