Dave:
Wow- that's some serious heat (and 53 people dead!) you are having in CA. Is that a dry heat (bad joke!) My pond is doing ok s you read, but I'm still n the learning curve for sure. Wht I didn't post int his threas is tht I stocked rainbows 3 yrs. go in the Fall (Oct.) and raised them bigger in the fall / winter / spring and ran an aerator all fall and winter long- they grew wonderfully. Used a Sweeney auto feeder and just re-filled it every 3-4 weeks. IT came to mide-June and N. Michigian temps are into mid 80's, occasional 90's and the pond tmep went to 75 and they all stressed out and died. They began swimming in circles and dozens actually went bezerk and actually jumped out and after the raccoons ate them, the bones were all that was left. I didn't know I was creating the problem by continuing to run the aerator!
The BIG deal is water temp AND O2 levels. THe min. O2 is 6mg /liter of oxygen (I know 6 is the #, but I'll have to check if that's the correct measurement scale)
My pond has been 10-11 on the oxygen measurement (pretty good) and as high as 72 in temp.
What is your pond depth, pond size, current in-flow in gallons per minute, bottom water temp and and what is living in it now? And, have you ever done a dissolved oxygen test?
Michael form Michigan
