I'm a freshwater ecologist and lake manager over here in the UK and I think the main take away from this is that before you go spending big money on anything you need to spend the money on testing equipment. If your water is already oxygen saturated then you're just wasting energy running the pumps, if you wait until the fish start gasping it's already too late. Some bits like dissolved oxygen meters (essential for any lake owner) are kind of expensive but still under $1000, other things like nitrate/pH test kits are dirt cheap and can be picked up for under $20. Lakes are always a balance, if you change one thing then you're going to change something else and knowing the risks is important. In terms of getting rid of your silt deposits (muck) I'd recommend calcium carbonate (chalk) dust but before that you need to check the pH range relative to temperature and nitrate concentration. The organic muck on the bottom will be on the acidic side and the bacteria that breaks it down prefers it closer to neutral, it also requires oxygen because it is aerobic (take in oxygen, expels carbon dioxide) so if natural O2 levels are low this is not a good idea. Chalk is slightly alkaline so will gradually raise the pH away from acidic and then towards neutral before potentially going into alkaline. If the habitat isn't within an acceptable pH/O2 range then adding "helpful" bacteria is a waste of time and money, it'd be like trying to raise cows in a desert. The process of adding chalk to buffer the pH is best done in sections (check pH, do half an acre, check pH again in a few days, wait, check again until it levels off) to avoid pH shock and is to be done in the autumn and spring when the water is cool, the O2 demand is low and the natural saturation is high. It is also very important to check nitrate/ammonia levels because as pH increases the much less toxic ammonium (NH4+) will turn into the far more toxic form, ammonia (NH3). If ammonia/ammonium levels are high in general you really should look at increasing the amounts of vegetation you have in and around the lake because they will absorb and process it naturally. Algae might not look great but it's hands down the fastest way to get rid of excess nutrients in the pond and as long as you monitor the oxygen to balance their consumption it'll do great. You should really look at the cause of the ammonia build up, sometimes it's too much stock and/or bad feed/feeding practices, sometimes it's runoff from fertilised fields/grass. One of the other side effects of silt build up is that below a certain depth there is no oxygen available and this is where the anaerobic bacteria lives, they process the silt in the same way as the aerobic bacteria but produce nasty byproducts such as methane and sulphates which can build up in pockets below the silt. If you ever see bubbles coming up regularly where the deeper silt sits this is generally the cause and while a slow trickle is manageable a big, sudden release can kill an area within minutes. From the looks of it the bubbler style aerators might have caused a big release of toxic material and that's what killed your fish. Personally I prefer paddle wheel style aerators for this reason, they add O2 and add flow without causing too much interference with the silt.

@trentc4576

10 ай бұрын

You should publish a book! I've learned more about pond/lake water health in the 5 minutes of reading this than I've known my whole life

@Mountain_Valley_Sky

10 ай бұрын

I've spent the last several weeks, gleaming information that you compiled here. The last area I am currently searching/researchering is the PH balance portion of your dissertation here. I had read some people use lime (I'm in the states) & perhaps that is similar or the same as the chalk you referenced as your preferred method. I've only had fish about 90 days now. Pond is relatively new. Built new 1/4 acre pond in June '21. About 8ft @ deepest area. Let it build an ecosystem thru all of '22, & learned some weed/vegetation control. Bought our 1st fish in mid April of '23. A bit shocked as it appears we have least 2 species that spawned offspring in the first 60 days. The fish supplier said we would likely see a fall spawn for 1 species this yr, the Bluegill. Clearly they had made beds & successfully hatched fry. I believe the other was the Fathead Minnows we put in as forage/food, for the other breeds of fish. We didn't expect gases or over feeding symptoms quite so soon, but appears to have created them, in about 10/11 weeks, it seems. I am planning to purchase a solar aerator this week, as I have been researching them for about 10 days, & have a prominent manufacturer who happens to only be about 40 minutes away. I believe everything is new enough that diffuser aeration should be ok, with the exercising of caution not to gas the fish. It will not run in the dark at all since it's solar & w/o battery's. For now anyway. Getting power to the new pond would require going a long distance & under both concrete and an asphalt driveway, which I'm not willing to do right now. We are also currently trying to find the best plants/vegetation for our area & situation. The wife prefers a very clear & clean pond for her own pleasure, but is on board with the needs of the aquatic life & a proper balance for all the animals in the area, in & out of water. I have had to relocate 6 snapping turtles, (who found the new ecosystem quite appealing, especially for the large bull frogs, as they rapidly flourished & or relocated from neighbor ponds, just as turtlesdid rapidly). They have been hard on the new small stocked fish as well as the natural frog population thus far. We have found dead Catfish w/bites out of them, that are clearly the snappers doing. Anyway, just want to say thanks for reminding me & reinforcing all the stuff I had ran across, but didn't necessarily retain or fully grasp until being reminded by your post. I would like a paddle wheel aerator, but just don't have the time right now, or the solar wattage to pull it off. Perhaps you should have your own channel to speak to your area of expertise? Thks & regards

