I have read with interest this forum and the different thoughts on things. I am a fee-fishing pond owner in the Colorado Mountains, roughly 8,000 feet. I am a new owner and have never had any experience with this sort of thing, but love it.

The pond is roughly 3/4 of an acre. Fed by a creek that is mostly snow melt from Pike's Peak. The pond is roughly 30 years old and is only 5-6 feet deep and much shallower in places. The creek comes in through an irrigation gate and feeds through an 18inch pipe and goes back out at the other end through a pipe of the same size. We usually have about 3/4 of the pipe full of water coming in and the water coming in is approximately 35 degrees. The water in the pond stays at about 40 degrees this time of the year.

My question is about water quality and it's relationship to temperature. Last year's owner here had big problems with water temp and quality. As you know, the drought hit colorado pretty hard and the creek all but dried up. He had water temps of 70 and up. There is an Ice Away Air o Lator in the middle of the pond. It isn't an aerator but mostly to keep the pond free of ice. I think!

I read a previous thread about how the surface aerators actually HEAT UP the water....the last owner ran his all day long and all night long...could that have helped his water heat up? Also, will this style of "ice away" aerate the water and bring up oxygen levels? What test kit should I buy to test these levels?

Anything else that you want to ask, please do.....this place is great, thanks in advance.

Tony- I have a pond in Scottsbluff Nebraska that is similar in size to yours. I have trout in my pond and have had similar problems. I wouldn't run what they call a bottom diffuser Aerator in the summer as this will mix the water colume from the deep cooler water and mix with the warmer water on top, thus the trout will lose their cool water refuge on the bottom. I installed a Kasco top water splasher that i run only at night. During the night time this is when the o2 levels can drop as well as cloudy days. By using the top water splasher your not pulling up the cooler water. You say you have a irrigation ditch running in for your water supply, does this splash over some rocks or does it just run in the pond. If it just runs in the pond you probbly had a lack of o2 when the water heated up in the summer. I fill mine with ground water at 52 degress and let it run full time all of July and two weeks in august. This is the time of year when it is critical to keep temps down in our area as we don't have the cooler nights. In your area i cannot imagine (as i have spent time in the Springs) that you would ever have a water temp problem, only a oxygen problem. My trout (Scam) stress at 78 degrees and death is just arround the corner if i don't get it cooled down. If you would invest in a Top Water splasher you should be good to go. From what i know (Kasco) is one of the best and you can order one on the internet or find a place to purchase one. In fact there is a outfit in Ft. Collins that sells them i think. Check the yellow pages. I'm not an expert but the ole school of hard knocks taught me a lesson especially with the drought and heat of last summer. Once i put the Kasco in all problems went away. You can also run this in the winter to keep the pond open which you would want to do at those depths. Get a timer and run it at night and leave off during the day. I look forward to other posts to see if they agree with my comments. No drought this year up there is there!

jdm

jdm...thanks
No, we are relatively drought free and the snow pack on Pike's Peak should provide me with plenty of water this year.
Does your pond turn over and have clumps of junk come up from the bottom? Mine has been doing that little by little since April....thought it might stop but it hasn't....
On cloudy days and first thing in the morning it is the worst....

I stopped running my top water aerator on bright sunny days.....I run in cloudy weather and at night....but....in the mornings there is foam floating everywhere.....brownish bubbly foam...not real thick but it appears to be coming from the aerator area and spreading outward. Good or bad I wonder?....the water is quite clear most days and the fishing was good this weekend...we sold about 150 pounds of fish without any tourists!! Not bad!

I am trying to get someone out to look at the water quality, but noone ever returns my calls....hmmm...thanks

There is a company in Colorodo that does water testing. It's called Fisheries Technology Associates. Here is a page from their website regarding a standard water test. They will also interpret for an additional fee and of course they do consulting:

http://www.ftai.com/standard.htm

I too raise trout in a small pond but at only 900 feet! One problem you have is your water will hold less oxygen at such a high altitude. This causes more problems for you than it would for me if your water warms up as in the past drought as in warmer water there is even less capacity to hold water.

As far as the brown foam, it could be related to iron, but I'm just guessing. The stuff that floats up sounds like some type of algae which is not necessarily that bad. I have a problem with in in early spring but it completely disappears later. I also add a bacteria know as Aquatron from Keeton Industries (also in Colorodo) that is supposed to compete with the algae for nutrients.

Is you fish growth is good, and do your fish feed well? If so you should be O.K.

Yes it did turn a couple weeks ago and all kindof material came to the top. This is normal as the water will turn twice per year when the temps on the upper third are close to the bottom third. As Cecil said the foam is probbly ok and i have the same thing and it is normal. I would have you water checked but dought you have a problem up there. Cecil mentioned that the o2 in the mountains is much less than where he lives just as it is for us when walking up in the mountains. I would really watch the temps in the summer and if they get high i would never shut the aerator off until we get the cool late August evenings. I would treat it with some benefical bacteria/enzymes-they will do the pond good and also make the fish taste better. The bacteria will replicate millions of times and stay in your pond to keep it healthy. I use Agua 5 and get it from Spotted tail Trout Ranch in Nebr. Check the Web. Also this guy (John) Bovee) supplies many Colorado fisheries in your area and it would be good to talk to him.

jdm