Help Me Get My Pond Back to Normal

[ggrillo]

Hi everyone, we have a large pond in our front yard, dug 30+ years ago when the house was built. The pond is earth bottomed and fills with the water level in the surrounding canals. A few years ago we had several huge carp (3-4 feet long) that did a great job of keeping the pond clean. They came with the house. After a number of hurricanes and floods we've lost all of them and the pond has been completely overrun. There are tons of fish of all kinds in it now. Here are some pictures that you can see how bad it's gotten. If you could ID this crud that's overgrowing and suggest some sort of treatment I'd appreciate it. I was also thinking of adding a few koi fish in it but am not 100% on that. I don't think the other fish that are in it now have a large enough mouth to eat the koi and hopefully they'd start munching on this algae / grass.

 

[Dave 54]

Where to start ridding yourself of most of the weed I'd say .
How to go about it I'd carefully so as not to damage the bottom of the pond dredge out the weed identifying what it is first off and how fast it grows beforehand.
Identify what fish live in the pond see if you wish to keep them then either put them back in our release them elsware most probably where they originated from prior to the floods .
However I'm not the person to ask this as my pond is purely man made and not natural like your goodself.
There are I think other members of this site who would be more knowledgable here possibly capewnd

rgrds

Dave

 

[addy1]

I have only "heard" that if you disturb the bottom of a natural pond too much, it might start draining out. But then again down there in florida the water table is high, very high lol.
Maybe you can find a naturalist that could help you with what you are dealing with, if there might be a way to kill it without hurting the pond.

Maybe next time we come down we can do a stop by, the place we are working on is in delray beach.

 

[gardengimp]

Is your pond in any part spring fed? I.E. - where does the water come from. If ALL of the water comes from run-off and rain fall, then what you have shown in the pictures is normal.

If you don't have a running water source, i.e. spring or creek, then your first start will be to look into some sort of 'air' aeration for the center of the pond. The air bubbles will help push the floating stuff to the ponds edges where it will be trapped by the marginal plants.

Up here in Central Florida, the extension office Florida Yards & Neighbors frequently puts on waterfront landscaping workshops that are really good about identify issues with ways to solve them. You could check with your extension office and see if they have any FYN waterfront classes and/or workshops planned. Florida Water Front Property Owners Guide probably has a lot of useful information for you. Here is a shorter brochure. Please click this through and read the stormwater ponds, as I suspect this is what you have.

STORMWATER PONDS AND CANALS
Many Floridians live near man-made water bodies called
stormwater ponds and canals. These structures are created
to prevent flooding, manage stormwater,and improve
water quality in urbanized areas. Stormwater ponds and
canals are just as important to protect as our natural water
bodies because all of Florida’s waterways are connected,
and anything that enters a man-made water body could
eventually enter our natural water system.
Stormwater ponds and canals can be more than function-
al. With a little help from you, they can serve as a home
for birds, fish, plants, and frogs and become a neighbor-
hood amenity
.
Work with your neighborhood association
or your neighbors to create an area that not only
improves the environment, but also contributes to your
quality of life. Just make sureyou talk to your water man-
agement district before making any modifications,
because you’ll probably need to get a permit change.
Consider these strategies to enhance stormwater ponds
and canals:
•
Plant flood-tolerant species that are known to help
reduce contaminants in water.
•
Plant a wide variety of plants to increase biodiversity and
attract a wider range of wildlife and insects.
•
Add landscaping to make it look like a natural wetland.
•
Build boardwalks and trails so neighbors can enjoy
plants and wildlife.
•
Add varied water depths to an existing pond to create
diverse habitats

 

[ggrillo]

Thanks for the info. I would say it must be a stormwater pond. When the area floods that pond will fill all the way up to the street and overflow into the swails dug out by the roads. It always seems to match the water levels in the surrounding canals. The thing is that this pond is 30+ years old and only just recently has started looking like this (since losing the carp). I think I may look into applying for a grass carp permit and getting a few back in there.