Catfish on the surface? - 05/13/09 12:46 AM
The past few days I've noticed more and more catfish cruising the surface with their mouths slightly out of the water. I've seen this before and it was a leading indicator of a fish kill.
Pond is about 1/3 acre, and right now about 18' deep. We have had lots of rain and the pond is to the top of the dam. It is stocked with catfish, bluegill and some largemouth bass.
Before the big rains we've had in East Texas the past few weeks the pond was about 1/2 to 2/3 covered with filamentous algae I had treated about a 1/3 of the pond with Cutrine plus and the treated algae was starting to die off. However with the big rains and warmer weather virtually all of the algae is gone. The water is very dirty and brown colored.
I have a homemade fountain/aerator (pool pump and PVC) that I started running last night. I'm thinking between the algae kill, catfish on the surface, and murky water I'm looking at low oxygen. Am I on the right track?
Question is what else can I do? Anything I can add to the water to improve the oxygen content? All suggestions are appreciated.
Pond is about 1/3 acre, and right now about 18' deep. We have had lots of rain and the pond is to the top of the dam. It is stocked with catfish, bluegill and some largemouth bass.
Before the big rains we've had in East Texas the past few weeks the pond was about 1/2 to 2/3 covered with filamentous algae I had treated about a 1/3 of the pond with Cutrine plus and the treated algae was starting to die off. However with the big rains and warmer weather virtually all of the algae is gone. The water is very dirty and brown colored.
I have a homemade fountain/aerator (pool pump and PVC) that I started running last night. I'm thinking between the algae kill, catfish on the surface, and murky water I'm looking at low oxygen. Am I on the right track?
Question is what else can I do? Anything I can add to the water to improve the oxygen content? All suggestions are appreciated.