@DjDolHaus86

10 ай бұрын

@@Mountain_Valley_Sky As mentioned previously I'd highly recommend getting testing equipment before starting to mess with the parameters. You might not need supplemental oxygen and as long as the pH range is relatively stable (it will naturally drift with water temp/time of day but only a bit) and within acceptable parameters I'd leave it alone. As the pond is only a few years old you're unlikely to have organic silt build up and you risk starting a seesaw effect where it's swinging from one extreme to the other rather than finding its own balance. As for fish population you need to consider what you want from the pond, the biomass of the water is determined by the food sources available but smaller, faster breeding species will fill this void faster than trying to maintain a low population of large fish. I'm not super familiar with north american species so I'd be unable to give precise advice on this aspect. As an example the desirable species in my waters are carp (the bigger the better), in order to give our carp the best chance of growing at their maximum rate we need to net the lakes every 2 years in order to thin out the less desirable populations of roach/rudd/bream and juvenile carp. In simplified terms - by taking out a ton of nuisance fish we make a ton of resources available for the carp we want to feed.

@Mountain_Valley_Sky

10 ай бұрын

@@DjDolHaus86 yes, that is good advice. Thank you. I will pursue equipment. The 02 meter will be a big stretch, unless I purchase something of inferior quality.

@DjDolHaus86

10 ай бұрын

@@Mountain_Valley_Sky it's better than spending a pile of money on a pump set up that you might not need. Check the second hand market, you never know what you might find. In the meantime there are a few things you can do to improve the natural oxygen saturation such as cutting down trees/bushes on the prevailing wind side of the lake and removing lilies if present. If there is a stream running into the lake clean up the course by removing snags and obstructions so it runs faster and maybe use stones to add a riffle before it enter the lake. Agitated water has greater surface area and oxygen transfer relies on surface contact, a lake with a wind ripple has 2-4 times the surface area of a still pond. When you begin testing all parameters you need to build as accurate a picture as possible so test before first light, midday, last light and at night if possible, make notes if weather conditions including temperature and rainfall. By doing this throughout the year you can build up a much more useful picture of what's going on and then you make good decisions on if and what to change. The concern is that you might get a pH/nitrogen spike or similar and panic without realising that it was just because there was heavy rain or some other natural cause and it'll even out in a couple of days. You might find there are things you can do to reduce the severity of these spikes passively by planting buffer plants around the perimeter rather than panic buying a pallet load of lime and dumping it in which could cause massive shock to the fish resulting in a sudden death event. I've seen some pretty bad things done with the best of intentions when sitting back and letting it sort itself out would have done far less damage.

Thanks for the heads up, never would have thought of that.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Yeah just don't want others to make the same mistake. It takes quite an emotional toll on you.

This is a very helpful and informative video. Thanks for posting.

Wow! Thanks so much. I don't think we need an aeration system at all. I am sold on grass carp though. I really appreciation you letting us know. Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the lesson in aeration!

Thank you! Very informative.

Aeration causes the built up muck to be digested by the aerobic bacteria in the water . This causes the muck to outgas , the outgassing releases from the surface water of the lake but before the gases escape into the atmosphere the gases build up in the water depending upon water temperatures . So essentially you ' gassed ' your existing fish populations . Eventually your lake will re-normalize and gain a new balance with continuous aeration over time . Eventually restocking your fish populations will be effective in a faster way , assuming some of your various fish species did survive this initial purge they would rebuild their populations slowly over time without restocking . Even when you have an aquarium , anything you introduce needs to be done in a slow and consistent manner , there are processes , You just can't ' shock ' the system without negative consequences . Moderation is key to success in every endeavor .

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Tell that to the company who installed and started the system without us being there and giving us no instructions.

