Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and just completed my first pond. It is 800 gallons, 4.5 feet deep partially above and partially below ground. It has been set up for 5 weeks and has a bog filter and a fountain.

I created this pond for my turtles who needed an upgrade from their indoor tank. I live in Southern California so they will be outside year round. In all my research I found that turtles who will be hibernating outside should have mud on the bottom of their pond to burrow in during the winter so after completing the pond my husband put 6 inches of fill dirt from the hole we dug into the pond. I think this may have been a huge mistake because nothing is working to get the water clear.

Everything in the pond is happy, the turtles are doing well, the mosquito fish are breeding like crazy and the goldfish are getting big. The bog plants and floating plants are all growing really fast but I can't see more than a 8 inches or so down. I have tried flocculant and also put Nu Foam in my fountain and rinsed that and gave it time hoping everything would just settle out on it's own but no luck. I have tried opening the bottom drain on the bog and allowing any dirty water to come out... There have been times where I thought it was improving and I could see maybe 2 feet down but then it clouds up again. The water color is like clay...

My bog has two flush out pipes to clear the diffuser bar and a bottom drain and it is doing it's job catching sediment because if I even disturb a plant more clay colored water comes pouring out of the bog.

I am at a loss and feeling that I may have to drain the pond, take out all the mud and then refill it and start over. I would rather not do that since everything inside is thriving but I can't live with so little visibility. When I put the dirt in I knew I would probably never be able to see the bottom and that's OK with me, but this won't work!

Does anyone have any insight on whether I am better to open the bottom drain on the bog and try to rinse the clay from the pea gravel or if the only real solution is to get in with a shop vac and empty the pond? Your help is greatly appreciated!