Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations help with ?

I have a 1.5 acre pond 6-18 ft deep that I overstocked because I have kids and grandparents that love to fish and we will keep more than most people to eat. i had a bad duckweed problem. i started having a fish die off and I got the problem under control with Reward. does killing the weeds take away the oxygen. i have a well that is pumping water into the pond at 11gal a minute. I also run a boat around once a day to stir up the water. does this help or hurt. thanks

Yes, dead weeds decompose on the bottom and release carbon dioxide and use up O2. You should apply chemicals to part of the pond every 2-3 weeks and not the entire pond at once. The well and the boat don't hurt anything. If you don't have airiation you might take a sump pump in a 5 gallon bucket with hole, suspend it a couple feet of the bottom (set it on blocks) add some pvc piping on the out flow above the water and run it for a few days. It should help get a bit more O2 in the pond, although it can't replace a big pump and diffuser. Good luck.

takeakidfishing,
You are adding to your problem of low DO with well water. You should aerate well water before it enters your pond as it is devoid of oxygen.

lildumper is correct in treating the duckweed a little at a time, but if you already have a fish kill I would not treat with chemicals now. Use mechanical removal untill you get the low DO corrected.

BTW it doesn't take a very big compressor to provide aeration. Do a search under aeration.

My guess is that you probably didn't kill all of the duckweed with the Reward. Diquat-Reward-is a contact herbicide that needs to be used with caution when treating duckweed. It kills quickly and does take O2 out as the plants decompose. I always suggest using Sonar for duckweed. It provides a slow and complete kill. I have never killed fish with a Sonar application in 16 years.
Good luck!