Here's some data from this weekend for contemplation. I invite all thoughts on the subject as I am very new to water DO/chemistry and could use all the help I can get. First off, nothing about my pond indicates that it's current DO conditions are bad. I think I can contribute the slow feeding habits of my fish to lower DO, but beside that, I don't see anything wrong. I have just read "somewhere" that my DO levels are of concern.
Aeration ran Friday night from 10pm to 9am.
DO levels Friday night at dusk were...
6.5 ppm at the surface,
5.2 ppm 1 foot down,
4.3 ppm 2 foot down,
4.1 ppm 3 foot down.
Sat Morning DO levels were 4.3 from the surface down to 3 feet.
Sat @ 1pm...
6.3 ppm at the surface,
5.5 ppm 1 foot down,
4.4 ppm 2 foot down,
4.4 ppm 3 foot down.
Sat @ 6pm
9.6 ppm at the surface,
6.5 ppm 1 foot down,
4.5 ppm 2 foot down,
3.8 ppm 3 foot down.
Saturday was overcast 95% of the day with a slight breeze at the pond.
pH ranged from 6.3 to 7.4 depending on time and depth.
Water temps were 76 to 79 depending on time and depth.
Ammonia, Nitrates, and phosphates were all Zero all day.
My question still stands...Is it better to have good DO levels in the upper few feet OR weak DO levels throughout the water column?
