Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Its been a year

Since I have posted on here just wanted to let everyone know I am the one who put in LMB BG Crappie and chennel cats. I started my pond in the fall of 02 I have ate a dozen or a little more black crappie No bluegill and no bass and all the cats I catch. My pond is in ohio and my bluegill are nice size about as thick as your hand and growing like crazy my bass are nice size and the crappie I catch are pretty good size. My bluegill are spawning now and the bass are trolling and hard to catch right now. I did not hardly catch and crappie this year though I dont know why? I put in a fountain this year for looks (wife) but I am not running it but a couple hours a day inthe evening, I have heard bad things about fountains messing everything up any one have any suggestions on that I would like to hear about it. My pond was a muddy mess since late Feb. and one day about 2 weeks ago bam it cleared up, then the blue gill started to move up. I am starting to believe it may be because of th LMB fanning while spawning but that is just a personal thought since nothing else changes. I was told once that redear do not multiply very fast so I am reluctant to eat my big ones but I read a message on here and someone said the multiply fast anyone no anything on that? I suppose it time to start harvesting. This is the first year I have seen numerous small bass 6-8 inches long all over. I was thinking of adding a few but now I that would be a mistake. As for the red ear and bluegill any thought on harvest, everything you read says eat em all but I had to eat the big broods. Thought I would fill everyone in any suggestions are always appreciated. I am starting to believe that Old man fender knows what hes talking about when it comes to stocking fish. If anyones interested I have a few pics I can email ya of bass and blues and last years crappie catches if I can find them let me know.

bc - your pond is still young. Give it several more years to mature and then report back. Things will be different then.

No evidence of clouding from LMB fanning, but I believe I've had lower visibility the last week because of BG & RES doing it.

I run a different, more restrictive slot limit on RES than I do on BG because of the fecundity differences. That, and because the Redear Defense League threatens me if I don't.

Please continue reports in the future.

"I have heard bad things about fountains messing everything up any one have any suggestions on that I would like to hear about it."

I don't know what's so bad about them. From my prespective they are just more asthetic than functional. Too pricey for me.

I agree with CB1, I am not aware of how fountains mess everything up. Pricey to buy and operate. It costs quite a bit of energy to toss all that water into the air. The more and higher you toss it the more energy (electricity) it takes. Water weighs 8 lbs per gallon. Throwing it into the air is not easy.

The only drawback to fountains other than cost is that you have power (elect) in the water.

RES have about 1/3 to 1/5 the reproduction of BG.

They also aren't good for destratification if the water is deeper than 4 or 5 feet (if you want that) and only aerate the surface in close proximity correct?

I'll go with the bottom diffusers as I want good destratifying of the water column, and the electrical cost is much, much, less for the benefit.

Cecil I was only addressing the negatives of fountains. I agree they are not nearly as good as diffused air. They still help with O2 just not near as much as bottom aeration. That is still a positive to me.

What do you mean buy "your pond is still young. Give it several more years to mature and then report back. Things will be different then" Please elaborate on what I should be doing to keep from it being different.

A new pond has zero accumulated organic sediment. All ponds, as they age, pick up more organic wastes and debris. These tend to use up oxygen as they decay, increasing the demand for oxygen in the water beyond what is required to support the fish (and, at night, the plants).

While the build up of organics can't be eliminated, there are factors which control it's rate and steps that can be taken to lower it. The more trees near the pond depositing leaves in it each year, the more organic accumulation. The more fish feed (or fertilizer) that is added to the pond, the more organics build up. Note that these latter two (feed & fertilizer) are things we usually want to do in order to increase the productivity of our ponds.

On the good side, ponds with a good flow-through of water tend to have some amount of organics wash out. When we remove fish from our ponds (or when Mother Nature's Little Helpers remove dead tilapia which have consumed large amounts of FA), organics are removed. And thorough top-to-bottom aeration (performed by an adequately sized and placed aeration system) helps break the organic sediments down in an oxygen-rich environment, reducing muck volume and helping to prevent an oxygen deficit later on.