After 3 days of Florence, 35" plus of rain, countless trees in the pond, she don't look so good right about now. Saw a bunch of LMB floaters getting munched on by snappers and found a few pan fish dead in the yard when the rain finally stopped enough for us to get outside.
My starting question is, when and if I should restart aeration? We are still on gen power, I could run the pond a little if a little would do a lot at limiting further damage. We will likely be another week without power and I am only running the gen about 10 hrs a day.
I'm guessing the initial kill was low o2?
1/4 acre, 10' average depth. runoff/ ground water fed. My current version of aeration is 850 gph fountain type pump hanging 6' below a disk float. Before the storm I ran 24/7 and that kept everything fairly well balanced, for what it is. I know nothing I have is ideal but it is the best I can justify at this time, unfortunately.
Hard to say if O2 loss is the proximal cause. 35" of rain can cause massive changes in water chemistry, temperature, and stratification, especially in small bodies of water.
Here's a back-of-the-envelope demonstration:
You have 0.25 ac and avg depth 10' for 2.5 ac/ft of water = 814627 gallons
30 in. of rain run-off = 814,627 gallons per acre
So for every one acre of drainage into your pond you could turn over the ENTIRE VOLUME.
Not to mention, rain tends to be very acidic ph wise. Having your ph swing too hard in either direction is bad news, but going hard to the acid side is worst. You may need to look at getting some lime to try to neutralize your water.
I was a victim of Harvey, which put my pond 50" under water. Took a while to get it back to being right. Lost a some fish that just swam away, and picked up some that weren't there to begin with. But luckily didn't have to clean up a bunch of dead ones.
Last edited by Mike Whatley; 09/20/1802:17 PM.
.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
Hard to say if O2 loss is the proximal cause. 35" of rain can cause massive changes in water chemistry, temperature, and stratification, especially in small bodies of water.
Here's a back-of-the-envelope demonstration:
You have 0.25 ac and avg depth 10' for 2.5 ac/ft of water = 814627 gallons
30 in. of rain run-off = 814,627 gallons per acre
So for every one acre of drainage into your pond you could turn over the ENTIRE VOLUME.
I'll go test, to the best of my limited abilities and equipment.
EDIT to correct bad pre storm data: Before the storm I had 0034 ppm 6.4 - 6.7 alk 77f 68 ele conductivity Stratification was thought to be minimal based on felt temp while swimming and fish caught at depth for what ever that info is worth, compared to last summer before we started our hillbilly aeration. Pond is well established but new to us last year. Edit: Current numbers 82.4 surface temp, 7.9 ph 17ppm
Tossed some pellets awhile ago, a little interest from BG but very little LMB surface action.
Originally Posted By: Clay N' Pray
Following this one closely. I'm in a similar situation.
How did you make out? I follow your exploits posted on "that other place".
Last edited by Johnny98; 09/23/1807:04 AM. Reason: incorrect data
How did you make out? I follow your exploits posted on "that other place".
The pond has "exchanged" multiple times in a short period due to the oversized watershed, small size and big rain.
I have not aerated or fed in 8 days. I plan to put PM aeration back in play today. I struggle with PH/GH due to the clay, pine trees and oversized watershed. I'm sure the water is 5.5 or below right now. Prior to the storm it was 6.8, so big swing. I'm going to add 600lbs of ag lime today just to satisfy my need to do something! Hopefully that helps get the PH/GH back in an acceptable range.
Having a pond that does not leak and has a huge watershed is both a blessing and a curse.
I got my Rube Goldberg system back out and running this morning. Nasty brown layer of smelly scum on the surface, dead algae I suspect. Hopefully breaking up that layer via aeration doesn't induce another kill but as some might say, "This is how we learn"
Cut and dragged three 15" dia fallen trees out of the pond, will go in for the smaller stuff once the smell goes down a little, pretty sure the water isn't too healthy at this point.
Lots of surface activity today, big pops likely from LMB. Hoping once the water clears a little I will be able to get a head count.
I will go out and check PH, temp and PPM this evening once it cools back down, Ive done too much today already.
I put aeration back on and added 600lbs of ag lime in a feeble attempt to combat the massive PH swing that a full water exchange caused.
CC, BG & Tilapia are not feeding well on pellets, at least not on the surface.
Bass are still hungry as hell and nail any disabled bluegill I toss in. Hopefully things get back to normal soon. Good news is I haven't seen a single floater. The overall fish health was really good prior to the hurricane, so I think that plays a big part.
Thanks, Mike. OCD and ADD describe my hobbies best. Wife had just got finished telling me the pond and upper driveway cleanup should be "fall projects" and hour later I'm cutting and dragging. The rest can wait, until this afternoon, I bet.
Speaking of ADD, my base numbers from memory were way off. I found a note I left myself from the day before the hurricane.