This month I had 2 over night fish kills. The 1st was on June 6 with 15 dead BG. And then again this morning, June 8 with 31 dead BG.
History: if you don't remember from my last post of the fish kill when I stocked.
I have a new 1/2 acre pond I just stocked with BG and minnows in April. Had a bad batch of sick fish and lost around 200. The fishery replaced my fish and I hadn't had any lost fish since. I've been running an aerator on the bottom at the deepest part, about 12ft, shortly after I stocked. Alabama temps been rising to the upper 80s. We hadn't had rain for a couple months until this week. 1st fish kill happened the day before our 1st rain and it rain 1inch last night during the second fish kill. I checked PH, ammonia, nitrite, and phosphorus levels after both fish kills. All is good. I don't have a dissolved oxygen tester. I checked temps at all depths throughout the pond. 84 near the surface to 83 at bottom. I have 10in of visibility in water. New house, new pond, trying to get grass growing.
This morning I unplugged the aerator. I'll go get a timer and start running at night. I've been reading up on aeration post and I think I'm aerating too much.
Whats everyone's opinion on what may be going on?

some pics

My guess is super heated water due to daytime aeration. Hot water cant carry any oxygen.

New grass...any thoughts on fertilizer used on lawn? Some grass seed is pre-treated but that seems like a stretch.

I'm grasping at straws but since this is the 2nd time, might be time to think outside the box.

ETA, total poundage stocked?
Go out at dawn and see if any fish are gulping air at the surface.

bermuda grass seed that was coated, pelletized lime, high nitrogen fertilizer (don't remember the exact numbers) Covered seeds with hay.
Initial stocking in April was 500 BG, 50 SC, and 1000 FHM, lost around 200 BG, restocked 250.
BG are eating feed and spawning.
I think its a temp, dissolved oxygen problem. Where should water temps be and what is dangerous temp levels?

Have you been using any land based herbicides around the pond?

None.

I don't think its a chemical problem or I'd think the fish kill wouldn't be just over night, one night here then a few days later another night kill.

How does the water color look in the evening compared to the next morning?

I can't tell the difference but I'm colorblind. lol
No one else mentioned it looking different.

I dont think the temp is too warm as far as BG tolerance is concerned, but its ability to hold oxygen is greatly reduced. The fact that the variance in temp from top to bottom is so close indicates you are getting a thorough mix in turnovers, but you definitely need to shift to running at night.

One other clue with low 02 is the largest fish usually die first. I'm guessing yours are all the same size slot since stocked at the same time.

No offense but I doubt you received "sick fish" from your supplier, considering 25% (probably more) of the restocked fish have died already. Your pond has a lot of bad variables. In my opinion, you have either high ammonia (bad ammonia NH3) and or low dissolved oxygen. The gills on the bluegill in your photo seem a deeper red, a sign of both.

Stocking your pond so quick never allowed it time to build a favorable ecosystem.
The high water temps are bad for the development of NH3, low DO and in general, the fish.
There is no growth around your pond and no trees for shade. Not good for anything.

Try testing your pond in the early evening to see if you have a rise in pH, nitrates and ammonia. The higher the temp, nitrates and ammonia, the lower your DO and higher your NH3 will be. A temp of 85F, pH above 7.5 and I would guess, high NH3.

You should also autopsy fresh, dead fish.

What should I look for in an autopsy?

Went do a water test at 6pm.
Water Temp 84
PH 7.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Phosphate .25

Had a short shower at 12:00 only 1/8in of rain. Don't know if having the aerator off all day did anything but I have a lot more debris in the water. Is this dead algae? Also had 13 more fish dead.
I'm thinking lack of O2. Dead algae using up what O2 I have. I'm using this aerator. https://www.amazon.com/Rootscape-Large-P...way&sr=8-13
Possibly not putting out enough DO. Doing a good job of mixing the water though. Should I get a better aerator?

Any black walnut trees in or around the pond?

No walnuts on my property. Do have lots of hickory. No trees in pond or right on the bank.

