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Joined: Dec 2017
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dhadam Offline OP
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Dear PB friends,

My situation is that I built a new pond this year for SMB, WE, YP, RBT, HBG, BG, RES. I have 1.3 ac linered pond "C" shaped with avg 16' deep w/steep sides. I made it this deep for the RBT and since linered it will be difficult to remove sediment in years to come. I have 4 diffusors in this pond and 2 in my .4 acre 6' deep LMB pond. I've read Bill Cody's ideas about 24/7 air. What confuses me is there are also warm water fish in there too i.e., WE, RES, BG, SMB, YP, FHM & CC. The trout are still feeding furiously in the cold. Currently I'm running air pumps full at depths with 50' holes in the otherwise iced up surfaces. Both ponds stocked with 50 pounds very pregnant NCF (northern crayfish) each plus 10K FHM split between them to help them all settle in for the winter/spring of the year.

My FIRST question is, do I cut back air to a few hours or cut the pressure back some to mitigate stress on the warmer water fish or just let it ride on 24/7? I want to keep open water to keep feeder going to attempt to keep some trout through the summer. I'm in the cooler northeastern Ohio area about 30 minutes from the great lakes where it doesn't get extremely hot but kicks your hiney in the winter. We get a lot of Canadian weather influence here.

SECOND question for second shallow pond is same for aeration. I gathered from reading utilizing periodic air - perhaps 4 hours/day would be advisable. Could I get some input here?

New pond is just south of crystal clear, the trout are loving that. The smaller pond is slightly turbid due to its proximity to some new construction within a few feet of it. Generally it runs clear at 16". Also, with the ground temp at the deeper depth of the pond (16' - mine is 14' to 18.5') being approx 62 degrees I'm wondering if the thermodynamics will play into "heating" the full body offsetting the open ice holes or would periodic air allowing closing of the holes help with heat retention at depths?

I feel I made a blunder buy combining warm and cool species but it was worth trying. I couldn't find where anyone tried this combo but with this group I find that quite unlikely. Thanks in advance for any input anyone can offer.

The question is about Ohio RBT and warmer fish like WE & SMB and how to WINTER them over together if it could be possible.

Merry Christmas!

Mr. Don

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/18/17 02:22 PM. Reason: added northern crayfish

NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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I have zero experience with winter aereation, but can offer what I think I know from reading up on the subject of aereation in general and experience with summer aereation. Then the experts with actual experience can come along and give you some real advice.

For winter aereation, it is my understanding that it is advisible to put the diffusers in shallow water so you do not turn the entire body of water. Something like 3 to 5 ft depth. This should give you cold water refuge above for trout and warmer water below. Maybe with such deep water you could even go to 8 feet or so.

The other thing about diffusers, is their main purpose is to move water. Small bubbles move more water than large bubbles. So most diffusers are designed to have small bubbles. You might want to make a specific diffuser for cold water out of a piece of PVC pipe with lots of small 1/16" holes drilled and weight it in place in 3 to 5 feet of water for winter. Large bubbles, as I understand it, move less water but they do a better job of creating wave action and turbulence to keep ice holes open.

Just some ideas from my reading. Some experts will be along with real, experienced advice.

Last edited by snrub; 12/18/17 12:13 PM.

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dhadam Offline OP
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Hi Mr. John from Kansas.

Thanks for the reply and thoughtful input. I've given thought to just your idea with a long pvc pipe with holes put in the water at a bit of a diagonal from the shore to get good dispersion within the first 8-10'. Some of what I read indicated the shallow only method was good for a LMB situation. I have one pond setup primarily for LMB but it's the newer pond with the fairly uniform v-shaped bottom 15 to 19' that has been my baffling point. You are my first input but interesting that your thoughts were going my direction. If I went 8-10' then I still have nearly the same distance with warmer water for the less cold tolerant fish, still keep open water and keep benefits of ultra-oxygenated water that those trout thrive on.

I heard about small bubble size possible moving more water, the larger than air-stone drilled holes would surely help in that area.