Thank you for sharing. We have a very old pond on raw land… needs work so this was HIGHLY valuable 👍

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Got many fish in it?

@Justicexhaze

Жыл бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 saw something small jumping but still new to property… excited for possibilities 🐠

Very informative...thank you

Good video. Good message. Yeah whoever sold you this aerator should have gone through this aspect of introducing air gradually, especially in an older pond with fish, and in warm weather. This is so basic and fundamental that I have to wonder how much these guys actually knew about what they were doing. I mean it's mentioned in every aeration manual I've ever seen, and certainly is noted in the Airmax systems. Page 8 in the Airmax manual for reference. Best of luck with your pond from here on out.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

It also just blows my mind, (I can't remember if I mentioned it in this video) because they are the ones who installed it and started it for us, and they never gave us any sort of paperwork to go with it. The good news is that not all the fish died. I've been catching lots of survivors, and I'm using this opportunity to introduce new species to the lake for hopefully a better fishery in the future.

@klmponds

Жыл бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 its good to hear things are going well for you. The aeration can really support fish and keep them healthy but that introduction phase is really important. I can't really explain why they didn't do this properly or at least tell you about it. Maybe some new, inexperienced installers that didn't get the training or something. The fact that your sharing your story though will save somebody some trouble down the road...I'm sure of that.

Thanks for sharing this.

I have Redclaw crayfish in my dam mate they are extremely hardy but I will still introduce the aerator slowly, handy info thanks for the video.

I have a 3 acre very old abandoned for decades pond filled with fish. It is fed by a spring fed creek 1/2 a mile away almost year round, and probably this year due to the amount of water, and the Caldor fire burned most of the water sucking pines and cedars. I ran some aeration last year, dyi, and didn't have that problem. I noticed nothing changing, but this year I'll be at it again. We have a nice flow, and the run off from the fire and following huge storms turned it brown from the red dirt. However, it only takes over a week for the visibility to be crystal clear, so I'm thinking "amonia" or other toxins would flush rather fast. Very frustrating fixing an old pond, that is for sure.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

I'd imagine having a creek flowing through your pond would give you some of the benefits of an aeration system and that could be why you didn't have the problems we had. Yes it is very frustrating having to fix it after a fish kill. The fishery that installed the system gave us bluegill, redear, hybrid bluegill, and minnows so far. I used my own money to add some yellow perch, golden shiners, and albino catfish just to add some new types of fish. This fall they will bring us largemouth, black crappie, and channel catfish. I might also add some walleye and hybrid bass for a more diverse fishery, but we will see how these perch do this year before making that decision. I just like catching a variety of fish, and I think this would be the best time to add something new.

I’m sorry for your loss…. Our pond turned over years ago and we lost all ours…. I’m doing research now on pond aerators so that doesn’t happen again…. The pros should of know about the break in period to an established pond and helpfully they follow thru with replacing

Having a professional, certified installer install system they should known need to cycles 30 min day 1 1 hr day 2, 2hr day 3 etc. Double each day till at 24hrs then let it run constantly. Leave on to long to start you let off toxic gas causing fish kill

Wow, sorry that happened to you and thanks a million for for heads up. I want to add add areation to an acre pond, thats 70 years old, and has 3 feet of muck in bottom. Had i just tossed in aerators, would have killed everything as well! Has the water clarity improved overall with the areation? As for the grass carp, they are not supposed to be able to reproduce, sooo that's an interesting one! Good luck on your repopulation. Hope it goes well. I wondered about crappie andmybe adding sone to my pond. Where r u located?

I use an air lift system to slowly mix water. Six 12 foot pvc tubes “3 inch” with barbs and air lines placed around 24 inches from the top and the bottom pieces of pipe cut at a 45 degree angle. I introduce air pressure which causes a siphon effect and the water flows out of the elbows on top of the pipes. It is a slow process but slowly blends the water from 12 feet deep to the surface which allows for more oxygen rich water. Only bad part is the long airline going to the airlift

Dang that hurts. Sorry man! I just installed the same aeration unit for my HOA pond. Slowly ramped the time to now 12 hours per day. We are about to get grass carp and bluegill/hybrid bluegill installed to help control the coontail weeds in the water.