I doubt it is your aeration. At 85F the ability of the water to hold DO is drastically reduced. No matter how much you pump in, water at 85F will max out at about 7ppm, in optimal conditions. It is hard to believe, with your water temp and fish kill, your ammonia is at 0? However, it is looking more like a DO issue.

Are you feeding the fish? Can you get a better picture of the pond scum?

In your case, I would look specifically at gill color and blood color. Red/Lavender gills may indicate high NH3 and brown blood would indicate high nitrates. Also, fraying of the fins, is a sign of high ammonia. Catch a live one and compare the necropsy to the autopsy.

https://akffa.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/performing-a-fish-autopsy.pdf

I feed the fish by hand, 2 cups a day. I walk around the pond throwing a little all the way around. They are not setting the water on fire but eating. I’m sure plenty still doesn’t get eaten. I was wondering if that little of feed waste would be an issue.
I’ll see what I can do on a pond scum pic. The fish look perfectly fine to me. No frayed find or tail.

Had 16 more dead this morning. Only ran aerator at night. Water temp still is 83 at 6ft.
Noticed what I thought was scum mostly all sank. When I paddled off shore, I could see tons of these gel balls stir up off the bottom. That’s what was floating during the day yesterday that I called scum. Could it be soil floc residue? Sure feels like it but I didn’t expect it to float when my aerator was off during the day. I did notice one fish gulping for air this morning. He was weak, but dove when I went to catch him.

Looking at your first pics, it appears the size of your aeration boil is sufficient. I would consider relocating it to a more centralized location in the pond tho. Maybe even elevating it off the bottom to try to create a thermocline of deep cooler water.

I've seen that diffuser, but not familiar with its bubble production. You need a lot of tiny bubbles to create adequate lift of deeper water.

Surface of your pond is much cleaner than mine, and I'm running 12 hours at night, and still have a lot of phytoplankton scum on top. I took surface temp readings this morning and will be reducing run time for a later startup to let the surface cool more before it comes on.

Where are you taking your temp readings from? They should be from where your diffuser is currently located.

My diffuser is in the deepest part of the pond. A little over 10ft. Bringing it to a shallower spot may be a good idea to allow the deeper water not to mix and stay cooler.
Yesterday I took temp readings all over the pond at different depths and it was all the same temp or very close to it. It's obviously mixing all the water well. I keep my thermometer on one of my duck decoy strings. I can slide it up and down. This morning it was in 6ft of water on the bottom still reading the same as yesterday. About 83. I don't think I have a dying algae problem. With only 10in of visibility, I'm probably not getting much sun light penetration to get a good bloom. I think that gel I seen floating was just soil floc thats all over the bottom. Why it started floating yesterday with no aeration going, then was sunk again this morning after aerating last night, I have no clue. The more I read, the more I'm thinking its a DO problem exaggerated from the high temps. Hope running aeration just at night solves my problem.

Your pond is in much the same condition, temperature wise as mine. This morning my surface temp was 81f. I know the variance from top to bottom is about 5 degrees, so I have backed my start time off 3 hours.

That being said, we have also determined that my system is giving me one complete turnover in 3 hours of runtime. By reducing my runtime to 9 hours I'm still turning the pond over 3 times, but I'm allowing the surface to cool more before I start mixing it up.

If you move the diffusers shallower, and elevate it off the bottom a little, you may be able to create a cooler area in the deepest part of the pond. The fish cant live there, but they can visit it long enough to cool off then move up to better DO and go back when they're ready.

Just a suggestion here, but you may also consider using a little dye. It will assist the deeper levels in staying cooler as well.

had this happen twice to me - oxygen deprivation - pond turns over and no air for your fish - my experience is the only way to prevent in the future is to pump oxygen into the water -

Did you test for ammonia levels . With no plants and a fresh pond biological filtration can be a problem plus excess feeding plus a lot of fish at one time , it would be easy for ammonia to spike .

Yes. Test color matches 0.

Darrell, his biomass would be extremely low right now compared to several yrs down the road at carrying capacity. Ammonia should be nill.
I question the involvement of the soilfloc and would like to hear from TJ on this. I know nothing about this product but I have talked with one of the reps and considered this for a 15 ac impoundment. It "may" or may not have any influence on this situation.

