Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Fountains and areation

bc - Nov 27th post, Answers.
My background: farm pond experiences started in 1967 when our family built a farm pond. My aquatic knowledge is from a double biology major in undergraduate and a MS in aquatic biology at Cental Michigan Univ. were I took numerous cources in identification of aquatic "critters" and fishery biology, fish culture and management. My knowledge of aeration started in graduate school when I wrote a term paper titled "Hypolimnetic Aeration" for limnology class. Much research and testing later it is still advancing. I've been heavy into the water biology thing ever since. Worked in the taxonomy lab of a large environmental consulting firm for 10 yrs in Pgh, PA and ended the stint as lab manager.

1. How can old ponds that sat there for yrs, with no care or aeration grow big old bass?.
A. I hope I did not imply that aeration is needed to grow big fish. If a person is going to spend a sizable amount on aeration they should know the differences in product types and styles and what each can and cannot do. It is better if making a purchase to do it from a position of being knowledgable & informed rather than being nieve and saying later "I wish I wouldn't have done that; if I had only known the difference before"...... It is kind of like going out and buying a bulldozer or bicycle to get to work when a car would have been more appropriate. Understand what each can do then buy what is needed for the job at hand.

B. Aeration is not needed to grow big fish in many ponds which you noted above. But ponds that are taken care of and managed properly are more likely and consistantly to grow more and larger fish for the longer term. On this same note how many ponds have you heard about as being fish out or only having stunted fish in them? Probably more of the last two types. Occassional summer fish kills "mess up" the fish balance in a lot of poorly managed ponds.

C. The need for artificial aeration in ponds/lakes is complex. Because the pond/lake system is a complex interaction of many, many things. But as a general rule I think that the larger a pond/lake is the less need there is for artificial aeration. There are many exceptions to this broad sweeping statement. Artificial aeration basically just prolongs the viable or useful life of a water body. Aeration slows down the aging process. It helps maintain a more normal balance of environmental conditons. It minimizes the extremes of oxygen cycles or pulses. The more wind action a water body gets the better and deeper the top layer will be circulated naturally.

D. Also the less or fewer nutrients that get in and clearer the water is in a pond the less need there is for aeration. Higher nutrient levels and clouder water reduces the depth at whcih oxygen is produced. So if one fertilizes and has cloudy water the more there is a need for aeration because oxygen is only being produced in the shallow upper zone. The deep zone is too dark for plants to produce oxygen and consumption of oxygen in the deep creates a big volume of deoxygenated water. This condition accelerates the death of a pond with no oxygen near the bottom.

E. Old neglected farm ponds often have clear water so light and then oxygen is at deep depths for much of the year. Clear water is key in these situations. If an inversion or summer turnover occurs in these ponds it brings up only oxygenated water or very little bad water and fish do not die. But keep in mind that clear ponds do not produce very many lunkers PER ACRE due to low productivity. Once these big fish are removed it takes a long time to regrow them providing the panfish or small bass do not take over first. These type of ponds are pretty delicately balanced ecosystems. As long as things stay relatively the same, they stay fairly stable for fairly long periods. But, minor changes of numerous types can disrupt the delicate balance. Then the once famous fishery is lost.

G. I could go on and on about more of the complex variables in these systems. But for brevity I will end.