@charleswieand4445

Жыл бұрын

Grass carp are invasive and escape and will ruin the rest of country that is not full of stinky brown and green swamp water that actually have great tasting fish instead of bottom feeders

Hi, what happened was unfortunate. Your aeration system was/is not properly sized, and additional diffusers and SCFM (airflow) are key to preventing fish kills like what you experienced. The fish died due to a rapid change in water temperature coupled with a decrease in dissolved oxygen due to dead zones that were created by installing too few diffusers. Starting a system up in the middle of summer needs to be done carefully to prevent the rapid change in temperature and DO. (4 hours first day, 8 hours second day, 12 hours the third day, and 24 hours thereafter.) Pond and lake systems less than 10 acres / 10 million gallons in size should be designed to provide a fluid turnover rate of 8-12 times per day. 1 fluid turnover rate is the time it takes to mix the equivalent of the water volume a single time. I recommend installing diffusers throughout the entire pond and concentrating them in the deepest water. Air will seek the point of least resistance, so it’s important to determine if additional compressors or valving / gating or air is required to evenly distribute the atmospheric air to each diffuser. It is a common misconception that the diffusers main purpose is to provide dissolved oxygen. 90% of oxygen added via lake and pond aeration comes via surface re-aeration where cooler bottom water comes into contact with the atmosphere. The cooler water sits at the surface momentarily before finding its way back to the bottom of the water column. As you noted the water column is now completely homogenized from top to bottom and future fish kills are unlikely unless the aeration system is shut off for a couple of days or longer. Sludge is a concern for older ponds, and applications of beneficial bacteria (aka bio augmentation) is a proven method to reduce the organic fraction of the sludge layer. There are tons of products available, and I only recommend purchasing sludge reducing bacteria products that are manufactured with strains of bacillus bacteria with a decent shelf life. I am a water and wastewater expert, and CEO of Air Diffusion Systems. I’d be happy to help you with evaluating your 3 acre lake, if you are interested. Feel free to reach out to me @ tom@airdiffusion.com.

Thank you

Hey Dude, thanks for the video. Super helpful. Do you mind if I ask, did the grass eating carp help clean the pond up, and was that in conjunction with 'muck remover'?

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

So the grass carp were put in by my grandfather many years ago when the lake was basically all moss and cattails. I'm not sure of the exact number that was put in. I've heard 9, 11, and 15. I know we counted 23 dead and there is at least 1 still alive, plus some have died in the past, so clearly they reproduced at some point. As far as did they help, yes they did eventually clear up the lake of moss and cattails. I suggest not getting too many to start out with. We are going to get a few to put back in, but I'm gonna say a maximum of 6, which is 2 per acre, plus whatever is still alive. You don't want to eliminate the plant life. You just want to control it. Eliminating it can cause a whole mess of problems. As far as the muck biotics go, they do not kill off plant life. They just eat away at the muck at the bottom of the lake. I have not seen a real difference, but we have only put 3 treatments in so far. It takes years to get it all I think.

@Splifka

Жыл бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 Nice one, thanks so much for that, super appreciate the input. Take care.

Old lake = stable lake. From the dead fish clearly it was pretty healthy, at least in the way that matters to most people. Thanks for passing on a heads up to aeration on an established body of water. Sounds like the company is taking care of you. Hopefully they will do better by their customers (on the front side) in the future.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately it seems like they are turning their backs on us. Their story keeps changing and we are not pleased. Will do update videos when it is all said and done.

@Mountain_Valley_Sky

10 ай бұрын

I ran across this phenomenon as we just built a 1/4 acre fish pond, & are very close to purchasing & installing aeration this coming week. We just put our starter fish in n April of '23. Pond built in June '21. Sorry to hear the aeration vendor is not appearing to follow thru with the original compensation. I'm beyond shocked as a supplier & installer that they were not aware of disturbing the water quality to a level that can Essentially suffocate the fish. Either with toxic games, or just churning up bottom settled debris, to a (possible) level of degraded water & O2 quality, that's sorta like a human trying to breathe in the midst of a bad forest fire. I've seen others who have had fish kills from new aeration in old ponds, & it appears that in most cases, some fish do survive in the ponds that are a couple acres or more. Yet it appears yours was probably the worst I have heard of in all my research and past. Some people will do a fish audit & shock the water (hiring professionals) & determine what species are left, & what sizes. I'm sure that event was very disheartening. It's difficult to see 1 or 2 large fish dead from some event. Seeing hundreds die would be terrible when you can do nothing to help them. Hope it all can be sorted out. Good luck & thanks for sharing this unfortunate experience.

