Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations I Need Some Advise

I need some advise. Yesterday at the pond I noticed my minnows gulping air at the surface of the pond. So this morning I walked the pond shore and noticed bluegill laying just at the edge of the pond or dead. So I guess the pond is short of dissolved oxygen which really surprised me. With the drought I am only about 6 feet in depth at the deepest so I believed there wasn’t a low level of water without oxygen in a turnover. I I have lots of vegetation and I thought I would always have plenty of oxygen, however my many spatterdock lilies started to die out a couple weeks ago so as of now half are alive and half are turning brown. So my best guess is between the lilies dyeing and stealing oxygen from the water and overcast skies not activating the plants oxygen I am really oxygen depleted. For next year if I cut way down on the lilies do you think this problem would be eliminated? I appreciate any ideas or suggestions. I am way to far to the pond for practical electricity and my trees around the pond probably make windmill aeration not a good choice either. I had a winter kill once but this is new to me.

Yeah any reduction in plants that will potentially decompose can't hurt. Not sure what else you can do.

I too am seeing aquatic vegetation dying off (Sago pond weed in my case) and floating to the top where I am raking it out. The other night I smelled a septic odor coming from the pond. I can't remember for sure but I believe I left the diffuser compressor off for a day by accident just before that. My WAG is the decomposing vegetation is reducing D.O. levels, and leaving the diffusers off for a day exasperated the issue. I am no running my diffusers 24/7 vs. just at night to play it safe.

I have a Kasco surface aerator set up on the pond now in case of any emergency. I haven't seen any piping or dying fish yet though. I'd do a check of D.O. just before first light but lent out my D.O. meter.

Plants are great for ponds when the sun is out. At night, they need O2 just like the fish......

Overcast days, little to no wind, decomposing plants all contribute to low DO levels. Low water levels means that there is less O2 in the "bank" so to speak, so it gets used up quicker when it's not being produced quickly.

Having a ground water pond that fluctuates a LOT with the water table level gives me new appreciation for depth in ponds, as long as the whole water column has sufficient O2. Shallow ponds live more "on the edge" so to speak, so if conditions conspire to minimize DO levels, and if there isn't a continual source of aeration, problems will crop up quickly.

There's a reason why you don't usually see large fish in very shallow BOW's!

John - Your pond is shallow with lots and lots of vegetation. It was almost completely covered and all growing rooted from the bottom when I was there. As is, the pond will regularly have fish kills. You only have lots of DO whenthe sun is shining. During the right or wrong conditions it can loose DO quickly which is what you are experiencing. About the only way to eliminate the problem is to rebuild the pond so it has a larger percentage of deeper water (10-15ft), thus reducing the percentage of submerged plants and being able to hold more DO due to more deep water during times of higher oxygen demand and cloudy skies.

We are currently have the same problems in a pond that the majority of it is over 10 feet with the pond being 4.5 feet low.

We discovered the problem yesterday morning and spent all day yesterday trying to correct the problem by adding air from air compressors and driving around in a boat. The fish were very slow moving and at the top.

What can we do to help correct this problem?

Thanks everyone. I have a better understanding of what is going on. And Bill since you have seen the pond you know exactly what I have. The spatterdock used to be pretty when I didn't have so much of it but now it's down right ugly, so next spring I will start killing it as it comes up. My pond is clear but has a lot of tannin from the dying spatterdock which is another reason to get rid of the spatterdock. If I was younger I would drain and dig it deeper but time isn't something I can rely on. If this drought is an every year event then everything has changed for me. One thing, the frogs thrive in this pond. As you said Bill, I have a frog pond.