Buffer - Some items:
1. For posting pictures you have everything correct except you have to make sure there is a [ preceeding the first img. I fixed both of your pics by just adding the [.
2. Your stained water acts similar to a dye, limits sunlight penetration to the phytoplankton and probably at times directly or indirectly depending on circumstances contributes to eventual low DO.
3. Ted Lea provides good advice. The action of a windmill will definately help but it may not prevent all winterkills depending on severity of the winter. Completeness of fall turnover (destratification) will also affect the pond's overall DO 'bank account' going into winter. Ted's advice is a good way to begin with placement of diffusers for aeration. Be advised that coming out of winter the pond will probably be stratified at just below the depth of the diffusers. The unmixed deep zone anoxic water always contains no DO and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas which is very poisonous to fish. When a spring turnover occurs the unmixed anoxic deep water layer will be mixed into the upper oxygenated layer where the fish are inhabiting. If conditions are 'wrong' some sort of fish kill may still occur even with windmill aeration, but IMO your fish kills should be fewer! Numerous variables 'come into play' during this process. This H2S laden water is normally diluted and degassed when it comes to the surface.
4. The fish in your picture is a creek chub. Good picture by the way. The scales,lateral line, finage, mouth shape, and coloration all show up nicely. As I suspected, they are spawning in the feeder stream and migrating to the pond. Creek chubs, even fairly large ones, are a good soft rayed, fusiform shaped, forage fish, although the adults are competetors to smaller sportfish by feed heavily on invertebrates and newly hatched fish. You probably do have some suckers in the pond. They are also spawning and migrating in from the creek. Logs of minnows from the feeder stream will surive and some reproduce well in the pond. The stream serves as a supplier of forage species. Consider stocking some yellow perch (YP)to utilize the forage fish. They tolerate lower DO than the LMB. If you restock bass consider using smallmouth bass. Even if it is only a few adults from a local BOW. Their first spawn will quickly populate the pond and they 'work' better than LMB when using YP. LMB and SMB are not very compatable. LMB always win. So if all the LMB winterkill try restocking some smallies & YP.
5. Keep us posted on your progress.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/01/11 10:32 AM.