Could you please tell me how far you had to run electric power and what size wire and breaker you used. I need to run about maybe 1000 -1500 feet of wire and I don't know that much about wire size and length of running. Also what pump did you use and the amp draw of the pump.

@redneckofftherange3008

8 ай бұрын

I don't know exactly how far it was, but it was probably at least 200 feet from the barn to the compressor. We used 10ga wire and a 30 amp 220 breaker. I'm not sure what pump is used for the system. We bought the whole system through a pond management company and they installed it for us. What are you running wire for? A similar system?

Seen a couple videos like this. Thank you. What size pond?

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

3 acres.

Could it be the hydrogen sulfide ( highly toxic to the fish) in the muck that accumulate and settled over the years and then got disturbed and circulated to the water column due to the force of bottom aeration?

@snappingbear

Жыл бұрын

That is highly doubtful. Usually these sudden die offs from aerators happen because the much lower oxygen water layer at the bottom of the lake is mixed into the water column and the fish die of suffocation.

TY

This is unfortunately a common issue with these underwater diffused aeration systems. A fountain is a lot safer. It should have been made clear to introduce it slowly (usually recommended 1 hour the first day, then 2 hours the second day, 3 hours the third day and so on) This can happen with new or old lakes, I forget the proper terminology for it but essentially these diffused aerators can cause all the oxygen to rapidly rise to the surface if they are turned on full blast non-stop right from the start. Thats why the fish were rushing to the top and out to the shoreline

I empathise with you. That's an awful situation. So sorry to hear. Certainly, aeration in established water bodies should be done gently at first especially in summer. I think most of your more experienced water management viewers will tell us that water stratifies (separates into layers) in walmer weather especially, meaning whole layers of water can have totally different chemical composition. Deeper layers nearer the silt at the bottom can contain much higher levels of ammonia than water layers nearer the surface. Fish simply avoid the toxic layers until, of course, an aeration system on the bottom is introduced which forces destratification of the layers and forces toxins up the water column too quickly, killing livestock. I wonder whether this may have contributed to the losses.

@redneckofftherange3008

10 ай бұрын

The good news is not everything died, and we are currently restocking to have a better fishery than we ever had before. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons with this tragedy.

Have a 3 acre a LEAST 80 year old lake on my property. Pretty deep still too. Would love to have an aeration system and the edge dug to keep weeds down.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

There are definitely benefits to an aeration system. Just be sure to adapt it to your lake. Nothing worse than watching all of your fish die and not being able to save them.

Is this like the nitrate/ nitrite cycle in an aquarium ?

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Not familiar with that term.

Bubblers are not aerators. They are circulators. Oxygen is absorbed at the surface, taking longer than for bubbles to rise. An easy mistake when placing the air-stones is to put them too deep. Warmer surface waters hold less oxygen and fish like to be able to reach cooler deep water that holds more. By circulating to full depth that cooler water mixes with the warmer above and dilutes the avg oxygen above. Set the air-stones at ~1/2 depth to avoid stirring up muck and hydrogen sulfide released by it. Added bacteria will take care of muck eventually but not in one season.

@godzilla2k26

Жыл бұрын

Wouldn't that increase the average temperature above?

@johncmitchell4941

Жыл бұрын

@@godzilla2k26 Not much will increase temps anywhere. Warm water will stay on top and hold the least oxygen. Circulation will homogenize mid-depth & up waters, while the coolest & most oxy-rich can remain on the bottom vs be diluted in the warmest weather. We don't want to warm up the whole pond and deny fish refuge in hot weather by de-stratifying natural temp zones. Hope this helps.

@CPotter-hb8ml

Жыл бұрын

John I just fell victim to a fish kill in my pond. What you stated about aerarators is on point. I need to make adjustments with mine prior to restocking. Thanks for the info

When I bought mine, it came with directions that told me to slowly introduce oxygen. Also, I'd think common sense would tell you, pushing toxic fumes to the surface and oxygen being pushed to the bottom would cause death to fish. They need to breathe. If you're the same guy from another channel I watched the company wasn't in any danger from being sued, the guy literally admitted fault and stated he forgot to turn the aerator off. I'm glad the company helped yall out. But no one needs to beware of an aeration kit. It's simple to install and operate. Made my water much better than it was. Looking forward to swimming next year. Best of luck.

@redneckmini14

Жыл бұрын

This company installed this system, started it without us being there and told us to just let it run with no other instructions or even a manual. So yes it is 100% their fault.

