Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions New pond in Southwest Michigan

This is my first pond. It is just under one acre. It was dug throughout this summer and just filled about a couple of weeks ago. Deep end is 10 feet and shallow end is 3 feet. It is all clay. I planted wheat all around it and it came up nice. From what I have read bass and bluegills will take in this area. Do I need aeration??. Any help and suggestions would help.

Thanks

John

John - Welcome to Pond Boss Forum. There are numerous members here that have northern ponds. We can help you with your northern pond questions and problems. Have you performed a search about Michigan Ponds yet? A whole bunch has been posted before about many problems you will encounter and stocking ideas. Do a search for topics using key words such as small mouth bass (SMB) or pond depth or bottom aeration. These topics are sometimes mentioned under unsuspecting Headings so search all headings using your key words. For example, my fish information to you is under the heading of -Aeration - System Questions.

1. First thing that I recommend to all MI pondowners is to go to the MSU extension office in your county and get the booklet "Managing Michgan Ponds" (abt $5.00). It is helpful and educational about northern ponds but it is not all inclusive. It recommends that MI ponds should be at least 15 ft deep and 18-20 ft deep is distinctly better. It says that the recommendations of 10-12 ft deep for ponds in more southernly states are inappropriate for the harsh winters of the northern states.

2. Since your pond is only 10 ft deep you will need to take some precautions to minimize winter kill of your fish unless you want to raise primarily green sunfish or bullheads which tolertate very low dissolved oxygen conditions. The main thing you should do is not allow snow to remain on 30% to 50% of the ice for longer than 2 wks. Try to at least remove in north- south strips across the pond. This lets light to the micro plants so they can produce oxygen in the water.

3. Bottom aeration in deepest water during mid winter will result in cooling th water lower than 39F and this will put undue stress on the fish during winter. Winter is the most stressful season for fish.

4. Bottom aeration is best for your pond and will help keep it in better overall condition as far a water quality as compared to no mechanical aeration at all. Aeration will not solve anywhere near all your pond problems but it will reduce the severity of the problems that your pond gets.

5. Pond fish for SW Michigan. LM bass, & bluegill can be a real good combination for a pond your size. However other fish that can survive and thrive in your pond if it does not get winter kill are yellow perch, small mouth bass, walleye, and trout but trout from only late Sept to June. I do not recommend combining all the above fish into one smaller pond such as yours. Stay with basically two species, a prey fish and predator, such as LM bass and bgill or SMbass and y.perch. LM bass and bgill will be easiest for you to grow if you are new to pond management and do not want to spend lots of time managing fish. If done correctly, you can grow y.perch in your pond up to 14". In your case a few walleye can be used to keep the y.perch from becoming too abundant while perch keep growing. LM bass and y.perch are not very good when combined together. Trout will not survive in your pond during most years during southern MI July & August. The first thing to do is establish a good minnow forage fish base so when you add a predator they have lots of food to make them grow well. Properly establishing a forage base involves stocking minnows and allowing them to spawn for a spring and summer then in fall or the next spring add your other fish. Stocking bgill and bass at the same time does work but it results in slower growth of the bass. Ask us if you have any questions. Try to avoid hybrid bgill until you understand all the pros and cons.

John,

I'd like to talk to you about possibly trying one of my wind-powered pond aerators. It has to float on the pond to work. I'm located just south of Kalamazoo.

Scott Hite

i am in vicksburg with an old pond i just restored. fish are doing good just wish i had made the pond deeper. having problems aeration hose freezing. when you start looking for fish let me know because we have gotten them from all over the place
paul