Pond dreaming is over

[MadDogDriver]

MadDog,
That is beautiful!!! i would not pull that apart. Could that be a start of a man made stream leading to a pond?

Thanks. My wife is the "Master Gardener" ...... I'm just IGOR the "Rock Picker"

I did expand it a little while ago. We were doing our "Spring cleaning" to get all the decomposed leaves, etc. out of the water and since it was all taken apart I decided I make it a little bigger with my new BH90-X. That way I could get some more seat time (need to get some pics of the revised "pond")

We expanded our "puddle" to about 11' diameter.
Here's the "expanded" pond pic.

 

[coopers]

MadDog,

I like how well landscaped your place is. Lots of good color and variety, very lush looking. Looks great!

Blake
WA

 

[MadDogDriver]

Thanks coopers. I love looking at our yard all the time. It's actually prettier from our neighbor's view than from within our house. (more depth of field) This time of year doesn't hurt either. She's tried to arrange everything so that we have as much color as possible throughout the year. Keeps me home, that's for sure.

Like I said earlier, my wife is truly a "Master Gardener". She gets embarassed when I say that, but the proof is literally in the pictures. The Master Gardener program is available in most every state, if not all of them, and she completed both the Virginia and Washington courses. I on the other hand enjoy her vision and do the dirty work as her IGOR. To be fair, she probably does more grunt work than I, especially now we have "ol Blue" (gotta get that seat time, plus I'm afraid if she starts using our tractor too much without me she'll realize she doesn't need me for grunt work at least). She's the kind of woman who wants plants and trees moved like others would have furniture moved. She does know what she wants (although she's constantly second guessing herself, hence the rotating locations of some of our plants.)

 

[philbuilt]

MadDog, WOW that is perfect. I found myself just staring at the picture and felt relaxed. I think I would just go out and sit and enjoy all the time. The city where my business is they installed a fountain very similar to yours. It lacks all the beautiful plants. Is it quiet there?
The zoning here is a 5 acre per lot so the noise is not too bad. Once I complete digging the pond we will start adding trees and shrubs for color and privacy. My neighbors also have a better than us but that will be fixed in time with growth of new plants. You guys have a special spot there thanks for sharing.
Phil

 

[MadDogDriver]

Thanks Phil,

Yes, it's quiet and very relaxing just sitting on our patio and listening to the water and enjoying the scenery. The birds love it too. I get a kick out of the humming birds taking baths, you'd think the water would knock them down, but they're strong little guys. We have a little over 7 acres and I'd estimate that she's got somewhere around 11/2 acres landscaped.

My wife is funny. Every once in awhile she starts complaining about the yard being too large to care for, but then she's planning a new area to landscape. Like the rings in a tree, our landscape "islands" measure each year we've had the property. The TLB has made it much easier to expand/change her vision. I'm afraid that when we ever sell, the potential buyers will be scared off by the level of care necessary to keep the yard looking beautiful. We average about 45 yds of mulch whenever it's re-mulching time. The new grapple on my FEL makes that job tremendously easier as I can control the dump very precisely with it. This is the thread I'd started when we first got the grapple installed, http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/97412-new-6-function-grapple.html.

You have a beautiful setup also Phil. Like we've both noticed, it's more enjoyable viewing the property from outside looking in. We think it's because of the depth of field of the landscaping, and that's one of the reasons why my wife keeps adding "islands" to try creating that sense of depth from our viewing areas. You have the makings of a gorgeous "Golden Pond" on a much larger scale than ours. TBN makes it great to live vicariously through each other and is a tremendous resource for "dreaming" and inspiration.

New England is so beautiful, especially in the fall. I wish our colors were as vibrant out here as yours in the fall. Of course our springs are hard to beat here. We took a fall colors tour of NE a couple years back, visited some of my old college buddies in NH, MA, & VT. What fun! We stayed on back roads, did the historical drive from Manchester through Boston and out past Martha's Vineyard; then over to VT and the old covered bridges. That was relaxing too. Looking forward to when your project matures. It'll be quicker than you think.

 

[philbuilt]

Pond update:
The water is starting to clear, 680lbs. granulated gypsum. It's been 8 days since application and the clear water is down to 4". I think this is good due to the fact we had 5 days of rain and the water level is up 3.5"
Last night we could see down about 2.5" that an improvement of 1.5" in 24hrs.

The grass is also starting to show on the far side where we seeded.
I also added a new tool to the list. It's a 5'x10' dump trailer I will pull this around with my 3/4 ton truck.
I will post some pic's this weekend.
Phil

 

[philbuilt]

Here are the pics.
I did add another 520lbs of gypsum today.
I used this picture so that you can see the rocks that I have put in for
cover fo the fish.



Here is the grass that has started.


My new dump trailer 2.4 yds.



I'm thinking about adding a hitch to the side of the BH. Is there any
input on this? Will it be too much weight on the back of the tractor.
I hope that it will work, it could eliminate allot of hooking and unhooking.
I hope you all had a great weekend.
Phil

 

[coopers]

Very nice looking, it's coming along great. Not sure if you're a bird fan but a few wood duck nest boxes in the trees there would be cool, you'd have yourself a little family.

Blake
WA

 

[philbuilt]

Coopers,
Thank you! Wood Ducks? Do they eat fish?

The pond hasn't cleared much more. I am now looking for the powered white gypsum. I was told that the ag stores would sell it so I went to agway and they don't know what it is. Can any one tell me where it my be found here in Maine?
And now for some pic's

The pond is now developing some surface scum. Is this pollen that is rotting?



