Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Horizontal aeration

For anybody even remotely interested in aeration by circulation, I've made an important discovery.

As you may know, I initially tried a Kasco circulator along with sweeper nozzles oriented in tandem parallel to the shore and the surface to try to create a "spin". Thinking this was a great way to keep the water quality high and the oxygen levels high, I proceeded with the project as stated. After a short period of time with the circulator I discovered that the "spin" was too great and I was getting high levels of suspended sediment.

I subsequently switched to a surface agitator of the same size (3/4 hp) and ran it only at night, but continued to run the sweeper nozzles for circulation. My water cleared up and the fish have been thriving. My Secchi readings were under ten inches with the Kasco circulator running and have since increased to 27 inches today.

Today I decided to run a full water column profile because we are partially into a tremendous hot spell. Here are my findings.

DEPTH TEMP DO

surface 78 8.5

1 meter 78 8.5

2 meter 78 8.0

3 meter 78 6.5


These readings were taken at 11 a.m. on July 15, 2006.

I retook the readings at 2:30 p.m. same day and the only parameter that changed is that the surface temp went up to 79 degrees F.

As you can see, I've completely killed my thermocline. I thought that by reducing the circulation I'd still have a band of cool water for the yellow perch near the bottom. I was wrong.

The good news is that I've experienced no mortality of any kind, the fish are feeding vigorously in the late evening (maybe too vigorously) and that I've got tons of O2 available.

If anybody wants to comment on whether my yellow perch are going to perish this week with highs near 102 degrees, feel free.

I did decrease the feeding schedule to only one second per day to try to keep waste products to a minimum. I've gotten this far with the yellow perch. I hope they don't die.

I also noted some crazy spawning activity in the little shallow corner. Big bluegill were rotating wildly around the nest, and chasing the 6.5 inch feed trained bluegill that I've recently stocked off of the territory. I may be mistaken, but it looked like one bluegill was pairing up with a female redear. No chasing, just gentle spinning. I hope I'm right.

Bruce we are constantly learning.
I am pretty sure your current group of young (1-2yr olds) yellow perch will survive water temps of 88F; after that get nervous.

I think the female RES will decide that BG is not the right guy for her; wrong "side of the tracks". Although she might be a "switch hitter"...

Female RES and male BG are like pairing up a tough Roller Derby Queen with Malcolm Milquetoast - if he lives through it, he'll be a man!

With no one to mate with and a fair # of each my guess is in time you will have F1 mBG X fRES -- a match made in heaven (isn't that what the Condorosa is). That drive to mate is pretty strong and at least one pair will end up switch hitting.

There is always a couple in every crowd with rogue behavior. Nature always seems to work best that way; it is sometimes referred to as variability.

Bruce, I currently have two cages of yellow perch that are similar sized as your newly stocked perch. My caged perch are confined to the upper warm water layer and my near surface water is running at or slightly above your water temperatures (80F-82F). I will experience your current hot weather for the next several days. Stay in contact with me through August as to how the perch are feeding to compare notes on temperature stress levels of your perch.

We're probably about even. I'll bet my surface temp hit at least 80 by this afternoon. I'll carefully watch feeding behavior and amounts consumed.

Yesterday--Air temps of 106 F. and water surface temps of 81 F. Yellow perch and bluegill had a tremendous feeding event. I had to shut them off or they would have kept going. I'm vewwy, vewwy nervous.

I think you made it Bruce! You should know within a day or two if the high temps produced any YP floaters. Based on the strong feeding activity I would guess not.

I agree, vigorous feeding is a good sign IMO. But good restraint in not letting the fishies pig out, Bruce.

I don't know the exact terminology--something like heating days or heating hours or something like that...Anyway I think yesterday will have been the worst day of the year. We'll be cooler for the next week, then if it gets hot again we'll have shorter days to buffer that effect a little. I'm pretty stoked that I haven't lost a single fish to heat or oxygen problems in this pond.

Now I just need to take the herons out of the equation. I've caught three perch with spear marks in them, and who knows how many I never did see.

Do you put the jack daniels black label in the Mountain Dew for the aeration effect? Also can you substitute the Sam's brand Mountain Lightning since it's cheaper?

I'd forgotten all about that photo.

I didn't even know that there is such a think as "Mountain Lightning". That sounds downright frightening.

Mountain Lightning...Is that the same as the "Moonshine" run up here in NC?

Bruce I don't have well water I only have electricity to make DO. So after all your research and I can only buy and run one system. Which one should it be bottom aerator or circulator?

Yesterday I decided to spring for a underwater viewing system so that I could learn more about what's going on in my ponds.

