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- May 11, 2022
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New pond owner here. Just bought a new house with a 1/4 - 1/3 acre pond, completely neglected. Previous owner says it gets as deep as 10ft. No fish as far as I can tell. Seen some frogs and I've heard a snapper turtle called it home last year though I think it moved on. Lots of wild ducks are here every day, including some pet ducks owned by the neighbor. There's also a stream that runs behind the pond (you can see a concrete spillway toward the back in the picture). I'm in Michigan so I have to consider the seasons. I'd like to get it cleaned up by looking at it from a short term and long term approach, though I have questions on both. I'd greatly appreciate feedback on these approaches below. Thanks!!
Short term approach- year 1
Right now, the goal is cleanup and to make it less of an eyesore, and on a tight budget. It's important that the cleanup is safe for the wildlife
I've read everywhere that the best approach is to build a bog filter. However, it's unclear on how to do this with a pond this large. I've watched the video from Aquascape but that doesn't provide the detail I need. The pond is oval in shape, ~140 ft x ~50 ft x 6ft avg depth. That comes out to ~250,000 gallons. My plan is to excavate an area next to the pond that's above the surface level, so that I can pump into it and have it waterfall down back into the pond for aeration.
Short term approach- year 1
Right now, the goal is cleanup and to make it less of an eyesore, and on a tight budget. It's important that the cleanup is safe for the wildlife
- Get waders and clean out the large sunken or floating debris
- Get a pond rake and elbow grease
- Add pond dye
- Add PondClear (or something similar)
- Add a surface mounted fountain to start aerating the water
- There is muck in the pond. Should I add muck remover / good bacteria? Is there an economical option since that stuff is very expensive?
- Should I switch from a surface mounted fountain to a submerged aeration bubbler?
- Is there anything I can add to the water to help filter all the nitrate-rich poop from the water? Or is that not a concern?
I've read everywhere that the best approach is to build a bog filter. However, it's unclear on how to do this with a pond this large. I've watched the video from Aquascape but that doesn't provide the detail I need. The pond is oval in shape, ~140 ft x ~50 ft x 6ft avg depth. That comes out to ~250,000 gallons. My plan is to excavate an area next to the pond that's above the surface level, so that I can pump into it and have it waterfall down back into the pond for aeration.
- Because of the duck presence and their rich nitrate feces, the bog filter should be larger. Is ~40% of the surface area of the pond appropriate?
- I've read that you want either 10 minutes of dwell time, or a full pond turnover every 2 hours. For a 250,000 gallon pond, that's a pump rate of 125,000 gallons per hour. That's just not feasible unless I have a ton of pumps. What would an appropriate pump rate be for a pond this large?
- For a pond this large, is the PVC pipe system appropriate or should I be looking at a centipede + snorkel approach? If so, how do I know how many centipedes I need to cover the required surface area?
- Is there a more economical approach separate from a bog filter that I should be considering?