I wrote in a while back telling this forum that I had a 4 acre pond in Trinity county. I mentioned that the water stays milky all the time. Anyone remember? Well I sent in a soil sample that I collected from the soil from the ponds retaining wall. I mentioned before that the soil has a white powder on top when it dries. Well here are the results. I know its not a water sample but the soil sample should give me a good understanding of what soil the water rests in.

AgriLIFE EXTENSION Texas A&M System
pH 5.3 (5.8 CL) Mod. Acid
conductivity 7,340 (-) umho/cm V.high
Nitrate N 3 (-) ppm
Phosphorus 6 (0) ppm
Potassium 38 (0) ppm
Calcium 864 (180) ppm
Magnesium 1,162 (50) ppm
Sulfur 4,415 (13) ppm
Sodium 5,557 (-) ppm

Does anyone know what this means? Will hurt my pond? Can I fix if it a problem?

Thanks eric

fishindude12 ,

Did you specify your intended use as a pond for raising fish? All soil tests I have had done will also have specific recommendations....if you specify your intended use. With that, they should have offered how much lime you need to add.

I'm not a chemist, but do have a lot of experience with ponds. Based on my experience in East Texas ponds, I offer the following observations for your consideration:

First, your soil ph is very low for fish. The ideal ph for fish is about 7.0 and they can do ok in a range of 6 to 9.5. Remember the ph scale is like the Richter scale so that a ph of 5.3 is 10 times more acidic than a ph of 6.3. Low soil ph is consistent, in my experience with muddy pond water.

Much better measures are "total alkalinity" and "total hardness". Total alkalinity is generally a function of bicarbonates and carbonates in the system. Total Hardness is generally set by the calcium and magnesium present.

The important thing, as related to ponds and fish, is that total alkalinity and total hardness are optimum for fish in a range of 50 to 300 ppm and best if they are balanced.

Some rules of thumb are 1)if both are below 20 ppm, add agricultural lime, 2) if alkalinity is high but hardness low, adding gypsum will be more effective.

You need to measure both of these parameters. Either submit a water test for evaluation or buy yourself a kit in which you can measure it yourself. These kits are relatively cheap and easy to use and it is very wise to have one around the pond.

I can't determine from your soil test what your water total alkalinity and total hardness measures are...maybe someone out there can do that....but it needs to be done. Your soil ph level clearly indicates acidic, possibly too acidic for healthy pond fish.

Hope this helps.

thanks meadowlark, I have some strips that I used last year to test my pond water. I don't remember the results, But I will do it again this weekend and send them this way.