There are a lot of issues here and NH3 is definitely a possibility but it does look more like DO.

I would never recommend stocking a pond within 3 months of it being filled. Ammonia is definitely an issue in new ponds, especially when feeding is undertaken. This pond never had a chance to produce beneficial bacteria in equilibrium.

The only way you'll ever know is to either have the water professionally sampled, which can cost 300-1k or start dissecting fish. Until then, it's a guessing game.

I would be extremely curious to know if your fish are eating the unbound soilfloc you saw floating.

I've worked on approx 200 projects, never experienced a kill event due to polymer [except one case treating a 2' max depth pond]. I've treated all 7 of my ponds with existing fisheries and have only found a handful of YOY BG and FHM morts following polymer treatment. Check stomach contents of some morts - will address the polymer question. Any FHM morts or just BG?

How's the pond level holding?

I am just curious if they will eat the unbound Soilfloc, I am not proposing it as a cause of death. However, since it is pretty obvious this is a water quality issue now, why not check for that also while autopsying the fish?

I’m also curious, which is why I recommended checking stomach contents.

I bet it was something that was or is being put in the pond... Chemicals, bad food, the polymer.....

Pond level is doing fine. Still around 1/4in lost per day. Finally got some rain this weekend but it wasn’t but around an inch total. We hadn’t had rain in over a month. I’m 20in below full pool. It’s just strange I never had any fish lost since the restocking then over a month later a fish kill. It has to be the heat. I’m fixing to leave on vacation, so I won’t be able to check any fish. Bad timing to not be around. I put the aerator in about 6ft of water and put it on a timer to run from 12am to 7am.
Yesterday evening I tested water temps again all over the pond at different depths. Surface temp was at 90. 1ft-8ft is around 84 and below that was 82. I had the aerator off all day. So maybe I can keep it cooler down deep. Hope I can still put in enough O2.

Some of that .25" daily vertical water loss is due to evaporation, so I'm very glad the polymer treatment was successful - that's an amazing turnaround!

Have a good vacation - we will be here when you return to help assess this situation. I don't have any experience raising fish in the broiling South, hopefully some of our seasoned Southern brothers will chime in with their experiences. I'm grateful you aren't losing 5# LMB - BG are cheap and easily replaced worst case scenario.

Might be worth calling American Sportfish - Lusk recently merged with them and Shawn uses a lot of polymer sealing client ponds. I'm sure they would have some practical experienced feedback. I also recommend sourcing fish through them moving forward.

If BG are consuming polymer, I'm not sure of how it would impact them. It's non toxic, but wonder if the polymer could create some other issues, like plugging up the digestive process? This would be a first for me, but important science for the forum.

Had a chance to get to the pond. Water looks clearer since the pump isn't running full time. had 20 dead blue gill. never noticed any minnows dead. If they were dying, Id assume the bluegill would eat them as they died.
Only had one freshly dead BG to do an autopsy on. No sign of soilfloc but it was such a small one, it would be hard to tell unless he gorged himself on it. I cut the stomachs open on both BG in the pic. Both were full of bugs. Didn't take a pic of that for some reason....

Glad to hear no polymer in that stomach, maybe keep checking. BG eyes are bulging...any experts have a take on that?

TJ, only thing I can come up with in a fresh fish is a bacteria that can cause this. The one fish still has full-good color and still shows the bulge. The longer they are dead-as you well know- gasses build causing the bulge but that's generally after most color is gone-not important here.
Our region 1 Bio skirts around the forum some and I ask him to look at photo. His first response was size of eyes more than bulge. He did agree on potential bacteria but was hung up on believing that fish is much older than it should be for it's size. We also both noted the actual stomach is still in tact :-))
If the bacteria is present that causes the eye bulge, it can cause brain swell with disorientation and respiratory issues as well if severe enough. What I can't determine is cycle of this.. ie, is it present in waterbody or were fish exposed from another source.??

Similar size fish for eye comparison..

Neighbor been feeding dog and fish while I was gone last 7 days. Said only the 1st day I was gone had dead fish and it was only 3. I’m guessing running the aerator from 12am to 7am is working. Only had a little shower this morning. We need rain bad.