Thanks again,
Mr. Don

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Last edited by dhadam; 12/18/17 01:53 PM.

NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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Welcome dhadam- I foresee potential problems with your situation and plan. The thermal tolerance of your fishery spans the full thermal range of common pond fishes. Not an easy fishery combination to manage successfully even in northern ponds. Trout are cold water adapted, WE, SMB, YP are cool water fishes, and RES, CC, sunfish and FHM are considered warm water species. Trout and the redears are the two outlying thermal species at opposite ends of the common sportfish thermal spectrum.

As you mix cold water in an ice covered pond you will lower the water temperature from the normal 39F. Usually regardless of diffuser depth. As winter aeration progresses the water continues to progressively cool below 39F, as this happens the warm water species will become more and more thermally stressed. When the water temperature drops below 39, I predict you will first see significant deaths of the redears. As aeration continues water circulation quickly involves more of the bottom water. As the water temperature drops from 38F toward 32F more thermal stress will occur primarily in the warm water species, then the cool water species, and then finally the trout. The thermal stress may not kill, but it will weaken surviving fish depending on species, water temperature, duration of the low temperatures, and water quality.

The thermal mixing characteristics of ice covered ponds during harsh extended winters have not been well studied and the effects are not well documented despite what has been posted on this Forum. Cold water mixing behavior is not the same as warm water mixing & circulation mainly because the density and properties of water change as temperature increases or decreases. This dramatically affects how water mixes during warm and cold periods. My experiences show the differences are dramatic. Most of the available winter mixing informational statements on this forum are just ideas and theories not proven facts. I have only collected limited unpublished data about winter aeration of ice covered ponds. More needs to be done for this topic.

In my experienced opinion of aeration and water mixing patterns during ice cover in ponds, the currents and mixing regime is dependent on size of pond, pond depths, volume of air used, number and pore size of diffusers, location of diffusers, depth of diffusers, operation schedule, and sunlight penetration through ice and amount of the open water area. I think all these numerous variables affect the thermal mixing pattern from the diffusers.

Since your pond is new (1-5 yrs), with adequate depths of average 16ft in your case, I don’t think aeration will be necessary during winter unless deep snow completely covers the pond for greater than 10 to 16 weeks. At that point or prior to it, removing 15% to 25% of the snow cover should allow adequate photosynthesis to generate enough DO for all fish survival without aeration. In new ponds with little biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and a significant percentage of deep water, adequate DO at the start of winter will last until the spring thaw. Whenever sunlight penetrates ice cover, photosynthesis from phytoplankton under ice can quickly oxygenate the underlying water in a matter of several to 12 hours. Most ice that develops beneath the uppermost top ice is glass clear. This allows sunlight to penetrate thick ice when snow is absent. A frozen slush layer depending on its thickness reduces the amount of light penetration.

At the worst case the trout may die in winter when DO drops below 4ppm while all other species survive, but dead trout are doubtful to occur in a new deep pond such as yours. Your trout are more likely to die in mid-summer compared to winter. If the trout die in winter of 2017-2018 then try aeration winter of 2018-19. A low number of RB trout in a mixed fishery are relatively inexpensive to replace. IMO your main management at this point should focus on not having too high of a total fish biomass and this will result is less winter stress of the pond’s fishery and healthier fish going into spring.

I would not be concerned with feeding the trout during ice cover because the pond has natural invertebrates and you stocked supplemental minnows, thus the trout can find enough to eat to maintain body weight. IMO I would use this first winter period as un-aerated and to create an informational baseline to learn about the winter characteristics of this new pond. Next year you may want to experiment with aeration to begin comparing new data with baseline information from the 2017-18 winter. Fertile new ponds relatively quickly in a few years develop increased BOD requirements and this has a significant impact on the winter DO patterns of a pond.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/18/17 09:29 PM.

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Very pretty ponds.

Oh, and welcome to the forum. Noticed you joined recently.

Last edited by snrub; 12/18/17 10:15 PM.

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That is refreshing Bill.

