Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Aeration, muck, and thermal refuge

Hi all,

We have got a relatively new pond located in Eastern Kansas that has SMB, walleye, and yellow perch. Really am hoping to prevent muck accumulation and vegetation overgrowth particularly in the swimming area around the dock. The lake is clear and very harboring for submerged vegetation that is getting out of hand. The lake is about 6 acres and 18 feet deep. Was hoping to treat the vegetation next year and keep it in check as much as possible in the swimming area but am concerned with all the dead organics and the eventual buildup of muck in that area and also throughout the whole lake.

Would best practice hear be to treat the swimming area, physically remove the dead plant material, and keep an eye on regrowth throughout the season?

Would diffused aeration, beneficial bacteria, and some form of biologic control for trimming/controlling (grass carp) be the best way to manage the rest of the lake and limit overgrowth and muck accumulation? Just curious about the best preventative strategies here and if diffused aeration/microbe treatments would even be a necessary investment at this point.

My last concern and confusion is regarding diffused aeration and thermal refuge. I don't want to completely eliminate the thermal refuge for these colder water species but when you aerate just part of a pond are you not just constantly pushing anoxic water up? Can aeration be beneficial if you don't aerate/mix the entire lake? I have seen people just throw aerators and beneficial bacteria treatments in shallow targeted areas or coves (especially in more eutrophic ponds) and want to understand that.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

I firmly believe that having a well aerated pond outweighs the downside of having warmer water at the bottom of the pond. Without testing equipment you won't be able to check your O2 levels, but here is some first hand information.

Trout are not supposed to survive in ponds that get warmer than 70°F. OR survive in water that has less than 5mg/l O2 for long periods of time. A customer that had both a bottom diffusion aeration system and a surface agitator type aerator had trout survive into the low to mid 80°F water temp range (mid 80's at the surface, low 80's at the bottom) due to the amount of O2 that the water was carrying. It was at saturation level top to bottom, which was above what the trout needed to survive.

Since both WE and YP need much less O2 than trout to survive, I think that you will be just fine with the air stations set on the bottom of the pond providing that the system is designed correctly for the pond and the air stations are placed correctly in the pond. Like FR said above, having the air stations placed correctly in the pond eliminates the dead space between the aeration cones of influence in the pond.

Once the system is set up and running for a week, you will not have any anoxic water at the bottom of the pond.