Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations water quality question

the tilapia in my 1/3 acre pond are dying, now that the weather has finally cooled off here in north texas.Thankfully, i'm having to scoop up only a few fish per day,though i suspect a lot more than that are dying and just sinking to the bottom. Should i be concerned about my dogs drinking out of the pond,which they prefer to do? How much will those dying fish affect the water quality?
Thanks fellas..

I'm glad to know my dogs aren't the only ones who prefer "flavor water."

I doubt you will have to worry about the dogs drinking the water, Howard, especially if you have a decent predator load in the pond to snag the dying Tilapia and cut down on the corpse count.

I bet george's goats drink the pond water every year when his Tilapia die.

Can anybody with actual Tilpaia die-off experience comment?

I would be more worried about you dogs "rolling" on the dead fish along the bank, when mine do that it is always a long ride home with the windows down.

Remember that howard has SMB as his main predator. I'm guessing those SMB are maybe 9-10" at the most right now as he only stocked them a few months back at 7" long.

yup..lots and lots of dying tilapia, I'm afraid..I think the turtles are about the only thing really working on them right now..There is no smell or suspicious looking water at this point,just a few dead ones each day showing up in the shallows.My water testing strips show nitrite and nitrate levels to be good, whatever that's worth. I'm guessing the slow decay rate in the cold water may help.