Here is another shot



In the last week we had another hatching of tadpoles, I hope the fish will eat them



Thats all for now. The BH sub frame is almost finished soon I will start digging at the edges again. I have been hauling loads of dirt to the front of my land.

Phil

 

[coopers]

Wood ducks mostly eat aquatic plant seeds and insects. They're not a threat to your fish. In the winter you might get some mergansers like the hooded merganser or some bufflehead in there and they're divers eating fish but I'd have to double check their range for your area. I'm sure they only winter in your area.

Blake
WA

 

[philbuilt]

Coopers do you think that they would come even though we walk down with the dogs? ducks that don't eat the fish I would welcome.

The scum is gone and the fish are rising like crazy .
Pond management is stressfully! I think I need to just let nature do its thing and no intervene.
Phil

 

[coopers]

Well in that case I don't think so. Wood ducks are VERY cautious birds, in the winter when they're vulnerable and molting it's hard to find them on water in the woods or with trees surrounding them. At any rate, momma wouldn't like having constant visitation like that. But you may get some visitors at some point but for short periods.

Blake
WA

 

[YOTI]

Hey Phil, Great project, I have enjoyed going through the thread. I was just at my buddies place yesterday and noticed he has mounted a ball on the top edge of his fel, that may work for you as well. Take care, Craig

 

[gary pate]

PhilBuilt;Have been reading post and wonder if you added lime if that wouldn't clear up your water. Don't know what effect it would have on the fish. Good luck and keep up the good work.

 

[Superduper]

Great job Phil,

All I can say is wow.

Anyhow, did I miss something regarding how you filled the pond, or did you just dig the hole and it naturally filled up? Will it stay this way or will it dry up in the summer? Did you investigate the level of the water table to know that digging the hole would yield a pond? Sorry about all the questions but I guess what I really want to know is "how did you know that digging the hole would result in more than just a hole in the ground?"

Super.

 

[philbuilt]

Coopers,
We did have a pair of mallards after a heavy rain fall this spring.
All the Fields were flooded so they came and visited I assume because we are a little higher and still had some weed at pond edge for them to eat.

Yoti,
Thank you
I hope to attach it to the BH off to one side . My land is wide open so it being off center would not be a problem. I hope to drop the legs and load with the BH lift the legs and go dump and repeat. No hooking and unhooking. More seat time.

gary pate,
Is lime the same as powdered gypsum? I'm told that is the only thing that will not change the chemistry of the water. The fish are doing great and I don't want to mess with that.

Superduper,
Thank you.
Water level, My son use to run his truck in the mud down there with his friends. The tire ruts stayed full of water so, I assumed the soil was good to hold run off from the Fields. My well is about 200' away from the pond site and the water level in it always stayed high. That is where I thought it would work. Last summer the water level only dropped about 6 to 10" or so. So far this year it's only fluctuated about 3 1/2" but the rain has been on and off.

I took a picture last night after the camp fire.


I will move more dirt to day
Phil

 

[mocassincreekranch]

philbuilt

Call Allied Custom Gypsum at 580-756-9565 and ask who is a dealer near you. They ship all over the U.S. I put 500lbs in my 1/2 pond and it cleared it up overnight. The product on the bag says Ground Calcium Sulfate # 2203, $6.50 per bag. You are on the right track with powdered gypsum, throw it out from the bank or putting in the prop wash of a trolling motor works best. I have done this for 3 neighbors and they are amazed at the results after a few days.

 

[Superduper]

Excuse my ignorance but what is the principle behind gypsum and clearing of the water? Won't dosing it in this manner make the water extremely hard and won't that affect the fish? I imagine that trout are soft water fish but then again, this is from speculation more than anything else. I am also curious whether the gypsum actually dissolves into solution or just turns the bottom of the pond white. I've never known sheetrock to dissolve. Turn to mush, yes.

 

[EddieWalker]

One reason for muddy looking water is an electrical charge in the water that causes the water to hold the very fine particles of silt in it. I forget if it's a postivie charge, or a negative one, but the result is the water will always look muddy for all time.

In Phils pond, I believe his water was clear at one time, so it's a good assumption that it will clear up again on its own. If it was always muddy looking, then gypsum is a very good choice to nutralize the electrical charge of the water and allow the suspended silt particles to settle to the bottom of the pond.

I did this with my small pond when I built my house. I tossed all the scrap sheetrock in there all around the shoreline. The water was very, very dark, muddy brown. In about three days it was noticable clearer. Around a week later, it was beautiful!!!!! Just amazing at the diference and how quickly it happened. Then a week after that, green alge started growing. It kept growing until it was growing on top of itself to create a sludge that was building up above water line. It was the most disgusting, horrible mess imaginable. It stayed that way until winter when it died off from the cold weather. The next spring the water came back in from the rains and it turned brown again. I've decided I like brown water and will never clear up my ponds again.

Eddie

 

[philbuilt]

mocassincreekranch ,
Thank you for the # but they say its not in service. I will go to my ag store and ask for the product you listed.

Super,
The gypsum will dissolve and change the polarity of the pond water but not the PH. The gypsum attracts the clay particles and causes them to clump up instead of being suspended.
I am clearing the pond for my own pleasure. It will also allow me to see where I am digging on the edges if I miss a spot I will see it the following evening. I can also see the fish better too.

Eddie,
You are right on about clearing the water. I wonder if your water temp was a factor in the algae growing in your pond. My pond is now clear down about 20", water temp 49 to 70 DEG.
So far there is no algae growth on the surface just pollen and it kinda makes it brown. But the wind blows and it goes away.
So far so good.
This pond stuff can really drive one crazy with worries.
Phil