Newbie Pond guy needs advice

[PackyPond1]

Hello all.  I recently became the owner of a man-made pond.  It is about 90 feet by 35 feet, shaped like a half moon.  It is natural spring fed and is about 8-10 feet deep.   It has very little plant growth, and the bottom is thick mud.   It supports bugs, frogs, snakes, and turtles, but no fish.    I would like to know how I can care for it... so it can be a swimmable pond.  I have jumped in a few times and the water seems clean.   It typically is clear for the first 2 feet.  Right now it is copper colored becuase of alot of recent rain.

Should I stock it with Fish?  What kind, pros and cons?   Should I think about aeration?  What steps should I take to care for it... what vegatation is bad, what is good?     I would like to use it as a swimming hole for my kids.   I will try to post some pictures.

[Julles]

Wow, that is huge - you're quite lucky.

It sounds like the pond on my Uncle Bud's farm.  We swam in that pond, clear water or not.

There are quite a few people here with mud-bottom ponds, and hopefully they will chime in.  I know some have koi and others have native fresh water fish.  Me, I would put in some koi.

Hopefully they can also advise you about plants - you want to have beautiful plants, but not have the pond over run by rampant growth.  For one thing, though, you definately need a few lilies.    

[Julles]

Oh, also - WELCOME to American Ponders!

[PackyPond1]

Thank you for the welcome.

[reddad35]

Sweet. To have a property like yours is my dream.

 I was looking about a couple of months ago and ran into something you might be interested in. There are more like this one out there. http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/swimmingpond.html

Fish would be great too.

 Good luck and congrats.

Jim

[miguynmkoi]

Welcome!  Fabulous pond!

It supports bugs, frogs, snakes, and turtles, but no fish.

The snakes would keep me out of the lake! 

[jw]

Welcome!  Fabulous pond!

It supports bugs, frogs, snakes, and turtles, but no fish.

The snakes would keep me out of the lake! 

The pond is lovely but.............Oh man...........I agree, no snakes around my toes   

[fishlipsmcgee]

No snakes here either

[PondmaninAL]

Common water snakes don't bother me, water moccasins do. My family use to live in an old farm house and there was a creek that the driveway ran through. I use to sit on the rocks and talk to the water snakes. TurtleMike needs to help this guy out. I would say that he is the real mud pond guru and the water lilies are to die for.

Oh, welcome to AP, PackyPond1!

[turtlemike]

Welcome PackyPond1.  Turtlemike to the rescue!   
     First look at the thread " Pics for tink, OK and you too." thread.  Look at the pics of my pond and tell me if that is what you are after. Also check out other posts of mine and you will get most of the info you need.
      Where do you live?  It seems by your pics you might live out west. If that is the case your choice of marginal plants would probably be different than my mix of plants.  If you want to have lilies I can name varieties that wont spread fast or seed your pond and take over.   
      My ponds have only shiner minnows and fathead minnows, they don't stir up mud and a mosquito doesn't stand a chance.
      I could name lots of plants that you probably don't want like cattails and tuberosa waterlilies and leafy pondweed.  There probably many species in your area that you would consider invasive or not good for swimming with.  But the main idea is that if you don't plant the good stuff you will eventually will have the bad stuff show up via bird.  How old is your pond?  If it's pretty new and fed by a low nutrient spring that may explain it's plant free condition.   
            I would definitely plant waterlilies and shallow water marginals from your area all along the shore.   
      I went to all of the neighborhood ponds and swampy areas and ditches in my area and collected native shallow water marginals of many kinds that I liked for their short growth and shallow water nature and planted one of each variety every 4 ft. or so.  This prevents wave  shore erosion from wind and cannonballs. and acts as a huge bio filter and nutrient sink. This keeps your water low nutrient, clearer, with no algae, and great for wildlife.  It also prevents cattails from getting started.
          It's strange to me that if it's a old pond then why no plants in it? or fish?     Maybe the previous owner poisoned it with copper sulphate to wipe out plant growth to make the pond prettier for sale. I don't know how long it lasts but your pond might be poisonous for plants for a while.
   To me plants like waterlilies and cattails etc are the big trees of the under water forrest, the canopy.  And with out the canopy trees no forrest ecosystem can perform at it's full potential for beauty or diversity.  Understory plants like algae are meant to be controlled by the canopy. And with no canopy they grow unrestrained except by their own overcrowdedness. Then we call them weeds and put copper sulphate in the pond to kill them. and then the same situation returns in time, then more poison.