Currently I have two recreational ponds.

One of them is known as "Big Oliver". It is 1.25 acres and holds 11 acre-feet of water. It is being aerated by a 3/4 h.p. Kasco circulator.
The water clarity is 36 inches and it is set up for no reproduction. The fishing is generally poor to fair if you like numbers, but pretty darn good if you like trophies.

The other pond is known as "Hoover Pond". It is .15 acre and holds .75 acre-feet of water. It is being circulated with 54 degree well water that is directed horizontally along one shoreline with 15 gpm at 60 lbs of pressure. It has a 3/4 h.p. surface agitator that runs from midnight to 5:30 a.m.

Hoover pond is where the story begins.

Last year starting July 1, the fish virtually quit all pelleted feed activity. They also became impossible to catch. Any nightcrawler or leech would be ignored. Bobber fishing was useless. Fly fishing with pellet imitators--zilch. I spent two weeks deciding how to break it to the Pond Boss crew that I had killed another batch of fish. I never did see a fish dead.

About middle of August the bluegill started biting and they looked beautiful. About October I saw some huge yellow perch popping up for a few pellets.

In March I found several massive redears dead.

From April through early May the fishing was fantastic. Pellet feedings were frantic, and the fish looked to be in great condition. Yellow perch that I had raised indoors two winters previous were pushing a pound.

Then on about June 28, 2007 the fish did just what they did a year before. Complete cessation of pellet feeding and three hundred fish wouldn't touch a nightcrawler or jig or anything. Fishing stunk!

So back to the underwater camera. I purchased it at Cabelas using a discount coupon, a gift certificate and some credit card points. Pretty exciting. I rigged it up at the side of Hoover pond, hoisted it on to my float tube and started kicking around the pond. Clarity stood at about 25 inches.

I was disappointed at first because I was obviously spooking the fish with my tube because I couldn't see anything.

Then it dawned on me! "Oh, cr**!, they're dead!" I thought, "Man they must have sunk to the bottom. I started looking around on the bottom but nothing.

So then I floated over to the new island and took a peek with the camera.......and there was the biggest bluegill I've ever seen. He looked like a watermelon. Then he scattered. I looked at the other side of the island and there were three more hogs. I was excited beyong belief.

After this I created a way to suspend the camera over the center of the pond near the island and I left the camera for two hours while I went to do other chores. When I came back I decided to pull up a chair and do some serious viewing.

Here's where I made the amazing discovery.

I saw what I thought were tens of thousands of bubbles drifting by. They were too small for the camera to discern, so I just waited for the big fish to swim by. The "bubbles" kept up their continuous parade. Thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands....... You get the picture.

Then I looked a little closer and realized that the bubbles didn't generally go in a straight line. NOW I figured it out.

They were big zooplankton. Every one of them living, swimming creatures. Multitudes of them adrift in the lazy Hoover River. The current of the water keeping them ever afloat--ever vulnerable.

I slowly lowered the camera to the bottom.

When it hit bottom a big plume of "stuff" came off of the couple of centimeters of detritus on the floor of the pond.

Then the plume literally came to life. Thousands more big invertebrates, including quite a few with visible legs.

Holy smokeroonies! The pond is filthy with live, drifting bugs, just waiting to be gulped.

No wonder we can't catch anything. Fishing couldn't be any worse.

No wonder they went off the pellets.

No wonder they're getting huge.

Can't catch 'em though.

What should I do? Should I stock more fish? I've got plenty more really high quality smaller male bluegills. My Dad doesn't seem to frustrated with the poor catch rates, but I'd like him to have better action. After all, it's his pond.

I really honestly think I'm on to something here.

By the way. I videotaped the zooplankton on my wife's Sony digicam, but I have no idea how to get the video from the cam to Photobucket. Maybe if I go back and get a couple of fish on the tape too I can be famous like Dwight.

Bruce
How about your daughter? Pay her, she'll figure it out. Better yet, have her bill me...I cannot wait to view the footage!

BTW the conversation we had at the conference about invertebrates showing up in my small "hard water" pond...you were 100% correct! As you suggested a bucket of water did tell the story. They are small, but everywhere. Strange summer here, hot weather just starting, excessive rain has kept water temps down. Will probably start horizontal aeration and less feeding this week.

Okay, this is 0.15 acre. What are the approximate fish populations in Hoover right now? [I'm sure you know exactly how many Male BG, (Male) RES, and (Female) YP you put in, and have a pretty good idea of morts so far.] I (and probably others) am interested what population density results in such a huge invertebrate population.

