Trout Pond Maintenance Questions   9/30/06
Greetings,
<Salutations>
Two weeks ago, we purchased a farm north of Portland, OR, complete with two spring-fed trout ponds...
<Congrats>
One of the trout ponds was ill-constructed, and doesn't appear to hold water through the summer (dry) season...  We believe water is "short-circuiting" the dam via decayed tree roots at the base...
<Mmm, happens... can this be repaired expediently/economically?>
The second (larger) pond is in better shape.  The pond surface area is approximately 60'x30', with a maximum depth of ~14'.  The pond is currently home to approximately 5 x 16" rainbow trout, and a handful of salamanders...  No other aquatic life is present...
We would like to ensure the continued health of the larger pond, and hope to repair the smaller pond in the coming years...  Since we are just getting our feet "wet" with the larger pond, we have a few preliminary maintenance questions - more pesky questions will follow as we better understand our situation...
1.  We found an old receipt for 70 x 12" rainbow trout...  This seems like a fairly large number for a pond this size...
<Mmm, not... can be much more crowded... safely, if fed... the water monitored for oxygen...>
  Are there any planning-level numbers we can use to estimate the number of trout we should consider for re-stocking (i.e. trout per thousand gallon)?  The previous owners were supplementing the natural food supply with fish food; we would be happy to do the same...
<There are standard works (books) in the field of aquaculture that will likely list such per species. You don't list which this is... there are a few...>
2.  The pond water is fairly dark (visibility is currently approximately 3-feet through the water column).  The previous owners attributed this color to algae, and reported successful use of AQUA-SHADE,  a proprietary blend of blue/yellow dyes designed to block
out specific light rays critical to algae photosynthesis (see http://www.aquashade.com/).
<Yep... have used many gallons, even dry powder pounds to make up ourselves over many years...>
They used this product in the spring to maintain clear water through the summer/fall...  But we're skeptical...
<Me too... doesn't "last" forever>
The bottom of the pond is not "slimy", nor is there any "stringy" algae on the bank or floating on the pond surface...  The water is simply "dark"...  We don't really have enough experience with the pond to know for sure, but our hypothesis is that this color results from deferred maintenance (i.e. overgrown/decaying grass along the banks, decaying leaf accumulation, etc...).  Any insights?
<You're very likely correct here>
We would prefer not to add any chemicals if they are not necessary.
<Can likely be avoided>
3.  What is the best season for re-stocking the pond?
<Spring>
That's all we have for now.  Thanks in advance for your assistance/insights.
Jude
<Mmm... you likely want to invest in a DO and pH meter combo... I'd look into YSI (Yellow Springs Instruments)... and an aerator/destratifier down the line... good/cheap way to improve water quality, curtail much in the way of pest algae blooms... Are you feeding the fish currently? Not necessary in cold/er weather... Do give a look at Aquatic Ecosystems site re gear, books: http://www.aquaticeco.com/
Bob Fenner>