That's good news!

What can I expect to see if I was sold older stunted fish as for as the future of my pond? Will that age group just not develop as fast. Will they spawn and the new crop just take them over? Disease? Is it a serious problem or will they eventually grow into their eyes so to speak?

They will grow they just will never reach their full potential as max size. The off-spring will not suffer from this but the original stock usually has the best potential to reach monster sizes.
I can't say this is absolutely the case but the eyes are "sometimes" an indicator of age.
I suppose there could be some genetic differences that may cause this but normally, large eyes indicate lower growth rate in young fish.
It seems to be most common in sunfish, although some other species will sometimes show this in extreme cases.
As for the Bacteria that can cause this, I don't know that is what you have, only a possibility, and I could not find an answer to how it's transferred but it's something I would continue to look for. Continue taking pictures and recording data, I think that's all you can do at this point.
EDIT: The more I look at your first pic the more I lean away from that being a pure strain BG. At least not what I'm used to seeing. It's got just a bit different body shape and I think the tail is telling a story too.. Maybe someone else can verify my thoughts.

Glad you aren't losing more fish. My original post stated I thought the fish looked stunted and recommended a new hatchery for your replacement fish...Is the pond level holding?

Stocking fish into newly filled ponds is a common and safe practice.

Common? Obviously. Safe? I would be curious to see the publication where it is not detrimental to the fish prior to the water successfully completing a "nitrogen cycle".

I hate to make a diagnosis over the interwebs from a photo but, the gills and kidneys on the bluegills appear to be suffering from hyperplasia, a symptom of NH3.

If Snipe is correct about the "eye bulge", it could be "Pop Eye" caused by corneybacteriosis. Another symptom of NH3.

If I was to shake my Magic 8 Ball...

It’s still falling at that 1/4in per day rate.
The water clarity has made a noticeable change since I’ve been gone all week and running the aerator just at night. Now that I can get more sunlight penetration, I’ll get a better algae bloom and add more oxygen. But may heat the water up more. I don't know.
I’m still worried about my temp levels. Yesterday evening after a full sun day, my temps were at 84 all the way down to about 6ft, then 82 the last 2-4ft on bottom.
Fish were active on feed as I made my round around the pond.

I remember comments were made about the fish eye size from the 1st post I made after stocking and had the fish kill. I’m hoping the new replacement fish were a fresher new batch if that was the case. Hard to tell looking at them in a plastic bag.

Moving to strictly night aeration will help keep your temps from rising. I had to back my start time to 11pm to give the surface temps a chance to cool before it got mixed in. Your temps being so close top to bottom is a good indication that the pond is getting at least one full turnover. You may be able to reduce your run times even more to allow your temps to cool more.

The other great benefit of aeration...temperature control! I ran my aerator in the daytime last winter to keep the pond warmer and moderate temperature changes.

Mike, how are your shiners doing? (Golden shiners?) I threw in seven pounds of 3 to 4 inch GS in March. They seemed to be skilled at avoiding predator attacks, loved and ganged up on Optimal Bass pellets, hunted fish fry and such in the pond light, but by mid-May they had all disappeared.

I bit the bullet and bought a solar powered Aerator, single diffuser, charge control with timer.
Plan to start an hour a night about 2 am and spread to 4-5 hrs just until sunrise. Be interesting to see how this works beings we're still getting into low 50's at night.

I'm kind of confused at what to do. I want to put more oxygen in my pond without over heating it. How do I know what the right duration is? I may start even later than Midnight to see what my water temps do.

What system did you buy Snipe. I need to put mine on solar. I'm about fed up with 150 ft of extension cord stretched out from my house.

I bought mine through Beaver springs (pondaerators.com) because they are a PB supporter. The panels are rated at 40w each so I'm going to run it in series with 2 DC Marine batts. I believe it will run up to 24hrs without a charge so running at night for a few hrs should just be a light cycle. I may even run a 24v bug light with it over pond.