@josephmorin8941

Жыл бұрын

That would only be common sense to someone who is educated about the subject. As a seasoned aquarium hobbyist it is common sense to me now. But it hasnt always been.

@redneckmini14

Жыл бұрын

@@josephmorin8941 does not excuse the fact that they told us to just let it run when that was not the proper procedure. Especially considering they started it without us being there. 100 percent their fault for the situation.

@josephmorin8941

Жыл бұрын

@@redneckmini14 true that true that

I wonder what the problem was exactly. I've heard that the aeration rapidly changes the temperature of the lake. First, by pumping in air. Second, by mixing the various depths of the lake. So whatever natural temperature differences the lake had at various depths is more uniform.

@redneckofftherange3008

10 ай бұрын

I'm no expert, but I think a number of things all happen at once to make this kind of fish kill happen. A dramatic shift in oxygen, ammonia, silt, and of course temperature changes. All I know is I hope I never have to go through that again.

@FTsingos

10 ай бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 That is so frustrating, but I'm sure your lake will bounce back quickly.

A fountain is safer. You canmake one just using your pvc coming into pond bank and make different heads and patterns. We use a centrifuge pump and we have different dyi heads/pattererns. Or just pushing water across the TOP works. NEVER stir up the bottom. As you and others have found. 😢

From the look of it, I have the exact same aerator. I bought it directly from the manufacturer and they provide literature with it that explains the introduction much as you did in this video. Whoever did the installation for you did you a horrible disservice.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Yes somebody dropped the ball. We should have been given a manual regardless of who installed it. Also since they are the ones who installed it and started it up, that information should have been relayed to us, but it was started when we were not even present and they gave us no other instructions other than to just let it run. A lot of people have been saying this is all our fault for not being educated on the subject, but we were just following what the supposed professionals told us to do, and they didn't even make sure we were present when it was first started. So I really don't understand how anyone can say this was our fault.

Sorry for your lost. You have too much organic material at the bottom and the air pump dissolve it back in to the water column. Most probably, you had also gas (metano) bubbles, inside the organic material, and they break up. Very common in old freshwater aquariums, with low maintenance. Nitrogen turns into ammonia, which is poison. For the future, you need some kind of filtration to decompose ammonia to less harmless nitrites and nitrates. A simple bog filter, only with gravel and aquatic plants, 10% ou 15% the surface of the lake would work fine, I think, should be enough to maintain the lake clean and safe for the live stock. A constant flow of fresh water would be very important also, if possible. But, first, I would clean as much organic material as possible with a submersible pump. Great fertilizer for plants and trees. My two cents.

The bottom of a pond has material that degrades over time. In the process, it produces Methane (CH4). It sounds like your aerator accelerated the release of high concentrations of CH4 into the water... One solution is to add a flotation device to the aerator so it remains close to the surface. Fountains are a much better way to introduce oxygen to the pond plus it reduces the accumulation of Duckweed.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Now that it is up and running we have found some live fish of all species except catfish. Currently working on getting new fish in the lake and probably going to have to take out some big fish. I'd still say about 90% of all fish life has died though, but the good news is it doesn't seem to be a problem anymore. Just in the beginning.

@rogerdanielski6558

Жыл бұрын

Fountains accelerate the evaporation on the wayer

@BM-fw4xt

Жыл бұрын

I totally agree.

@BM-fw4xt

Жыл бұрын

The benefits out way the evaporation. It's not quite the same as using the wrong type of sprinkler in the heat of the day. imo

@bch5513

Жыл бұрын

Fountains are MUCh more expensive and inefficient to get air in water. I have one.

i've been studying aeration as I plan to add it to my lake to help reduce muck and algae as I add other products to help with that. In my research I saw several people talk about how to introduce aeration. Sorry you didn't see that. Sucks that your fish died.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

That's what happens when you trust the "professionals" that install it. You would think that when they installed it and started it that they would give some sort of instructions if it was necessary to slowly introduce the system. Last fall they stocked bluegill, hybrid bluegill, redear, and minnows for us. In a couple weeks I am picking up some yellow perch, albino catfish, and golden shiners to add to the lake, and then in the fall they are going to stock some largemouth, crappie, channel cats, and grass carp. I'm debating on whether or not I want to add walleye and/or hybrid bass next year. I'm a big fan of catching a variety of fish, but I want to see how this first wave of new species takes off before adding more.

