Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond Turn Over

I have a 1.25 acre pond in central Kentucky. It is stocked with standard Bluegill, LMBs, Channel Catfish, White Cemrappie (which I did not stock) and about nine Hybrid Striped Bass. The weather here has been extremely hot and humid. Yesterday afternoon, we had a severe rain event. This morning, I went down to the pond and saw numerous Bluegill on the surface of the water and it appeared they were gasping for air. I do not have aeration. I did some quick research and it was suggested to aerate the water. I got my trash pump and started pumping water out of the pond and recycling it back. By this afternoon, I did not see any fish on the surface. I fed them and they took a little food. I saw about seven dead Bluegill floating. I will check again in the morning. Not a pretty sight to watch your fish suffocating. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

That's what happens when you have a deeper pond that sets up a thermocline with no bottom aeration. A turnover brings up the anoxic water that has Hydrogen Sulfide gas in it and mixes it with the upper water, killing the fish.

It's a good sign that some were feeding, that means that it wasn't THAT bad of a fish kill. You might see more fish floating in the next few days.

How deep is the pond? How old is it?

Is bottom diffused aeration a possibility in the future?

The pond is about 40 feet deep at the dam. I understand it is about 60 years old. What are your thoughts on a solar powered diffuser as there is no electricity to the pond at this time?

How far away is electric? Is trenching in an airline to the pond from grid based electric a possibility?

Sorry about your (hopefully small) fish kill.

I would definitely keep posting with esshup on this topic, because his advice will help you avoid a repeat in the future.

Were you at the pond close to dawn on the day after the storm? That time of day is generally the absolute low for dissolved oxygen. Once the sunlight hits the pond, all of your photosynthesizing organisms got to work trying to save your fish. You pumping some water probably helped too if you were able to agitate some air into it.

I could run electric to the pond as I have a backhoe and the know how. The run would be about 175 feet from my service panel. Probably need to run a 20 amp circuit with 12 gauge underground feeder wire. I have decided to get an aeration system as this morning I discovered two of nine Hybrid Stripers were dead and one of my 20 LMBs. Fortunately none of my catfish seemed to be affected. I have a large Bluegill population so not worried about them. I looked into aeration about a year ago and didn't think I would need it. Now, I wish I had installed a system back then. Summer pond turnover is real and can happen to anybody as I have found out. Thank you for your response.

I went down to the pond about 7 a.m. to do a little fishing. That's when I noticed numerous Bluegill were swimming at the surface and they seemed to be gasping for air. I got my 2 inch trash pump and started recycling water at the dam as this was alI I had on short notice. I kept this up for about three hours. The fish seemed to return to normal and ate a bit from my feeder. This morning, I fed them about 8 a.m. and they took the food. I did discover more dead fish though. I will be investing in an aeration system and then restock some larger LMBs and Hybrid Stripers which I lost. Thank you.

The voltage drop over 175 feet will be significant unless you use more expensive, larger wire. I think it will cost significantly more than the plastic piping for an equivalent length of air line.

Further, no one ever got injured by accidentally cutting a buried low-pressure air line!

Lots of good aeration threads on the forum. You will need a pump housing, and it will make some noise. If that is not a problem, then I would locate the pump near your electricity supply in the most convenient place to minimize noise to dwellings, but where you can walk easily in your normal routine to check the pump and pressure gauge a few times a week.

Good luck improving the environment for your fish!

Willy, we are a Vertex Water Features Dealer. (aeration and fountains) If you want to go that route, send me a PM. It's not the cheapest system out there, but it's 99.9% made here in the USA and I don't know if anybody else has a better warranty (if needed).

I had a pond years back that turned over and I lost huge bass and catfish - it is a bad feeling for sure

Now on my current pond I have 4 aerators - ran electric from my barn (small trench over to the water) and then dropped my aerators - no issues at all now - good luck to you

Done correctly you can push air at least several 100 feet through the correrctly sized pipe a lot easier, cheaper and IMO safer than burying electric line to the pond. I think you should with the right size compressor and airline you could pust air at least 1000ft. esshup will have good advice and 2nd opinon for your situation.