It is kind of nice when doing nothing is better than doing something. I like those kind of prescriptions. grin

Could he run a tube down to ten ft. depth just in case he wanted to run some air for a short period just in case the snow cover was deep and long? Like maybe run air just long enough to open a hole? Might never use it, but it would be in place in case needed?

Last edited by snrub; 12/18/17 10:48 PM.

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Very cool looking ponds and setup dhadam. Maybe tough to tell from the pictures but is the back pond really 1.3 acre?

Bill- very good information, I am looking to add aeration in the Spring and will note this for my winter setup or maybe not use at all in the winter unless ice / snow cover for extended periods.


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I would and do have a diffuser in place in my pond to run in winter whenever needed.


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dhadam Offline OP
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Hey folks. Thanks again for such thorough responses. Thanks also for the greetings to the forum. I've been a reader for about a year but just recently subscribed to Pond Boss Mag and this terrific forum. A special thank-you to all the hard work done not only by the participating members but especially to the thankless work done by the moderators. Tough job for even tougher pay, lol!

To "Beastman", who asks if the photo of my ponds shown is actually 1.4 acres: My contractors charged me for 1.3 acres of dirt movement, the liner company charged me for 1.5 acres of pond-liner coming in at 12,800 pounds and my pond maintenance company - Aqau-Dock charge me for 1.4 acres of the new pond of management so is it 1.4 acres? I can't really say for sure, but as a photographer I can make the illusion of a look of a 3 or 1/2 acre pond depending on which lens I chose and angle of camera at the moment of the snap. This particular pic is a porch view with an iPhone FWIW. With it being a "C-shaped" pond I'm sure someone can figure it out, just not me. They tell me 8.5 million gallons of aqua hanging out down there. Those dozers dug and pushed for a month.

As for Mr. Cody's veritable response I'll cut and paste with my comments interspersed in caps for ease of which is he and which is me "speaking/writing".

"Welcome dhadam- I foresee potential problems with your situation and plan. ME TOO. The thermal tolerance of your fishery spans the full thermal range of common pond fishes. Not an easy fishery combination to manage successfully even in northern ponds. Trout are cold water adapted, WE, SMB, YP are cool water fishes, and RES, CC, sunfish and FHM are considered warm water species. Trout and the redears are the two outlying thermal species at opposite ends of the common sport-fish thermal spectrum. THE RESF WERE PUT IN THERE TO CLEAN UP THE SNAILS FROM THE WATER SOURCE TO FILL THE POND BESIDE THE ROCKY RIVER. I CAN'T SAY WHERE IT CAME FROM, JUST THAT IT PROBABLY WASN'T THE RAIN. ;-) HOPEFULLY THE 5 MOS THEY HAD BEFORE COLD WAS ENOUGH TO MITIGATE SNAIL PARASITIC INFUSION.

As you mix cold water in an ice covered pond you will lower the water temperature from the normal 39F. Usually regardless of diffuser depth. As winter aeration progresses the water continues to progressively cool below 39F, as this happens the warm water species will become more and more thermally stressed. When the water temperature drops below 39, I predict you will first see significant deaths of the redears. As aeration continues water circulation quickly involves more of the bottom water. As the water temperature drops from 38F toward 32F more thermal stress will occur primarily in the warm water species, then the cool water species, and then finally the trout. The thermal stress may not kill, but it will weaken surviving fish depending on species, water temperature, duration of the low temperatures, and water quality. MY RESEARCH INDICATED THAT @ 16'+ THE WATER SHOULD HOVER @ 62F. TRUE OF FICTION? ALSO, WITH THIS SIZE OF WATER WITH THESE THERMODYNAMICS (IF 62F IS TRUE) WILL IT BE OVERCOME BY OUTSIDE TEMPS EVENTUALLY? HOW DOES ONE MEASURE TEMPS AT SUCH DEPTHS? SOME SORT OF DEEP PROBE?

