mr hello start by having the salinity levels checked. The water sample will be represntive of the soil in the lkae basin. If you have fish growing and plants growing sounds like all is well. In fact the pond might have been well not too long after the fish kill. The amount of salt in solution was obviously very high but will not remain that way with water influence.
I argue if your salinity is slight 2-3 ppt it is better than no salinity at all and your fish will thrive- just ask Condello or you can hundreds aquaculture research papers indicating that it benefits fish in many ways.
Greg,
What would be my options for containers to collect water for samples? I have heard that glass jars are best but it is not always easy to have them around, so what would you recommend I use? I plan to get a sample from each pond and maybe even the wet weather creek.
If this is the case it may not be as bad as I was thinking; now I only wish it was much deeper. I tried to do the Cork and Sinker test and came up with about 5 feet. I think it could have 1-3 feet of muck on the bottom as it is some nasty stuff you can dip up with a net. It is actually the oldest pond on the place which I would guess it to be at least 25 years old. We will probably have to have it dug out in a few years if funds allow but for now I just want to try to grow whatever I can in it at this time.
Like I said it has at least one LMB about 1 pound, 4 HBG @ 1/2 pound, and we added about 50 4-8 inch BG as well as some shiners and FHM. (Some GSF sneaked in there some how but hope they get under control). After using a dip net it appears that the BG have pulled off at least one spawn since being added in June.
Would you recommend any other type of fish for this depth of water?
There were 2 large Grass Carp in it about 15 years ago, I wonder if they could still be lurking around?
Would you recommend adding some more vegetation to the pond if so what types? It currently has Water Primrose.
