How to improve water clarity in a ~1000m pond?

[Danoe]

Hello,

I have a pond with a surface area of a little over 1000 m² and a maximum depth of about 3 m (on average around 1.5 m). There are some fish living in it (I’m not the first owner, so I don’t know exactly what species).

This year I added aeration – two 75 cm tube diffusers running every day, 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening. The water doesn’t smell bad, but it’s not clear. I’d like to improve the water quality and clarity. I don’t expect crystal clear water, but right now the visibility is quite poor.

I’m wondering what I can do with a reasonable amount of work and money:

• Plants – I’m considering adding some aquatic plants, but I’m not sure if typical submerged plants will grow well with the current poor clarity.
• Water treatments – I’ve read about sobe aquabiotics, but I don’t know if they are actually effective.
• Fish stock – there are quite a lot of fish, and I realize they put a heavy load on the ecosystem. Reducing their numbers might help, but is there a safe and sensible way to do this? (I assume chemicals are not really an option.)
• Filtration – I thought about building a DIY bog filter. With a pump in the range of 12,000–15,000 l/h running constantly. I don't want to spend ton on electricity bill... I’m just not sure if it would make a noticeable difference in such a large pond.

I don’t have much experience with pond management, so I’d really appreciate advice and suggestions from people who have dealt with similar situations.

 

[tinycat]

Is that a natural pond, or is there a liner of some sort? If natural, I think you'll have murky water due to the mud content. Lots of fish means any plants you add will become part of their diet unless you take efforts to protect the plants. If you think about streams, where they are moving along on rocks,, they are often clear, unless a lot of dirt runoff flows in, then even streams get murky. Moving water, if it isnt churning up the dirt (or the fish aren't churning it up) should help with water quality, but not necessarily visibility.

Fish will breed happily, so net them out and give them away on a regular basis. If you chose floating plants, they'll do just fine in murky water, but might get eaten. You can also plant along the edges of the pond, adding a variety of plants that do ok in your climate.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Danoe]

Thank you for your reply. I forgot to mention the most important detail — this is a NATURAL pond without any liner. It was desilted about four years ago. So, if I understand correctly, the best approach would be to reduce the number of fish and then add some aquatic plants? Also, does adding a bog filter, as I mentioned earlier, make sense in this case? I realize it would be relatively small, since I’d probably use a pump no larger than 15,000 l/h, but could it still be beneficial in any reasonable way?

 

[tinycat]

There are some youtube channels with informative info about natural bottomed ponds that might be helpful.
Put's Ponds
Turpin's Landscape
Penn State Extension

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

Nice pond even if murky

 

[j.w]

and welcome @Danoe

 

[GBBUDD]

An eaten bottom that is not a solid gravel base . Will probably never clear as the fish sturdy up the bottom all day long.
And you are right 12000 liters an hour won't make a dent in that pond

I would however leave those Air stones on 24 hours a day