Well, I bought a 50 pound bag of hydrated lime and went down to the pond yesterday to restart the siphon so there would be less water in it today when I applied it (there's a spring fed stream that runs into it all the time. There were dead BG floating on half the water so I wondered if I didn't need to do it. But I paddled around a little and saw that there were still lots of BG alive. So this morning I went and started moving around the puddle in the jon boat shoveling the lime in. The fish were definitely agitated by it. Some were jumping out of the water trying to get away. I went back about 6 hours later and there were lots of dead BG. I didn't see any dead gambusia minnows though. And there were quite a few BG that had congregated where the fresh water comes into the puddle. I netted all that I could out from that spot hoping that I got them all. I'm sure some escaped though. Do you all think I need to apply more lime until the gambusia die, which would guarantee that all the BG die? Can a handful of small BG multiply and take over a pond? Also, what pH should I be looking for to untie the dog?
1 3/4 acre, 1/2 acre, and 1/10 acre ponds in NE Smith County, East Texas.