@bch5513

Жыл бұрын

Do not put crappie a pond that small please. It's asking for imbalance.

Thanks, you may have just saved my fish.

@redneckofftherange3008

10 ай бұрын

Glad I could help.

3 grass carp per acre from what I have read. Otherwise it will be a desert like mine! Good luck!

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

I know when the carp were originally put in the lake was basically all moss and cattails. I was always told they only put in like 9, but clearly we removed way more than 9 dead ones, plus at least 1 survived. We are supposed to be getting 8 more. I think that will be plenty. You just want to control the vegetation, not eliminate it all together.

Yea testing the ph after introducing anything into a body of water is a good idea..

OMG stop aeration stop the lake bottom🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎

It needs to be on a float well above the bottom seen this so many times

Gotta start aerators slow, don't start them up full blast otherwise it throws off the balance of the pond.

Cool, that's a different way to kill off everything in an old pond to restock. Instead of using chemicals. I have stunted crappie and huge bowfin and probably 2' of muck over 1/2 my one acre pond.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Trust me, it wasn't intended. Some fish did survive, and we have started the restocking process. Where did you get bowfin to stock in a pond?

@robertkayler6292

Жыл бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 It was never stocked. I imagine they crawled in. It's been a swamp for 30 years created by a logging road. I dredged 3/4 of it to around 8' to 10' and now cleaning muck from shallows. I'm going to stock, hopefully starting next spring. Bowfin and crappie are native but I don't want them in my pond. I have a river bordering land that has plenty of crappie. ( I love to catch and eat them) I have a new aeration system. It probably wouldn't kill the bowfin. They gulp air.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

@@robertkayler6292 Bowfin would be a pretty cool species to catch. Around here the only place that has them is the Mississippi.

I also think that was too many grass carp for that pond.

@redneckofftherange3008

18 күн бұрын

We didn't stock them. Any grass carp that were in there were stocked by my grandparents. I only ever heard they stocked 9, but maybe they put in more. There was a point in time where the entire lake was filled with moss. The carp definitely cleaned it up, but it took years.

Sorry to hear that you was missimformed. All the videos I found prior to installing my system said to slowly introduce the air.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

We let the company install it and fire it up and they just let it run and told us to just let it run. You would think the company installing the system would know better, especially if they are also a fishery.

You need to do your research on how an aquarium is brought to maturity. The pond is the same thing just bigger. The bubbles are not adding much oxygen to the water as you think. Just as it does not for aquariums. The bubbles create turbulence at the surface and water movement. The surface is broken by the bubbles letting harmful gassed to escape intern making the ecosystem healthier for fish and and your benefit all bacteria. Basically you supercharged the nitrification cycle. It created ammonia spike which is deadly for your fish. Next you will get a spike in nitrites which is deadly as well but not quite as bad. Then you end up with nitrates that that are used up by plants and algae. This whole process is called the nitrification cycle. Keep in mind your oxygen and gas exchange happens at the surface. Not by a few bubbles in a large pond. Hope this helps. Questions welcome. Sorry this was so long.

@godzilla2k26

Жыл бұрын

I think he was the victim of excessive aeration turning the water corrosive. Some businesses just take advantage of people.

Shout out to the company for making right on your wrong. Wish you would’ve named them cause they didn’t owe you anything

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

On OUR wrong? THEY installed it, THEY fired it up without us being there, THEY gave us ZERO paperwork and basically ZERO instruction on how to properly use the system. Even after all the fish died (which took less than a day) they told us that we didn't do anything wrong, meaning that we didn't do anything different from what they tell any of their other customers. So please tell me how this was OUR wrong? We had this thing professionally installed so that it was done right and look what happened. This is not a case of buying an aerator on Amazon and installing it ourselves. We trusted these people to do it right, and they clearly did not.

This is happening to others that use this system. I will post the link to someone else. They lied if they claimed not to see this problem before.

You could have got everything including a fake rock for $500 bro. Vevor is the company.

No idea where you are or pond depth but being the 4th July the water was probably warm. You may have caused the water to invert too quickly. I doubt you killed every fish in 3 acre pond

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

We didn't. There were still lots of survivors. Mostly smaller fish. I'd estimate between 2 and 3 thousand fish were killed though.