Lol - determination

A cursory observation of the gill and kidney color from the photographs, would be indicative of hyperplasia to an extent:

https://en.wikivet.net/Gill_Hyperplasia

Give ‘em enough rope.

The man who owns a hammer factory sees the world as a nail.

Just started watching a few threads here, been a busy, busy spring. Let me help out.
My gut feeling is the problem is with the original fish. I think something happened with them during the handling process. Delayed mortality isn't necessarily normal, but I've seen it happen. Here's an example: If fish are held on a truck too long, or in an oxygenated bag too long, there's an ammonia buildup in the transport water. Their gills are burned, and their metabolism is affected. Left in that water too long, they die quickly. But, I've seen fish before, tempered and stocked before they died on the truck, only to have some rapid mortality in the pond, within a few days. The other fish begin to heal, but with consequences. They're still "sick" because they can't fully recover unless all their stressors are gone. When the water temperature rises into stressful levels (above 84), their metabolism rates are affected and so is their ability to take up oxygen through damaged gills. When their metabolism revs up, they need more oxygen. On rare occasions, I've seen fish die a week, two weeks later, with a few lingering fish giving up within a month. I know this case fish have died later than that.

The fact that the supplier replaced the fish is a noble gesture, regardless of the cause of death. One question I would have asked the supplier is, "Did anyone else on this load lose any fish". If they're honest, which we presume they are, they'll answer. That gives a lead into the "problem".

Regarding ammonia being the "problem" here...there's got to be a source of ammonia in high enough levels to cause that to be the problem. It's common practice to stock a brand new pond immediately to make sure our stocked, desired fish gain a foothold before nature (or the friendly neighbor with stunted bass) stocks it for us. The only time I won't stock a new pond is if it is loaded with terrestrial vegetation that I expect to decompose rapidly. Then, we'll wait. Bluegill the size of the ones in the picture weigh about 15 per pound. That means less than 20 pounds were stocked. That mass of fish won't influence water quality.

If the fish haven't been the "problem", then there's something else besides ammonia causing water quality issues. After this much time, especially with aeration, the pond should be settling down.

My gut (and 40 years experience) suggests things will settle down, remaining fish will reproduce and the pond will be fine. If not, there's something else going on with the water that we don't know.

Wisdom based on 40 years of professional experience - thanks Boss.

With all due respect, Mr. Lusk, I have to disagree. The aquaculture science on the Nitrogen Cycle and toxicity of ammonia is published, accepted and peer reviewed. It is empirical and repeatable by anyone with a 5 gallon aquarium or a bait bucket.

Unionized ammonia in extremely small amounts is toxic. 0.03 mg/l or ppm, is detrimental to aquatic organisms. 0.05 mg/l or ppm, is toxic to fish (LD50). Ruth Francis-Floyd and Craig Watson at the University of Florida have over a century of Academic Research into the discipline:

https://thefishsite.com/articles/ammonia

To quote, "Of all the water quality parameters which affect fish, ammonia is the most important after oxygen, especially in intensive systems. In small amounts, ammonia causes stress and gill damage. Fish exposed to low levels of ammonia over time are more susceptible to bacterial infections, have poor growth and will not tolerate routine handling as well as they should. Ammonia is a killer when present in higher concentrations, and many unexplained production losses have been caused by ammonia."

The "Nitrogen Cycle" is one of the most studied, published and documented interactions within the scientific community. Stocking a pond before it successfully completes a nitrogen cycle, albeit "common", is not best practice:

http://answers.seneye.com/index.php?title=en/Aquarium_help/New_tank_syndrome_%26_NH3/benficial_bacteria

I am no mathematician but Swampsnyper stated he stocked in his half acre pond, "Initial stocking in April was 500 BG, 50 SC, and 1000 FHM, lost around 200 BG, restocked 250". By my math, at Mr. Lusk's estimation of 15BG/pound, he stocked about 50lbs of BG alone.

Restocking was a bad idea. If he lost 200BG, even worse are the ones he couldn't count on the bottom of the pond. Also, Swampsnyper posted 3 water tests, the first showing ammonia concentrations, then no ammonia but a level of phosphorous. His pond was naturally cycling, but poorly.

