Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations weeds good for oxygen levels in ponds?

have four acre pond on the erie shores in ohio. am i correct in that plants create oxygen? what does algae create? so is weeds in pond natural aeriation? algae? is there a link to find test kits to oxygen levels?

Hey, jdank. Yes, vegetation helps to oxygenate your water. However, it does so in a different way than aeration and adding aeration is still a benefit that can accomplish other things plants cannot. Algae does, I believe, create O2 to an extent. As for test kits, there are devices that measure dissolved oxygen in your water. Just search around on the site or on Google. Several of the professional pond managers who are regulars on the forum sell those items, so if you can reasonably do so, patronize one of them.

Even the planktonic algae will add O2 to the water. I believe that's what happens when light gets thru the ice in the winter. It's not so much the rooted plants that add O2 during the winter as photoplankton.

In my pond there is also a bright green algae that develops under the ice in the winter time that looks like a filamentous algae FA that I always like to see because many plants die away in winter. The important thing is to clear some snow off the ice so sunlight can get to the plants and produce oxygen. I forgot last winter and paid the price with a fish kill.

Interesting Factiod for the Day: The oxygen that is "released" by plants during photosynthesis is actually sourced from absorbed water (H2O) - and not from absorbed carbon dioxide (CO2). This revelation came to light in the early 1940s, when Samuel Ruben et al (@UC Berkeley) was able to "tag and track” the actual source of a plant's released oxygen (using a 18O isotope “tracer”). Fascinating stuff, if you're into technical details!

Kelly, that IS interesting. Now, please explain where the Hydrogen goes once it's free from the oxygen. (inquiring mind, that's all)

This is above my head but I would ask, if a plant is one that lives half in and half out of the water like a Parrots Feather are there two different things going in releasing oxygen? And it looks like oxygen is being stolen from the water and so there would be no net gain with photosynthesis, say under an ice frozen pond.

interesting techinical stuff----maybe that is why the energy gurus are able to trap hydrogen from big tanks of algae????? to be used as fuel???? maybe i just hang a ballon up over my pond with as much as i spend in fuel (lol) thank you all for replies

Of the 24 Hydrogen inputs illustrated in the equation (i.e. 12H2O); following photosynthesis, 12 H reside in the glucose output (i.e. C6H12O6), and the other 12 H reside in the water output (i.e. 6H2O).

The oxygen bound within water (H2O) is physically present, but unavailable for use by aquatic organisms. Stated differently: The mere presence of water doesn’t mean that gill-breathers can survive in it – even though water (H2O) obviously contains elemental oxygen.

Dissolved Oxygen – which is different from the oxygen that is bound within H2O - is the crucial component required by gill-breathers. The photosynthetic process separates oxygen from the plant-absorbed water and releases it in a gaseous form – some of which often becomes “dissolved oxygen” within the surrounding water (the “universal solvent”) and is now available for use by gill-breathers. The exact percentage of the released O2 that becomes dissolved in the water depends on many factors – especially the water’s temperature (warm water is less capable of holding dissolved oxygen than cooler water).

Bottom line: There’s no “net gain” in elemental oxygen following the photosynthetic process. However, some of the previously unavailable oxygen (sourced from 12H2O) is potentially rendered available for gill-breathers (as 6O2).

6CO2 + 12H2O ---> C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O
BTW, an elemental "gain" is physically impossible in any reaction.
Instead, a reaction essentially reshuffles the cards - or elemental components - to yield different sequence-sets (i.e. compounds).

Not sure what you're asking. But, the photosynthetic process is basically the same for submersed and emergent aquatic plants - and terrestrial plants. I suspect the only notable difference is where their O2 is released (into the water-column, versus above the water's surface and into the atmosphere).

D'oh!!! (in my best Homer Simpson impersonation). I should have known better. Thanks for the clarification!

I'm out of my element but it sounds like a fascinating world of chemistry/biology. I'll re-think my question and try to get a better grasp of what's you guys are talking about.
Thanks.

Just thinking. If fish could breath the O in H2O and release the H2 then we would have our energy problem solved as fuel for the hydrogen car, so I understand that. I hope I'm not sounding too stupid. But the underwater plant is doing this by splitting off oxygen from the water H2O. Looks like a great source of fuel if you cold get enough of it. This gets back to my question of a Parrot Plant that is half in and half out of water. If the part of the plant underwater is somewhat sourcing oxygen from the water into dissolved oxy. (splitting H2O) while the part of the plant above water is converting carbon dioxide to oxygen, then it looks like there are two different operations going on, one in the bottom half and one in the top half of the plant to get the same results, free oxygen. Also, if you take 2 parts H and one part O and put them into a test tube would you get water, or does it take an electric process like in a hydrogen car that gets the waste product of water. Just asking. Should have taken chemistry.

Neither portion of an emergent aquatic plant converts CO2 into O2. All photoautotrophs, including aquatic and terrestrial plants, convert some of their absorbed water into free O2. Although CO2 contributes to the photosynthetic process, it isn't the source of the O2 that is released by plants. Also, a plant (or portion thereof) doesn't need to live in water in order to absorb water.

Probably; but you might want to stand some distance away from the experiment.
Fission (splitting a nucleus) and Fusion (combining nuclei) both release energy.
That's a different subject that I'm certainly not qualified to explain.