Shocking A dug out?

hondalrd

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Hello so I have a dig out on my land that I used as my borrow pit for clay when I was building my acreage. I would now like to be able to use it to swim and keep the water clean looking and free of tadpoles and other water bugs. My dog does swim in it often so I am not to sure what options are out there or what to use?
 

neilsleder

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Take it it’s pretty deep then. I am not sure but would coy fish or some type of carp keep it clean?
 

Teth-Air

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Hello so I have a dig out on my land that I used as my borrow pit for clay when I was building my acreage. I would now like to be able to use it to swim and keep the water clean looking and free of tadpoles and other water bugs. My dog does swim in it often so I am not to sure what options are out there or what to use?

Use granular Calcium Hypochlorite. I know a guy who bought a bunch of pails at an auction and he does not know what to do with it. PM me if you want me to get his contact info.

If you are swimming in it you should then get a simple chlorine test kit to test and maintain up to 1 ppm.

Also I knew a guy in the water treatment business that also added 50% copper sulphate to take care of algae. This was for a dug-out that cattle drank from. I don't have enough experience with it to recommend but you can do your research to decide if it is worth adding.

Chris
 

pfi572

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Hello so I have a dig out on my land that I used as my borrow pit for clay when I was building my acreage. I would now like to be able to use it to swim and keep the water clean looking and free of tadpoles and other water bugs. My dog does swim in it often so I am not to sure what options are out there or what to use?

A small round oat bail rolled in and left will keep it clean also.
I know ? It’s weird but it works.
 

f7sp

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Do they even sell blue stone anymore? Tried getting some a while back and couldn’t find it
 

hondalrd

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Does the blue stone kill algae and living creatures like leeches and tad poles? I see U of A has some pond conditioner at there stores but it does not say what it does...
 

ducati

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Get some flow going in there as well. Even if it is just recirculating you need the water to be moving all the time or it will start to be a nightmare. Keep up on your chlorine levels and PH balance/alkalinity to swim without burning eyes and itchy skin. Start the year with an algaecide and it should be fine if you treat it right. Shock it every once in a while.

That is a lot of water which equals a lot of chemical but if you treat it similar to a pool you should be good.
 

Teth-Air

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Does the blue stone kill algae and living creatures like leeches and tad poles? I see U of A has some pond conditioner at there stores but it does not say what it does...

The Calcium hypochlorite is a granular bleach. It sterilizes the water. If you overfeed it it will kill critters but if you maintain the level close to 1 ppm like our municipal drinking water it will not. The Copper sulphate "bluestone" is the additional component to kill algae as it will thrive in sunlight even when there is some chlorine present. Ranchers have used bluestone in dug-outs for years even when the water is a drinking water source for cattle so it cannot be too bad but I don't know the actual toxicity as I don't use it regularly. I think you need a ranchers to kick in with their experience.
 

Teth-Air

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The Calcium hypochlorite is a granular bleach. It sterilizes the water. If you overfeed it it will kill critters but if you maintain the level close to 1 ppm like our municipal drinking water it will not. The Copper sulphate "bluestone" is the additional component to kill algae as it will thrive in sunlight even when there is some chlorine present. Ranchers have used bluestone in dug-outs for years even when the water is a drinking water source for cattle so it cannot be too bad but I don't know the actual toxicity as I don't use it regularly. I think you need a ranchers to kick in with their experience.
If you use retail brand name pool products it will be expensive.
 

niner

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Another option is to get a man lift and boom out to the middle of the dugout where the water is cleaner.....
 

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Scrambled

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If your pond or dug out Hasan decent length slope on any side build a man made Creek out of gravel,the odd bigger rock here and there filters it out really good,the last on I did was only maybe 25 feet long and it works awesome,I thought it might be alittle short as most I do are 40 or more,2 inch pump,most people only run them every second day or short periods every day once it's all been through awhile, very few if any chemicals needed,plus you get the sound of a tranquil stream,this is out on the island so thing's may be different but I'm sure the principal's are the same
 
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