I am new to Pond Boss. A good friend gave us a subscription for Christmas. We have been enjoying the magazine. I hope that someone will be able to advise us as to a current problem we are experiencing.
We have a farm pond, about 1 to 1-1/4 acre, that I would guess has been there over fifty years. I am not sure of the exact depth but I would estimate it is about 10-12 feet at its deepest. It contains sunfish, bluegill, catfish, bass, and perch. Last December, we stocked some rainbow trout and have been enjoying catching them, both during ice fishing season this winter and so far this spring.
The past couple of years we have been experiencing more algae that we would like, and have recently installed an aeration system in hopes of controlling it. We also thought that this might help the trout during the warmer weather. The aerator has a dual output that consists of the air stone type delivery system that works from the bottom up.
The aeration system has been operatational for about three weeks now. Yesterday around noon we noticed a dead trout floating on the surface. By the end of the day we had removed a dozen trout, and five more so far today. I have also noticed that the water color is darker than before, and visibility is down (from about 18-20 inches to maybe 6-10 at most).
I am wondering if it is possible that the aeration system is turning over too much of the lower stratification, causing reduction in dissolved oxygen levels? We never considered this at the time of installing it, we thought that it would increase oxygen levels.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought it important to get in all these facts. Any suggestions or recommendations?
