[AT] OT- Fish Kill

[John Hall]

We had to put grass carp in the pond here as well as add some sort of blue 
dye to block the sunlight from causing vegetation in the shallow areas. We 
never used to have that problem until we switched to no-till. Without the 
soil run-off to keep the water dingy, we developed the vegetation problem.

I have seen folks aerate ponds with a pump just blowing  the water up into 
the air over the pond. There is one near me that does it often during the 
summer.

I would assume you haven't been using any pesticides or fertilizers that may 
have contaminated the pond with run-off have you?

I would think a call to your ag extension office would help--at least let 
you know if others in your area are having similar problems.

John
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mogrits" <mogrits at gmail.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 3:02 PM
Subject: [AT] OT- Fish Kill


> I've mentioned before we live on a three acre pond. Today I see
> approximately a hundred dead bluegills, mostly around three inches and
> smaller floating around the edges of the pond. They don't appear
> malnourished though they probably bloated somewhat to cause them to
> float.
>
> We've been in an extended drought which caused the shallow banks to
> recede maybe 10 ft in places, and good stands of grasses and weeds
> sprouted on that exposed ground. Now that we've had a lot of rain the
> pond has been full for about a month and that grass is decomposing. I
> suspect this decomposition has depleted the oxygen supply in the water
> rapidly and that's causing the fish kill.
>
> Anyone have any thoughts on this?
>
> Warren
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