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In reply to Post #1
Sent you a pm.
Hydrated lime is mostly used by fish farmers to sterilise a dried stock pond and kill off any and all living stuff, included any parasites.
Some do use it in smaller quantities to raise pH in lakes that still have fish in them but you end up using so little that it doesn't have the desired effect on the silt layers.
It's very caustic.
Chalks and fine limestone will raise the ph of the silt and allow aerobic bacteria to better colonise the anearobic silt layers.
The microscopic bacteria will also colonise the calcium carbonate surfaces, as they would do with filter media in a pond filter system.
To my mind chalks will sit on the surface but the more coarse limestone dust and grit will penetrate better and last longer. Any breakdown of organic matter by the aerobic bacteria will be slower, but longer lasting. This may help avoid a massive algae bloom and subsequent problems!
As they penetrate they will allow water into the silt and so oxygen will be available for aerobic bacteria that will break down organic matter.
We used siltex a few times and saw no improvement to our open water areas that were covered in foul smelling silt, leads and baits would come back smelling of rotton eggs, hydrogen sulphide, so the fish would not feed in it.
We changed to limestone dust and grit and a few years later the results are excellent. Fish are feeding in the open water areas, the once anaerobic silt is full of life and the water is much more productive.
You can get a very good products at a much better price from Longcliffe quarries, no carp tax.
Superlon is the fine grade powder, and Longcal is the grittier powder that I'd suggest.
LINKY POO™ https://longcliffe.co.uk/products/limestone-granules-powders
Its all about being ready for whats going to happen to help reduce the effects of the release of nutrients and a probable algal blooom, so doing the prep work before you release all those locked up nutrients. Trees, wind lanes, planting margins, barley straw and extract, dye, etc...
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In reply to Post #4
With lime you normally do a third per year. Hydrated lime is what fish farmers use to sterilise their ponds once drained. It can be incredibly harmful so avoid contact with your skin. AJS will put you right with advice.
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In reply to Post #3
A ton an acre is correct. Talk to AJS if their hydrated lime is cheaper than the siltex. Not sure if you can do half one year and the other half next year. That way maybe the members will pay for it. You may have to do it all in one go.
Your other problem is that you are rapidly getting to the point where this year it will be too late to apply whatever it is you choose to use.
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In reply to Post #2
Okay thank you. I saw that ajs fisheries were advertising hydrated lime for silt but didn’t know if it was generic or not. It’s just under 2 acres in size and siltex is said to be used at a ton an acre
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In reply to Post #1
You DO NOT use builders lime. It is totally the wrong stuff. You need some kind of micro chalk or Siltex. Siltex may promote weed growth so you need to be careful there too. How big is the water if Siltex is too expensive?
You need to contact Dave Mez on here. He's the man for this.
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Hi there,
I’m currently on a small syndicate and have been for 10 years now. The problem with it is that there is a lot of silt in there that could do with being dredged. Unfortunately none of the other members want to split the cost to do this which is understandable as it’s not cheap! I did suggest siltex a while back but again too expensive. I’ve now seen that hydrated lime does the trick of breaking down the silt and with it being readily available at builders merchants etc it’s very well priced. Is it generic hydrated lime I need or is their a specific one I have to use that will not kill the fish? Thanks
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General Carp Discussion