Now with his water temps at almost 90 degrees and a pH of 7.5, he is at the precipice of NH3 toxicity.

Thanks for the opinions. Still no more fish kills since I last reported. Bob’s post reminded me of something else that happened upon fish pick up. I tried to get to the feed store as soon as the fish truck told me they will be there. Once I got there, they were already there. They had 2 bags of 50 CNBG already bagged and sitting in the shade. I don’t think they were there 10 min before I got there but I don’t know for sure. After I reported to them of the 1st fish kill they said they had some sick fish from pollen and I may have got some from that batch. When I went to pick up the 250 replacement fish he told me he was on his way to Arkansas to pick up more fish. He is local here in Alabama and I thought he raised the fish here. I don’t know what kind of facility he has and if he holds fish at his place or just keeps them on the truck and distributes. I don’t know if I can blame the fish kill on there process but I’d feel better about getting my fish with less traveling involved.

I was supposed to get some RES this spring from the local bait-n-tackle shop/lake management outfit. They source those RES from a hatchery in Arkansas. I didn't get them because all of the sunfish from that hatchery were failing the health check. Some sort of gill fungus issue is how it was described to me. The hatchery was willing to ship them, but my guy refuses to take fish that don't come with a clean bill of health.

Probably just anecdotal information to further confound the issue.

All of those sick fish have since moved into the Arkansas River due to the recent flooding.

My training and experiences as a biologist tend to direct me towards the simpler explanation to a problem when confronted by more than one possibility.
Which of these 2 scenarios appears to be the simpler leading up to the outcome? Can they both be responsible?

Joey,
Thanks for your respectful disagreement.
I'll take my 40 years of making a living providing results over anything empirical, anything replicated in a bucket or aquarium. Empirical science, especially this stuff, doesn't account for all the variables, especially in a pond. There's way more biology going on in this case than simply the nitrogen cycle. Plus, the nitrogen cycle rate depends on other variables, substrate, bacterial colonies, periphyton, vegetation or lack of vegetation, other metals and minerals dissolved in the water, temperatures, fluctuation of temperatures, rain, runoff, point-source.

I appreciate your scientific contribution to this thread. The bottom line is no one has figured out the problem here, so no one can offer a solution.

Time will tell here. Having handled literally millions of fish and stocking hundreds of ponds and lakes, monitoring many of those lakes for years, my gut says something was wrong with those fish when stocked. I'll stick with that.

By the way, there's nothing "intensive" about this case. Very low biomass compared to volume of water.

Thought I'd add a little bit more to educate those reading this thread. Even if we could make the argument that the pond water has/had toxic levels of ammonia, the level of ammonia (wherever it is in the denitrification process) won't be the same throughout the pond. It won't be the same for several reasons. Ammonia ions don't weigh the same as water molecules. Levels won't be the same on the bottom of the pond as on the surface. It won't be the same six inches from a rock as it will be next to the mud. It won't be the same where mixing from wave action is occurring. While we can replicate the science in a bucket, a pond isn't a bucket. There has to be a source of the ammonia and it has to be accelerated beyond the exponential growth of denitrifying bacteria. Even 50 pounds of bluegill in a pond that size won't be a significant source. As dynamic as the nitrogen cycle is, it won't be the same on Day 1 as it is on Day 6, or on Day 7 or Day 135.5.

Believe me, I'm not disputing the science. I'm saying the odds of ammonia being the "problem" in this case could have only occurred as a result of the way the fish were handled between the hatchery and the pond where they were stocked. If the fish died due to ammonia issues, it happened during transport.

Finally, if ammonia were truly the issue in this case, there are hundreds of thousands (literally) of other ponds that should fall victim. They don't.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree, Mr. Lusk. I am sure every member appreciates your contributions and wisdom to this thread and every facet of pond management.

I always refrain from posting my sheepskin and experience, since my best learning experiences are when I am wrong and those are too numerous to count. I learn nothing when I am right.

That would sum up all my experiences with this pond since day one. The worse should be behind me now right? lol

So what should I do next? Restock some more CNBG? My numbers should still be fine? Stock F1 bass in the fall? Wait to stock bass in the spring? Fill in pond and install a swimming pool for the wife?

