Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait phytoplankton

I'm still wondering about the stunting of BG due to competition with GSH and TFS eating the phytoplankton. It was discussed in this thread http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=177191#Post177191
I looked up info on phytoplankton, but couldn't find some answers. Looking for some experts to help! What happens to the phytoplankton(PP) if there are no fish to eat it? If there are BG along the shore eating it, does the PP out in the middle move to the shore to replace it? I've read that if you start fertilizing to get a bloom or mutiple blooms, then you should continue the practice or there could be problems. Why? This all goes back to the same question about how forage fish affect each others growth..du

"I've read that if you start fertilizing to get a bloom or mutiple blooms, then you should continue the practice or there could be problems. Why? "

Fertilizer stimulates growth of

microscopic plants, called

phytoplankton. Phytoplankton

form the base of the food

chain (web) and are eaten by small

animal organisms ( zooplankton), which

serve as food for bream and TShad and other forage species,

which in turn are eaten by

bass. Phytoplankton make

the water turn green, or

“bloom,” which also shades

the bottom and discourages

growth of troublesome

aquatic weeds.

Proper fertilization will

significantly increase the total

weight of fish produced in a

pond.

Continue fertilization from year

to year. Ending a fertilization

program will leave you worse

off than if you had never

started one.

If you fertilize and thus greatly increase the total food web and as noted the poundage of fish and then stop the fertilization there will not be a big enough food web to sustain the now ramped up fish #s/poundage and their condition will suffer (not enough food) and stunt or die.

What happens to the phytoplankton(PP) if there are no fish to eat it? "

PP has a short life span. If there are no fish to eat it and no zooplankton to eat it then it lives out its life , dies and sinks to the pond bottom and becomes part of the muck and is broken down by bacteria or ends up part of the dirt.

Cody note: Some component of the phytoplankton is always in some form of reproduction and death. Various species come and go based primarily on season and nutrient concentrations. Some species like low nurients some like higher nutrients. Some like short days some like long days. Some like it warm, some like it cold. So almost always, some are growing well some are dying (end note).

"If there are BG along the shore eating it, does the PP out in the middle move to the shore to replace it?If there are BG along the shore eating it, does the PP out in the middle move to the shore to replace it?"

There are hundreds (really thousands) of types of PP and zooplankton and they move around by wind, currents etc. They infuse the water and will in a sense move around to fill places with the right conditions ( nutrients , sun , temp and space ,etc). It also moves up and down (migrates) in the water column with light and darkness.

For clarification, very few fish especially adult fish eat phytoplankton. The very small percentage of phytoplankton that is eaten (by mostly shad or planktivorous types) is the larger less common phytoplanktonic types. The majority of phytoplankton is too small for fish to retain and eat and passes through the fish's strainers (gill rakers). The plankton that primarily gets consumed is the animal component of plankton - zooplankton. This group too has a very wide range of sizes from tiny inedible forms to larger types readily grazed by occassional plankon filtering fish including panfish such as BG and crappie. The larger zooplankton types are relatively good swimmers as plankton goes and can daily move primarily up and down in the water column as ewest noted. Often the larger forms get heavily grazed in a water body by the particular fishes present. Then the larger zooplankton become very scarce and are replaced with a similar biomass by smaller inedible or less edible forms. In these cases average water clarity usually becomes less over time. Water and wind currents do a pretty good job of throughly mixing the plankton throughout the illuminated water column. At times (esp during calm conditions) plankton can become fairly concentrated in certain areas and this is called patchiness. Wind and waves quickly redistribute the plankton. Certain plankton forms (usually larger BOW) live primarly in the deeper darker waters and posess minimal daily vertical movements. Nutrient loads, the species of fishes present, and habitat features will usually affect which types of plankton are most abundant in a BOW.

This is one great thread. Thanks Eric and Bill.

Second that, thanks Eric and Bill for taking the time to answer my questions..du