We are the proud new owners of a 1.5 acre pond that is in the back yard of the house we bought in December. It is roughly 10+ft deep near the damn, but probably has an average depth of roughly 6 ft (estimating). Anyway, we had a pretty big algae bloom in the beginning of June. It has been hot and dry here leading up to this week when we had a solid 4-5 days of thick cloud cover and cool temps. It appears that the algae bloom has died as I do not see the little filaments in the water and the color has changed from greenish to brownish. I had noticed last weekend that the fishing did not seem normal. There was very little feeding activity in the evening and increased fry activity on the surface. I started to worry about oxygen levels. Well, yesterday I found probably 20 dead good sized bluegill and this morning 2 of our 6 grass carp have died as well as more bluegill, bass, and crappie. So something is up. The pond is spring fed, but the influx has not been keeping up with evaporation. The pond is 20 years old and I would estimate the biomass to be pretty high. Although, the grass carp have really cleaned up the thick moss around the edges over the past couple weeks.
There is the skinny. It appears to me to be an oxygen problem. So here is the question: What aeration system do I buy? I have read and heard good things about the hiblow pumps, but I am concerned about it having enough pressure for 10+ ft deep. I want whatever I do to be effective, but also I am in the middle of remodeling the house and have a lot farther to go, so spending more than I need to is ideal.
I am sure this has been covered at length in other topics, but I want to order my stuff today, not spend the entire day reading and second guessing myself. The pond is less than 40 ft from my shed, so power and housing a pump is not a problem.
Any idea? Thanks in advance!
Tony in KC