If it were me, Bruce, I'd add more male BG or RES, utilize more of that invertebrate base, and keep them all a little hungrier (and hopefully biting year round). If they stayed on pellets all Summer, your total biomass will be (potentially a lot) higher, right? That would cut your chances of a 20 pound gill, however. Or would it? You probably have as good an idea as anyone whether a fish on all the natural food it can possibly eat grows bigger than one with a good, albeit smaller, natural food supply plus all the good pellets it can eat.

I assume that the pond will handle more fish in it without water quality problems.

You need to see if you can pick up one of those skycam setups from a sports stadium. Rig it to 4 posts set on the corners of the pond, and you could use it to move the underwater camera around with minimal disturbance to the fish.

I would like to see a picture of that watermelon!

Assuming good water quality cage raise some more BG and YP in the pond. That way you can put'm in and take'm out as needed.

I have seen similar events at one of our ponds wrt fish not eating (now) due, I assume ,to lots of visible inverts , zooplankton and small forage as per the aqua-view. Recall that CB1's BG have done the same thing.

Great report Bruce! The time of year at when fish start to become "hard to catch" is a great indicator of how strong the forage base currently is. Last year our LMB got tough to catch around August 1st, this year it was July 1st, I have also seen in years past when catchabilty did not change at all with our LMB.

I too would like to see a picture of that "watermelon".

Bruce,
I may have missed something, The sweeper nozzle is puzzling to me. Is there a picture that you can post that shows the whole set up? Is it a pump that sets out of the water that then pumps through a hose to the nozzle?

Just a typical well, run through a pressure tank like would be used with any home.

From the hydrant you would run a 1 inch sprinkler hose with a brass sweeper nozzle on the end. The size of the nozzle dictates the flow rate, and the pressure in the tank dictates the speed with which the water exits.

This system is definitely NOT as efficient as a normal airlift type aeration system, but if you're delivering water from a pressure tank anyway, you might as well use the energy that's been stored and turn it into a water jet. In general, circulation systems aren't able to tap into the natural buoyance of bubbles to oxygenate, so you typically would spend more dollars per pound of oxygen created than you would with a regular pump/bottom diffuser setup.

The nozzle is placed parallel with the water's surface, about one inch below and sprayed in a manner that the pond circulates. The pressure from the nozzle creates tons of bubbles, but the real aeration comes from the fact that, like an airlift system, it increases the air/water interface by continually exposing new water to the atmosphere, and the oxygen contained therein.

AH thats the part I missed, The part about it being well water, I am interested in the circulating process of the pond, I think my bottom diffuser is lifting ok, I just want to make a surface skimmer that concentrates my surface trash using 1/2 pvc and swim noodles postioned so that the leaves and stuff are trapped for easy removal. With my pond being in the timber every little bit I can get out before it sinks will help. I may look into a submersible pump and put a nozzle on it to see what type of flow I can get out of it

Maybe Agent can help get that video on the forum. Although Agent used you-tube, not photobucket.

Agent, where are you?

80 BG - - 80 lbs
20 RES - - 20 lbs
150 YP - - 120 lbs
5 SMB - - 10 lbs
3 BG X RES - - 3 lbs

233 lbs of fish = about 1,400 lbs/acre

When fish are actively taking pellets they will consume 5 lbs/day

Currently consuming less than 1 lb/day

Adding an average of 20,000 gallons of fresh water each day to a pond with 250,000 gallons, so it's essentially "replaced" every two weeks or so. That means about eight full summertime replacements.

Secchi readings range from 20-50 inches, with an average of about 30.

I suspect that a cage culture would do great because of the circulation, but I don't want to clutter an already small pond up anymore than it already is.

I love the idea of adding more RES, but I'm really fearful of the wintertime mortality issues that I haven't resolved yet.

So I guess I should probably go with more feed trained male bluegill. I don't know how many more I could add, but when Lusk did a personal inspection of the pond he stated that he thought it could support 300 or even 400 pounds of total fish biomass.

I wish I could think of another non-reproducing, pellet consuming fish for the pond, but if I add the bluegill, then I can cull fish later on that aren't thriving as well.

Shorty! Listen up! The redears that I located on camera were tucked in right under the island. I would have figured them for being on the bottom, but they looked like maybe, just maybe they were in a position to be grazing the bottom of the island. I'm planning on bringing my snorkeling gear and checking to see if there are snails under the island. I'll bet there are!

1,400 lbs / acre ! And I was thinking all those invertebrates were there because there was a sparse population. Adult BG/RES/YP must just not eat that stuff at all, compared to fry & fingerlings.

And a pond full of fish averaging almost a pound each. I'm getting my Bruce Condello Action Figure (TM) back out.