Thank you Bob! Boy this forum is an excellent source for a variety of beliefs and discussions. Thanks again for allowing us to take part.
On your Quote:
"There's a big project in upstate NY where I spend lots of time. Fifty hatchery ponds adorn this private wildlife preserve. We are able to successfully fertilized about forty of those ponds. The others simply won't take a bloom, probably because of too much shallow water, or too much flow through. The fertile ponds outproduce all the others. About fifteen ponds are used for fathead minnow production, to supply fish for larger game fish production ponds. Those fathead ponds produce a huge amount of fish, due to the manageable levels of plankton. We stopped raising small fish in ponds which tend to vegetate and won't hold a bloom. That's where we grow tiger musky, larger largemouth bass on feed, advanced walleye and smallmouth bass on feed.
So, fertilizer is like many of the tools of the trade. Learn how to do it properly, and your pond is built with not much shallow water, and fertilizer is your friend. But, miss the timing window, and expect to be frustrated".
Were all of these ponds fed supplemental feed? If so what was the protein content, and did it ever vary? If the coloring was not too shallow to affect the natural biomass, could you see it as a useful tool in combination with fertilization to prevent deep vegetation growth? In your "urban" settings, when dying the water how would you maintain the plankton populations to suffice the natural food chain you mentioned? Finally, how deep (inches) do plankton need to be in the column to perform their duties, and how deep until they become a problem?
Deb