The thermal mixing characteristics of ice covered ponds during harsh extended winters have not been well studied and the effects are not well documented despite what has been posted on this Forum. Cold water mixing behavior is not the same as warm water mixing & circulation mainly because the density and properties of water change as temperature increases or decreases. This dramatically affects how water mixes during warm and cold periods. My experiences show the differences are dramatic. HOW SO? Most of the available winter mixing informational statements on this forum are just ideas and theories not proven facts. I have only collected limited unpublished data about winter aeration of ice covered ponds. More needs to be done for this topic. HOW CAN I HELP BRING DATA TO THE TABLE?

In my experienced opinion of aeration and water mixing patterns during ice cover in ponds, the currents and mixing regime is dependent on size of pond, pond depths, volume of air used, number and pore size of diffusers, location of diffusers, depth of diffusers, operation schedule, and sunlight penetration through ice and amount of the open water area. I think all these numerous variables affect the thermal mixing pattern from the diffusers.

Since your pond is new (1-5 yrs), with adequate depths of average 16ft in your case, I don’t think aeration will be necessary during winter unless deep snow completely covers the pond for greater than 10 to 16 weeks. At that point or prior to it, removing 15% to 25% of the snow cover should allow adequate photosynthesis to generate enough DO for all fish survival without aeration. In new ponds with little biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and a significant percentage of deep water, adequate DO at the start of winter will last until the spring thaw. Whenever sunlight penetrates ice cover, photosynthesis from phytoplankton under ice can quickly oxygenate the underlying water in a matter of several to 12 hours. Most ice that develops beneath the uppermost top ice is glass clear. This allows sunlight to penetrate thick ice when snow is absent. A frozen slush layer depending on its thickness reduces the amount of light penetration. IF ONE HAS ALL AERATION EQUIP IN PLACE WOULD IT BE ADVISABLE TO SIMPLY HIT THE COVERED ICE WITH AIR ON A PERIODIC BASIS, SAY 30 MIN/DAY OR JUST GO PUSH SOME SNOW?

At the worst case the trout may die in winter when DO drops below 4ppm while all other species survive, but dead trout are doubtful to occur in a new deep pond such as yours. Your trout are more likely to die in mid-summer compared to winter. If the trout die in winter of 2017-2018 then try aeration winter of 2018-19. A low number of RB trout in a mixed fishery are relatively inexpensive to replace. IMO your main management at this point should focus on not having too high of a total fish biomass and this will result is less winter stress of the pond’s fishery and healthier fish going into spring. INITIAL STOCKING WAS WITH ALL JUVENILES (EXC.#150 1-YR RBT) AND #75 .75 TO 1LB HBG. 50WE, 12SMB, 300BG, 150RSF, 150YP, 7000 FHM, 60# NCF.

I would not be concerned with feeding the trout during ice cover because the pond has natural invertebrates and you stocked supplemental minnows, thus the trout can find enough to eat to maintain body weight. IMO I would use this first winter period as un-aerated and to create an informational baseline to learn about the winter characteristics of this new pond. SINCE I STARTED AND STILL AM AERATING SHOW I CUT IT OFF "COLD TURKEY" OR TAPER IT OFF THIS TIME OF YEAR? Next year you may want to experiment with aeration to begin comparing new data with baseline information from the 2017-18 winter. Fertile new ponds relatively quickly in a few years develop increased BOD requirements and this has a significant impact on the winter DO patterns of a pond. YES, SOME LEAVES ALLOWED IN, ALL HABITAT IS PLASTIC-WARE, I.E., HONEY-HOLE PRODUCTS. SO LITTLE DECOMP HAPPENING."

Thanks to all, especially to Mr. Bill.

Mr. Don


NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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Items in order of listed. dhadam says
1. Weather and aeration will not be quite cold enough to cause kill stress to the RES. If you want to try to keep them alive turn off aeration.

