permaculture

[<permed@nor.com.au>]

>> Robyn...those ponds are fed by surface water only , and are now used by 
beef 
>> cattle for water, cooling dip etc.
>> They are brownish colored, soup. I really want to fence them off ...water 
>> cattle from troughs etc. I'd love to see bluish green color, a little 
clarity 
>
>> in water. Any ideas?
>
>Aquaculture. Aquatic plants will clear the water in a relatively short 
>time; water lilly, water hyacinth will do it quick, also azolla, 
>anacharis (very common and may be hardy in zone 6, the others aren't). 
>Goldfish or carp to eat the algae. Establish a shallow area and plant 
>cattails. You can harvest the pond weed for mulch or compost.

Don't recommend introducing water hyacinth - can completely overtake the 
surface and difficult to eradicate - floating water plants are rampant 
and difficult to control - perhaps azolla.... Carp and goldfish in a 
natural pond will increase turbidity as they're bottom feeders - eat 
algae off the bottom and doing so stir up the clay. You'll only see 
goldfish/carp in clear water in ponds with liners, cement bottom etc 
where they're most effective at grazing the algae blooms on the bottom 
surfaces.