Did you ever get the water tested? I doubt the sudden die off was caused by toxicity. It is far more likely the fish were killed by lack of oxygen. Lakes and ponds stratify in summer with low oxygen levels at the bottom. When you turned on the aerators it pushed the very low oxygen water from the bottom into the water column and suffocated the fish. You're not the first who has experienced this problem. Aerators should never be turned on all at once and run all day in a pond especially during summer. You're best to do it gradually in the early spring and then once on leave them on.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

The fishery/pond management company that installed it never acted like the water needed to be tested. I think it was brought up once, but it was never done. I know for a fact we are not the first people to have this problem. The company who installed it and fired it up (without us being present) should have known the danger to the fish and informed us of what could happen. They never mentioned it to us. We were just told to let it run.

@snappingbear

Жыл бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 I had a typo, I meant to say you're not the first. These kinds of die offs have happened many, many times before which is why it's so well known in the pond management industry not to just turn on aerators in old ponds especially in Summer without doing it slowly and carefully. Country View Acres experienced what you did except he did it to himself and wiped out his pond including some huge, mature fish. KLM Ponds did a video about what happened to you and your pond and why it shouldn't have happened given the company should have known better (see his vid 2000 dead fish....). IMHO the company should replace all your fish with ones the same size and age as what you had before their incompetence killed them. I wonder about whether you tested the water after the kill to see if it was toxins. Did they tell you that was the cause? If so, they are not telling the truth. It's likely it had nothing to do with water quality and everything to do with low oxygen suffocating the fish.

@redneckofftherange3008

11 ай бұрын

@@snappingbear They mentioned testing it after, but never did. They did stock 3-4 inch bluegill, hybrid bluegill, and redear sunfish, plus 30 pounds of minnows and 8 grass carp about 8-10 inches long. Just waiting on them to stock the bass, crappie, and catfish in the fall.

@snappingbear

11 ай бұрын

@@redneckofftherange3008 If your goal is big bass you might not want to stock crappie. They are direct competitors with bass. Catfish are too when older. I look forward to watching your videos about how the pond recovers.

@redneckofftherange3008

11 ай бұрын

@@snappingbear We have had crappie for a long time, and there are still quite a few in there. We are not concerned with catching monster bass. I have other places to go fish if that is what I'm after. I honestly prefer catching a variety of fish, but my favorite is catfish.

This is the second video I have seen with aeration killed the fish in a pond..

@redneckofftherange3008

11 ай бұрын

Yeah you gotta be careful when adding one. I'm using this as an opportunity to add new types of fish to the lake though. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

Get some domesticated DUCKS. yeah

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Why?

Ummm...what's with the gun and you're set up to cross draw!?!?

@redneckofftherange3008

11 ай бұрын

What do you mean what's up with the gun? I didn't realize I had to justify to strangers on the internet my right to carry a gun on my own property. Also I prefer cross draw because having the holster on the right side of my body interferes with the seat belts on the lawn mower and tractor.

10 kto install 200 dollar pum0

best to read all the videos available on you tube before trying it out

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

I didn't realize you could read a video. Also everything we saw and read was all positive stuff. Nothing warned of anything like this happening, and as stated in the video, the company we purchased it from installed it and fired it up and gave us no real instructions on letting the lake adapt to it. They also never gave us any sort of manual.

Yeah that’s a disaster. You need too add lots of pond product as well. Over time it would have cleaned up decades of muck. Plus. Most importantly putting those aerators not at the deepest parts is the most important part. Essentially you stirred up all the organic matter at the bottom. It’s a common mistake. Sorry for the headache. At least you didn’t have psychopath like I have dumping chemicals in mine. Anyways hope it worked out.

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

Yeah we have put 3 treatments of muck biotics in so far.

Nothing wrong with pond just yuppies and city folk trying to make it look like a swimming pool

@redneckofftherange3008

Жыл бұрын

I'm just excited we are going to get fish this weekend. I'm making plans to add some new species to it next year as well.

@andyboog2010

Жыл бұрын

Lol.... your right. Did you just age yourself? Haven't heard yuppy in decades.

Why would you mess with a 60 year old pond.... its running perfectly fine. If God wanted those things he would have them installed on the pond

@SCOTTA1

3 ай бұрын

This is exactly what I'm thinking 👍 I too have a pond that is 50 plus years old. Never had a fountain, aerator nothing. Even gets low in the summer. Never ever had any fish to die for any reason.

@EkonRekon

3 ай бұрын

It's called maintenance.. just done wrong