2. "MY RESEARCH INDICATED THAT @ 16'+ THE WATER SHOULD HOVER @ 62F. TRUE OF FICTION? ALSO, WITH THIS SIZE OF WATER WITH THESE THERMODYNAMICS (IF 62F IS TRUE) WILL IT BE OVERCOME BY OUTSIDE TEMPS EVENTUALLY? HOW DOES ONE MEASURE TEMPS AT SUCH DEPTHS? SOME SORT OF DEEP PROBE?" This is probably true with not summer aeration. Bottom diffused aeration will warm the water to well above 70F during mid summer. However the 62F water in that cold deep layer without summer aeration will lose / consume the DO to well below 5ppm needed for trout. As the pond ages beyond 2-4yrs and without aeration DO in deep water will decrease to 0ppm (zero), but maybe not the first summer.

Several ways to measure deep water temperatures. Make the question as a new post question. Others will help with answers. This topic has been discussed here previously.

3. "HOW CAN I HELP BRING DATA TO THE TABLE?" Make the temperature measurements and post them. If you have any open water near shore or under a dock take the water temperature at the surface or 1-2ft below. That will be the current entire pond temp top to bottom with aeration 24/7.

4. " IF ONE HAS ALL AERATION EQUIP IN PLACE WOULD IT BE ADVISABLE TO SIMPLY HIT THE COVERED ICE WITH AIR ON A PERIODIC BASIS, SAY 30 MIN/DAY OR JUST GO PUSH SOME SNOW?" For first year IMO push some snow if needed if or when it completely covers the ice for longer than 4-6 weeks.

5. "INITIAL STOCKING WAS WITH ALL JUVENILES (EXC.#150 1-YR RBT) AND #75 .75 TO 1LB HBG. 50WE, 12SMB, 300BG, 150RSF, 150YP, 7000 FHM, 60# NCF." No comment for this.

6. "SINCE I STARTED AND STILL AM AERATING SHOW I CUT IT OFF "COLD TURKEY" OR TAPER IT OFF THIS TIME OF YEAR?" See my comment above. To save RES stop aeration cold turkey.

7. "YES, SOME LEAVES ALLOWED IN, ALL HABITAT IS PLASTIC-WARE, I.E., HONEY-HOLE PRODUCTS. SO LITTLE DECOMP HAPPENING." Future plankton production that dies, FA that dies and all leaves will contribute to majority of the DO loss.


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Bill C.,

The general initial stocking numbers were to speak to your mention of keeping biomass to a minimum which I considered with (aeration as part of the plan all along, both via HVLP Kasco fountain and 3/4 hp LS60 Airmax deep pond system with 4 plates. I'll unplug that puppy as soon as I get back into town.

Thank you for giving this such considerable thought Bill. If you're ever near Cleveland please look me up. I've got a great Italian place that has truly amazing wings, really.

Best regards,

Mr. Don


NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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Welcome to the forum Don. Those are beautiful looking ponds.


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dhadam - My comment was not real clear for "IMO your main management at this point should focus on not having too high of a total fish biomass and this will result is less winter stress of the pond’s fishery and healthier fish going into spring."
I should have stated your FUTURE main management from this point forward should focus on maintaining not too high of fish biomass going into winter. I say this because fish grow, poundage increases and fish reproduce which in combination almost always adds fish biomass to the pond ecosystem and a harsh winter is usually the hardest season for healthy survival of one's fish.

I, we assume that since you have trout you feed pellets. This significantly increases the total poundage of fishes (biomass and BOD) in the pond. Then management and fish harvest becomes important in producing a healthy, high quality fishery.

Keep us updated at least annually about the progress of your ponds and the fishery. You have an interesting and somewhat unusual pond management situation that others can learn from your experiences.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/21/17 10:36 AM.

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Bill Cody post "....The thermal mixing characteristics of ice covered ponds during harsh extended winters have not been well studied and the effects are not well documented despite what has been posted on this Forum. Cold water mixing behavior is not the same as warm water mixing & circulation mainly because the density and properties of water change as temperature increases or decreases. This dramatically affects how water mixes during warm and cold periods. My experiences show the differences are dramatic. Most of the available winter mixing informational statements on this forum are just ideas and theories not proven facts. I have only collected limited unpublished data about winter aeration of ice covered ponds"

Never a truer statement than the one you posted Bill. Last winter we invested in some nice data collection tools and wow were we surprised what we were seeing.

