Clay bottom's up?

[Romney]

DEAR GPF Community? What to do?

After I dug out my 21' by 30' pond, I realized what I had just got myself into! I was fully intending to purchase a liner, but knew prior to digging that the soil I was dealing with was clay. I chose the particular place on my property because it held water, so well I couldn't mow it half the time as it was already a type of bog.

About a month ago, after I dug it out, we had major rains. It filled the whole pond, which has a two foot depth at the moment, over night. Water has been in it ever since preventing me from further work. It holds well. So, I'm wondering if I should even line it. I want to put gold fish in and would like to see them. I'm intending to install a bog that will provide 100% filtration. The water was very silty prior to me sump pumping it out yesterday.. I was thinking, for the sake of cost, that I could maybe get away with a general duty, blue, 3.5 mil polytarp. I don't need a tarp to seal the pond, just perhaps to assist my efforts for water clarity.. Again, it appears to hold water perfectly.

Any ideas!? Concerns? Thank you in advance if you do! What to do?

 

[addy1]

Here is some net information


The water in clay ponds

Your unfiltered clay-pond water will never be as clear as in a koi or goldfish pond with filtered water. However you could put a simple biological filter either in the water or on the surface outside the pond. You would, of course, need to use this in conjunction with a suitable pump. However, clay of any sort is quite unlike concrete, or indeed a flexible liner like vinyl, EPDM or butyl rubber, and there will always be a danger that the sand and silt will become churned up either by the fish or the movement of the water.


http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-011/420-011.html

I know some with clay ponds, the water always looks muddy, hard to see the fish.

 

[fishin4cars]

It won't ever get crystal clear like a liner pond, But many Koi breeders prfer to use clay bottom ponds to bring out the colors in the koi while they are in there first through third year to see if they can get the colors brough out for showing. 2' is not deep enough for Koi so you could do a natural for water lily's, Might try a liner with a bog filter, that may get it clear enough to engoy the fish.