Hey guys i recently stocked my pond with 10 lbs of fhm and gsh 5 days ago.
I hadnt seen any casualties until today. When i checked the pond, to my suprise everything has turned green over night and i got dead minnow an shiners every two feet along my bank. Can anyone help me with this? Hope to post pics tmw, the ground in the shallow areas is very green on the bottom, then one half of the pond is a dense green blanket just under the surface. And there is green build up in my cove along the surface. The pond is only half full and approx 2-7 ft deep right now, only been filled for a month. Any help would be appreciated thanks!
I am no expert, but my ponds went green when first filling, I believe because there were a lot of nutrients in the soil within the ponds that had not had a chance to be used by pond plants and algae yet. You may still have survivors in the pond. It seems like stocking FHM is often recommended in your situation, but I am not sure that GSH are as tolerant of low DO. I personally have waited until full pool before stocking, but I seem to be in less of a rush than most. You want to be sure to stock what you want before something less desirable stocks itself though.
Thanks RAH, I am thinking i have alot of nutrients after doing some research, the pond recieves all rain run off and the whole watershed is farm crops and hay pasture. This is probably going to be problematic i hope i can learn how to treat it!!
I have been successful by maintaining a "natural" pond edge in my similar pond situations. I also have a healthy population of ornamental water lilies to absorb even more nutrients. My pond access is primarily from a floating dock.
I should work on plant ideas for next spring maybe put me in right direction. Being so close to fall/winter now, should i just let it do its thing an fill complete an wait? Im also assessing my watershed intake right now, thinking i may have too much water for the 3/4 acre pond. It filled halfway during the only two rains I've had this month!!
Sorry to hear about the problem!
Thought about getting some aeration going? That is something you can do this year still.
I think I would get a water sample tested. FHM can survive in really bad water. Since yours died, IMHO I would try to figure out the reason before I started stocking any expensive fish.
Hopefully, one of the pros will be along to offer you some opinions on how to proceed.
Good Luck!
How big were the FHMs, is it possible that they were old and with the hot temps to stress them even more.+ 1 on testing the water before adding more.
Thanks fer the replys guys! I really want to get aeration going this year but so far the budget wont allow it. I agree with testing my water but how would i go about doing this? I am a rookie as far as pond analysis. Recommended ph level? What should i look for as far as a new pond must have?also the fhms were on the small size i thought, 1 - 1.5in. Shiners are 2in. I noticed alot more fhm than shiners dead although the dead fhm looked to be dead maybe a day or two.I am thinking something must be pretty bad to kill fhm like that
Five days after stocking you could just be seeing the ones that were overly stressed during handling and are now dying because they were weakened. Or like another poster said could be from old age. They only live about 18 months.
Well that very well could be i hope! I put in two dozen crawdads also. They were small but i seen a dead crawfish yesterday that i know i didnt stock as it was much larger.
I think you probably have a "water issue". Perhaps your DNR will test the water free since you have a fish kill.
If your getting all that run off from farm land.... I would be more concerned about maybe something they sprayed on the land? Or crops also....
A shallow, nutrient rich pond, exposed to sunlight with little water flowing through it will be teeming with algae and aquatic plants. It may have very little animal life present because of low oxygen levels.
Maintaining vegetation in all areas through which water must flow to reach the pond is very beneficial to the pond. Such buffers both slow water down and filter it. Slow moving water allows sediment to drop out of the water.
Oxygen in pond water is very beneficial to the overall health of the pond. The value to fish is obvious. Less obvious, but of great importance, is the ability of the pond to get rid of waste. Being you have a new pond some of this may not yet apply but it will. It would appear lack of D.O. is already apparent.... Or there is something else in your water that is not correct... Maybe your PH is through the roof or really low... both can kill fish. Even your basic hot tub testers can tell you where your PH level is and Hardness. Or pool test kit. I would however get your water tested at some point.
One other thing I have done is found my biggest inflows and filled that area with lime rock gravel course I don't have a PH problem. If yours is real high then I would not use lime rock just use a normal gravel mine is 1.5 by 3/4 inch. This also allows water to be slowed down and filtered on the gravel before entering pond.
Good Luck man let us know what you find out....
RC
Rc51 thanks fer the info. I find it very helpful. I think I have a good buffer, a solid 150 yds of thick grass waterway that all my watershed dumps into before entering my inlet. The water slows down greatly while going thru the waterway to pond. Then I have a rip rap basin approx 8x10 of 4-8 in rip rap just before my inlet. There are lots of new young bullfrogs in the pond and I am seeing a small assortment of different water insects in the pond. I am about to take pics fee you guys to really see my scenario be back shortly!