Our neatest discovery last season came about by complete accident. While monitoring the DO in a small body of water, I thought the YSI Optical DO meter wasn't working. Overnight my readings shot up to 18ppm. How could that be? Physically impossible. Can't be. DO meter must not be working. I was pretty upset because, as you know, they are kind of expensive. The meter cheked out and runnning properly. As it turns out, when we shut off the aerator and the pond froze back over. And with very clear ice, not a huge bio-load, the DO produced from photo had no way of reaching equilibrium with the atmosphere. We actually produced a stressful situation for the fish with the creation of too much DO.

Last edited by MNFISH2; 12/20/17 09:57 PM.
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Sounds like you might have inadvertently created a super saturated DO environment where DO can actually exceed 20 ppm. IIRC that can lead to gas bubble disease for our finned friends. Can be as deadly as low DO. Seems to me DonoBBD reported something along that line a year or so ago in his pond in Canada.

Last edited by Bill D.; 12/20/17 11:01 PM.

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Jason,

Thank you for the kind compliment on our waters. I'm still working on them. I've shown you mine, can you show me yours? LOL!

Mr. Don


NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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Bill D,

I'm chuckling down to my belly. Wow, these darn finned fellow just can't be pampered to thrive! It's the 'ol princess pea scenario, this pond's got too little oxygen, this one too much and this one's juuuuuust right! Go figure I'd be the one to try to help them thrive and screw it all up! Geeesss.

I think I'll unplug tomorrow and have a cup 'o joe!

Mr. Don


NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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MNFISH2,

So, my thoughts based on your experience is to perhaps give then an hour of air a day for a week or so, then 30 minutes for a week, them 15 minutes, then stop. What do you think based on your measurements? I don't was to stress, I want to make happy little fishes I that is at all possible. Usually in life the more you know the more you wished you didn't know ... blissful ignorance. But hey, I'll put my big-boy pants on and do what must be done here. I am all ears.

Thank you ALL.

Mr. Don
NE Ohio


NE Ohio, 2 ponds @ 1.3 @ 16' & .5 ac.@ 6'. Aeration x 6 bottom diffusors, 2 HVLP fountains, Honey Hole habitat x 35 pcs, FHM, SMB, WE, RBT, YP, BG, HBG, CC (in newer WE/SMB pond only) 2nd 1/2 ac pond LMB, CC, RSF, SMB, BCP, CBG, HBG, FHM.
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Originally Posted By: MNFISH2
Bill Cody post "....The thermal mixing characteristics of ice covered ponds during harsh extended winters have not been well studied and the effects are not well documented despite what has been posted on this Forum. Cold water mixing behavior is not the same as warm water mixing & circulation mainly because the density and properties of water change as temperature increases or decreases. This dramatically affects how water mixes during warm and cold periods. My experiences show the differences are dramatic. Most of the available winter mixing informational statements on this forum are just ideas and theories not proven facts. I have only collected limited unpublished data about winter aeration of ice covered ponds"

Never a truer statement than the one you posted Bill. Last winter we invested in some nice data collection tools and wow were we surprised what we were seeing.

Our neatest discovery last season came about by complete accident. While monitoring the DO in a small body of water, I thought the YSI Optical DO meter wasn't working. Overnight my readings shot up to 18ppm. How could that be? Physically impossible. Can't be. DO meter must not be working. I was pretty upset because, as you know, they are kind of expensive. The meter cheked out and runnning properly. As it turns out, when we shut off the aerator and the pond froze back over. And with very clear ice, not a huge bio-load, the DO produced from photo had no way of reaching equilibrium with the atmosphere. We actually produced a stressful situation for the fish with the creation of too much DO.


MNFISH I would like to hear more about this! Maybe you can repost this in the ice dynamics thread and go into more detail? Would love to hear anymore interesting things you found.


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