Is my pond toxic? PICS

1303 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by GSDGAL, Jun 14, 2009

boon4376

Discussion Starter · Jun 13, 2009

So ive been worried about this gunk building up at my end of the pond. Its about 2 acres in size.

Heres a pic of our shoreline. I cant tell if this is just pollen or what, but the wind blows everything to our shore usually. Seeing the dead lunar moth and dead bass floating by when i went out this morning started to worry me. I've caught several bass in this pond, i guess its not THAT strange for one to die every once and a while... But Im wondering if this scuzzy stuff building up at the edge of the water is the toxic lake agea crap? Or just pollen.

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ambercober

· #2 · Jun 13, 2009

Looks like pollen to me, I remember living in a new town and seeing and insane amount of this stuff collect and it made me wonder too *lol. Just mother nature at work and judging by the ducks in the pic I wouldn't think it was toxic. I'm sure if your curious you can take a water sample and have it tested locally, maybe something is wrong with it but you definitly have pollen build up in your picture.

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DJsMom

· #3 · Jun 13, 2009

wow! That's such a beautiful pond, lucky you to have that on your property! Just the kind of place I'd love to move to when my hubby retires.
I'd guess it's pollen you're seeing, but I would definitely have a water sample tested before letting my dog get into it.

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LuvmyRotti

· #4 · Jun 13, 2009

There is a sticky/thread just above talking about lake algae and toxicity.

http://www.dogforums.com/2-general-dog-forum/10876-lake-algae-toxicity.html

I agree with getting it tested. However, if it's fine now - as the summer months and heat/humidity roll in (depending where you are) - the water may change again.

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boon4376

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 13, 2009

ambercober said:
judging by the ducks in the pic I wouldn't think it was toxic.

LOL those are decoys, although our neighbors directly to our right have domesticated geese that swim around through there and they seem to be fine.

I just looked at the pics of the toxic algae and its all like paint, So i guess this is really just pollen... Most of it has actually drifted away at the moment

IDK how much it costs to get it sampled, but later in the summer when it warms up i'll probably get it done.

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BobSD

· #6 · Jun 13, 2009 (Edited)

When you have a small stagnant pond like that and is surrounded buy residential homes or farm land thats where the problems occurs. Run off from chemiicals used on the land, and other things get into the pond, and nitrates build up excessively and the water can quickly become toxic. Introducing some carp, may help control the algae, also heavy vegatation around the shore line helps filter some of the runoff into the lake. But the mosquitoes pop must be very heavy in the summer. There are fish that eat the mosquitoe larva also.

I definitely would not let my dogs drink the water at any time, just make sure to provide them with plenty of water so they will not be thirsty an drink the pond water.

Just to make it clear, rain is what causes the run off.

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Lil Red Express

· #7 · Jun 13, 2009

Dead fish is usually a bad sign . Not sure about there ,but here you can bring a water sample to the local health dept. and get it analyzed for no charge.

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boon4376

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 14, 2009

BobSD said:
When you have a small stagnant pond like that and is surrounded buy residential homes or farm land thats where the problems occurs. Run off from chemiicals used on the land, and other things get into the pond, and nitrates build up excessively and the water can quickly become toxic. Introducing some carp, may help control the algae, also heavy vegatation around the shore line helps filter some of the runoff into the lake. But the mosquitoes pop must be very heavy in the summer. There are fish that eat the mosquitoe larva also.

I definitely would not let my dogs drink the water at any time, just make sure to provide them with plenty of water so they will not be thirsty an drink the pond water.

Just to make it clear, rain is what causes the run off.

Well there are only three houses on the pond, and the rest of its 2-3ish acre size is surrounded by thick forest for 100 yards at minimum, so its not really that bad. I'm not too interested at destroying aquatic plants in the pond with carp because they attract ducks and keep the water clear.
Bugs have actually been great. I don't think I've gotten a bug bit on this property all year and haven't used any bug spray... I frequently see the bass eating bugs from the surface... So they must control bug larvae pretty well?

Lil Red Express said:
Dead fish is usually a bad sign . Not sure about there ,but here you can bring a water sample to the local health dept. and get it analyzed for no charge.

I'll call up the health dept and ask, thanks for the idea

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GSDGAL

· #9 · Jun 14, 2009

our friends recently started to worry about their pond, they invested in 100 lilypads they filter the water and thrive on all the bad stuff...i'd do that

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