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

"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.