Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Fertilization "natural" fertilizer

Lots of research has been done with natural fertilizers to produce fish in ponds. It can be done but it is less dependable and more risky of causing oxygen problems. Different manures vary in amount of nutrients precent. Fertilization with manures often tends to produce more invertebrates (insect larvae and zooplankton) quicker by sort of bypassing the phytolankton step or stage. A large portion of the invertebrates that develop are types that feed directly on the decaying manure instead of eating phytoplankton. Phytoplankton and associated grazers are also produced with manure but they are fewer than if only inorganic fertilizer was used. With manure fertilization you often have less control of the phytoplankton blooms; especially dependably mainatining consistant blooms. Since less phytoplankton tends to be produced and a quite high decomposition oxygen comsuming process still occurs (BOD) due to the introduced amounts of rotting manure you tend to get wider swings in the oxygen levels in the pond. Thus the risk of fish loss is greater with manure fertilization.