Feed your fish and see what the response is. Then, let's talk about it. Better, pm me with your number and I'll call and we'll talk.

Great, done.

Update,
Fish are still doing fine. Still running aerator from 12am until 8. Water is looking good. BG are very active and growing. I’m seeing plenty fry balls. Not sure if it’s minnows or baby BG. Water level is still dropping 1/4in a day if it doesn’t rain. Very few light showers here and there. Not enough to raise the level.

1/4" a day seems absolutely normal this time of year. I lose 3/4" a day with highs near 100 and 10% humidity. Warm day then 60 at night, it transfers via "fog" at night back into the cool air. If the wind blows with it here, (normally does) we can see over an inch drop in 24 hrs.
I'd be extremely happy with 1/4" a day this time of year!

Oh, I am!

Not to argue, but some observations with the nitrogen cycle in aquariums vs. ponds if a definite "it depends".

Due to many mistakes as a kid introducing fish far too soon into an aquarium, I have learned to be anal about testing for cycling a new body of water. I did it for many aquariums, the 1/2 acre pond, and now a lined 20x22' garden pond.

In my big 1/2 acre pond, the cycle appeared to begin almost right away, as soon as the first raindrop splashed in the mud. I couldn't even measure it with a standard aquarium kit. The cycle likely completed when there was just a few inches of water standing in the bottom. The bacteria already present in the soil, and "dust" in the air is a major kick-start to the process compared to an almost sterile environment of a plastic/glass container with a brand new filter system indoors. I doubt nutrients stand much of a chance of cranking out toxic ammonia in a pond unless there is a huge inrush of cow leavings or fertilizer as the pond fills. That would be a huge obvious problem.

A new pond basin has almost no nutrients typically, but perhaps not always the case in a fertile environment with ground runoff. But I highly doubt the initial ammonia cycle in the pond nailed his fish, way too long of time elapsed before they were added. If it had, the pond would have had an obvious smell to it.

If damage were caused by ammonia, it could be related to new nutrients in the water column from initial over-feeding and nearby fertilizer runoff causing a quick change in water quality. Perhaps you could call this a cycle, but not quite the same thing. This could happen any time in a pond or aquarium's life by adding decaying matter or fertilizer into a BOW that overwhelms the ability of minimally established life to break it down safely. i.e. a lot of dead fish.

One of the tricks I employ with a new aquarium is to take filter media from an established aquarium, even from the fish store, and jam it in the new filter. The settle time goes from more than a couple of weeks down to a couple of days. I still wait a couple of weeks to introduce fish just to be sure. Pond basin soil and nearby topsoil is like the soggy, nasty filter media I jammed in a new filter.

I expect my new lined pond to take a couple of weeks to safely cycle, even tough I added a little topsoil to the bottom to kick-start it. There isn't enough surface area to host plentiful bacteria to deal with fish just yet. More plants and pots of soil and gravel need to be added in. So far, the first spike of ammonia has yet to even show up, but I just half-filled it yesterday and threw in some already established lilies and iris from the old pond. I may have put a little too much soil mixed in with the gravel, it is kind of murky.

I would love to throw in fish before it's ready so I can control the skeeters that will surely get there first! Goldfish can take the cycle, barely, but they stink at eating skeeters. The plan is to put guppies in to start, knowing full well they will kick the bucket come fall. Just curious to see how quickly they will reproduce. Then comes the fun next year to track down our native little fish to put in there, just for curiosity and too small to eat the frogs.

I just cycled a 125 gal aquarium - added some small (1" to 3") bluegills after about a week while it was still cycling - they have done fine. It is finally cycled but took much longer than I expected (couple months) - ph is around 6.8 so that may have made the ammonia less toxic to the fish.

Hello Everyone, I’m very new to learning on taking care of my pond. This topic is interesting could someone help with a few questions.

What would black walnuts do to pond water? I creek by the house is called the Big Walnut! Ha

What would be the water test kit I should get to test my water. How often do you test water?

Thanks for your help and teaching me everyone.