Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Fish kill of only small ones?

2 acre pond in South Carolina stocked gradually over past 8 months LMB, BG, mosquito fish, Tilapia. Had 8-10’ depth now down to max of 3’ due to drought. Water is brown and Sechi is 5”, added phosphorous binder last week and beneficial bacteria 3 days ago. Running 2 bottom aerators 24/7 now, adding fountain today, stopped feeding 2 days ago but had BG eating. Past 2 days finding dead BG and mosquito fish along edges, all 2 inches and under, some piping. I would have thought the larger fish would die first if low DO? What am i missing and any other recommendations?

Sorry about your fish losses.

I think I would postpone any beneficial pond chemistry changes until after your fish are out of a stressful situation. I don't know if the phosphorous binder and beneficial bacteria cause any rapid changes that might be tougher for the smaller fish to tolerate during a low water level, low oxygen period? (Perhaps our management experts can expand on that thought?)

If you were running your bottom aerators before, then going to 24/7 should be beneficial.

I am not sure about the fountain. Water sprayed into the air should come back down with more oxygen. However, it will also increase the evaporation rate of the precious remaining bit of water in your pond.

My best recommendation right now would be to perform a successful rain dance. Sure wish I could give out some expert advice on THAT topic.

Yes any rain dance lessons or tips greatly appreciated. I still have something wrong with my water chemistry as I can’t get any aquatic plants to take. Eel grass died and other than FA I don’t see any other oxygen producing plants. With the brown water color i assume my algae bloom has died and that is also using up any oxygen. I guess im in a holding pattern until we get enough rain to flush and dilute it out. Thankfully no dead bass seen yet.

From the dark side:

When fish die, most of them do not float they sink to the bottom. From my experience this is particularly true for the larger fish. A few after laying on the bottom for a number of days decay produce enough gas that they will finally float to the surface. You may have lost may more than you think.
A number of weeks after a cold spell & a cold water inversion my large tilapia began floating to the surface for a two week period. Those that did not surface were turtle or gator chow, never to be seen.


SWAQ:: Stress from warm water & low oxygen. My pond is now 90 degrees.

Yes i see that happening now, this morning i had 9 of my larger bass floating and from their condition they have been dead awhile. Expecting a total loss as I don’t see anything swimming even around the edges. No gators and only 1 turtle around. I’m trying to plan what to do to prevent this in the future but cannot control the heat or lack of rain. Going to add additional surface aeration and purchased blue green algae test kits to try to stay ahead of it in the future.

Sorry to hear about losing your big fish too.

Three foot deep water is hard to keep conducive for thriving fish populations during very hot weather.

Are there any other possible sources of water available on your property? You can pump water a LONG way with a little 2" gasoline trash pump from a creek or marshy area.

If no other potential sources, can you build a supplemental source? Does your water shed provide more than enough water to your main pond during normal/rainy seasons? If so, maybe consider building a water capture pond just downslope of your existing pond. I would make it as steep and deep as your sub-soils profile allows. (That would minimize evaporative losses.)

During a drought, you could pump that pond dry to increase the water level in your main pond.

You could always use the second pond for lower value projects like raising FHMs that you wouldn't mind losing when you pumped it dry.

Hey FishinRod thanks for the advice. We’ve only been here since September so it’s our first summer. The 2 acre pond is on 15 acres and was built by the previous owner. I was told it was 12 feet deep when i bought the property but suspect 10’ more likely. Neighbors told me they’ve never seen it this hot and dry here in SC, pond is filled by water table as we are in an area at or below sea level. No other creeks or wetland close by that aren’t saltwater. I think a second pond sounds like a great idea but would have same issue. We had plenty of rain over winter and spring but it’s been 3 months of 90+ degrees without any significant rain. I’m learning a lot from this process and I think i pushed to hard to fast with BG, FHM, mosquito fish and Tilapia. Too many nutrients for low, hot water to handle.

Yep. If it is a water table pond, then you adding water from a well (or other source) would probably even be fruitless. If your pond has even minimal permeability connected to the aquifer, any water you added would seep out and your pond would go back to the same water level in a short time period.

I still think an effective rain dance is your best option.

Of course, you have to be careful ... some expert advice on Pond Boss is VERY powerful! I would hate to have you bring a hurricane onshore this fall and get 20 inches of rain during a single day.

Could you pump just a bit of seawater to augment what water you have? Mildly brackish water could be tolerable for some of your fish species?
As FishinRod noted, the water level of the pond would still seek equilibrium with the present water table.
Back some time ago we had a forum member with a saltwater pond. He had tarpon, maybe snook, and other fish that can move from ocean to brackish water. I don't recall if he also had what are traditionally considered fresh water species such as bass, tilapia, etc.
It could be that you are in a nearly unique situation to have both fresh and salt water fish.
Just a thought.

Now that I've looked back through the years of the forum, I'm finding the poster was RER. His pond is not saltwater; I was remembering incorrectly. It is fresh. He does have saltwater fish in it however.
So my idea of pumping saltwater may be all wet.

I believe FishinRod is correct any water i add from outside source will just get sucked into whatever the aquifer level is. Anyone have any cloud seeding connections? I’ll give my exact coordinates if needed.
On a brighter note I did see a few small minnows cruising the edge yesterday and no new dead fish so maybe it has passed. Mother Nature sure cleans up quickly, i had thousands of dead fish 2 days ago, i netted what i could but she had a bird army take care of most of it. My griffon is losing her mind with all the birds around her pond that she is now banned from until testing is clear.

There exists a griffon vulture. Eurasian. Maybe your canine griffon had vulturine ideas.