To expand a little on this bloom discussion: If the goal is to grow fish through fertilization, it is still important that you get the right TYPE of algae in the pond. I think Ted might be right about overcirculation, which may encourage heterotrophic bacteria over algae, and these bacteria don't enter the fish food chain. Once established, these bacteria will consume any fertilizer. Water treatment plants, for example, are aerated to the max since the goal is nutrient reduction. I suspect that if you underaerate, the extra nutrients may encourage cyanobacteria over more tasty algae like diatoms and green algae. The moral of the story is that aeration sizing matters! One has to consider the age of the lake during sizing, and occasionally we have to go in and add more diffusers if we get it wrong. Usually this occurs when we don't have all of the information (max depth, average depth, age, etc.).
I'm thinking of tracking algae species composition and pigment for my upcoming aeration turnover experiment. Hopefully Bill Cody can help me out with that
