Thanks all. I'm used to a different kind of BG, so the colors threw me off. We only stocked them last year.
We all come here to learn new things.
I have been a member for almost 20 years ... and still learn something new almost every day when I get a chance to read a few posts!
As regards your fish: the water level down 11" is not that worrisome yet - if you have some deep water in your pond. What is your maximum depth?
Do you have AC electricity near your pond? Adding aeration is the best thing you can do to help your fish survive potentially deadly low dissolved oxygen conditions when your water level gets low during hot weather. The aeration equipment is pretty inexpensive for a small pond if you do have electricity nearby.
As regards your algae: the flow through of water definitely serves to inhibit the growth of algae. We have a shallow creek on our property that stays essentially algae free in the summer when there is good water flow. However, during the low flow that occurs during droughts, the pools quickly become green algal soup with a secchi disk reading of 10 inches.
An algal bloom will actually help the base of the food chain in your pond. You do NOT want all of the algae to die at one time though, that can cause an oxygen crash.
Good luck taking care of your fish during this low water period. We do have several members that appear to have some "rain dance" skills if things get really dire. So far they have managed to eventually send rain to break an ongoing drought every single time!
