Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Algae?? And now comes the FISH KILL....

Any chance you can move the surface water around by motor , pump etc ?

That's what I figured, just wanted to cover my bases in case there was something I didn't know about.

I can't think of anything off the top of my head to get the water moving, besides getting out in the pontoon and paddeling around. However, the south side is now just over a foot deep and I wouldn't be able to get in there very well. And I think I'm too shallow to get the trolling motor going through most of it as well. Should I try that this evening, just to stir it up?

The forecast doesn't show anything that should kill off the algae quickly so I am hoping the fish will make it. Being the first summer owning this place, I really don't know what to expect.

What about removing fish from the pond to allow more oxygen for others in case I do start having a low oxygen problem? Would this be a viable theory?

The problem with that theory, as I see it, is determining the number of fish to be removed. You would need to know the present level of Dissolved Oxygen and be able to monitor the DO to determine how fast it is dropping. It also depends on species of fish extant in the pond present day, as tolerance to low DO levels varies with species. Aeration is your only real immediate solution with additional plantings placed for long term stability.

I see and I don't have anything to properly monitor DO. I need to get better about removing some unwanted species (BH) and was looking for a nother piece of motivation. :-)

Unfortunately, if you do have a fish kill, there's a good possibility that the BH will survive. It seems like all the good fish go first.

Well, as the title now reads, I have my first fish kill... So frustrating!

Thought all was well yesterday, green tint was gone and clarity was starting to come back. Woke up this morning to 100's of dead fish floating and on bank. A lot of them are actaully sinking so who knows the real severity. Started with WCP and BG now hit LMB and CC. And thousands of smaller fish near the surface trying to get air.

Tried to rig up an air pump and hose with holes drilled in for aeration but I'm not covering much area with it and it's all I have right now.

Guess I will be adding an aeration system on the list of "to dos"... SOB!!!

Tragic news! Major clean up! Be sure to place the aerator at the top of your 'to-do' list...right after 'add plants'.

Doubt it makes you feel better but worst year for fishkills in a longtime. THis heat has been brutual to many pondowners. I wish I saw this post earlier I woudl have advised you to mist with copper to slowly kill the phytoplankton. It has saved fish on many ponds this year. Slowly kills it back before a severe crash. I think you had a crash so thick sunluight blockeed to other plankton. The reason you saw it turn colors was dying phytoplankton Im afraid.

We have alot of water flowing through our hatchery ponds. We treated vegetation agressively thinking with inflow no biggie. Matt noticed fish piping so put in emergency aeration oxygen was 0.89. It saved most but lost the grass carp. Point being we know what we are doing and still bout screwed up. It was cool to see how quick a surface aerator works to correct. Small pond but went to over 3 ppm in less than two hours. Over 6 DO in less than 5 hours.

Man with hot water there just isn't much oxygen holding capacity of the water. Doesn't take much to get in trouble.

Especially with cold water species of fish.

So what all do I need to do to make sure this NEVER happens again? I've been looking at RC51's aeration setup. Is that a good start? Would surface aerator be better in the long run instead? How much vegetation should I put in? How long does a fish kill usually last? What are the odds of survival for different species?

Do you guys think the little air pump and hose is doing any good at this point or is it a lost cause and I just need to start putting more concentration on how to prevent this in the future?

I just came back in from picking up more fish... More CC, LMB, BG, HBG, BH and even more WCP.

Of course but you can get in trouble with coolwater and even warm water fish with the right conditions.

Schmidt's - Sorry to read about your fish kill. Been there done that!! I know it totally sucks. Large rum and diet cokes all day long while scooping up large BG, LMB,and WE after a winter freeze out.

Good luck on the next go around.

Sp sorry to hear about your kill! I'm afraid it's not going to be the last one reported this year from the pb family. What size is your bow? Have you considered starting over since you have bh and wcp?

Yeah, it's been a long day! The thought of starting over may be a possibility. I think before we get to fall and possibility some rain I will seine it to see what is left. My pond is about 1.5 acres at full pool and 6'-8' deep. However, right now it is just under an acre and 3'-4'.

I know it's hard to stay positive right now but after my first fish kill I learned soooo much and met some great contacts that helped me out. I would bet a fair share of money if you really love pond management your fishery will be far better this time.

If you know that your fish are lost, this is a great opportunity to do any in water projects such as adding a swim beach or deeping a section. I did both before restocking.

I'd plan on starting over. With that shallow of water, it'd be a great time to drain and make it deeper. I'd cut my losses, forget about the aeration system that you've got going and do some planning.

At 6'-8' deep, I think you really aren't deep enough for your winters. While an aeration system might prevent most winterkill, if it's a long, cold winter, that shallow of a pond will get pretty chilly for the fish.

Someone local just lost two labs to blue green alge. Not sure if this is the same or not. It was in Salamonie Reservoir.

I had some blue-green algae but not a lot. Had dogs and cats drinking from the pond every day and they never got sick.

If I decide to start over, where do I start? Does anyone know someone in the Kansas area that does good pond work and could make it deeper for me? I reached out to Mike Otto from another post I read.

How long does this usually last?? I spent most of the day picking up fish yesterday and guess what I get to do all evening after work... more fish and they are already starting to stink. Anywhere close to the pond just smells horrible!

Is there anything I can do to stop this from hapenning? Or will it just continue till everything is dead? There are millions of minnows swimming at the top of the water, now even the BH are coming for air!

Here's a quick picture I just took, most the dead fish are windblown to the other side of the pond, may have to zoom in to see all the fish at the surface and the minnows at the bottom of the picture...

If you can get something in there to agitate the surface of the water, something like


Anything that will agitate the water surface will help. Even a trolling motor with part of the blades out of the water running on the highest setting. Just make sure that enough of the motor is in the water to keep it cool.

It'll help a lot. If not, then the fish will keep dying until there is enough O2 in the water to support the fish that are left. If there's decomposing organic matter in the pond, then there's the possibility of all the fish going belly up.

Silver lining is that this will allow you to start with a clean slate. You could renovate the pond, making it deeper and not worry about killing any fish in the process.

This is my fish kill insurance policy:

I did do something like that with an air pump all day Sunday and Monday. I shut it down when I saw BH at the surface gasping for air and pretty much every other fish in the water dead. If everything is going to die, then those pain in the --- fish need to die too.

I do have thousands of minnows still swimming around the shallows at the top of the water. No idea what species they are, but I do know there are several different species mixed in together.

Talked to my neighbor who has lived there 20+ years and he has never seen a winter or summer fish kill in his or my pond. The water was even lower last year he said. That determines that I in fact caused this by adding in the alfalfa and increasing the nutrients to the pond. With that being said, I don't think I can justify going deeper with never having a problem over the last 20+ years. I think our plan will be to install an rc51 system and a well to help keep it closer to full pool.

Today at lunch I did not see any fish gasping for air and we do have 25+mph winds today. Fish kill may be over? Good news is 90% of the fish I picked up were all crappie, guessing over 600. All about the same size and bug eyed. If I can continue to pull out more bh i may get a nicer pond out of it. Fingers crossed and wife willing!