Buddy of mine who is North of Crossville had a huge algae bloom in his pond with resultant big bluegill kill. So far he hasn't seen any of his bass belly up. No rain and heat. He has a bubbler and the pond has a small creek at the head of it.
This will makes you cry
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Yep that is sad as crap. 
that stinks.
MickThompson
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I got a text from a friend in TN that had it happen to him might before last. Algae bloom+drought+big cool rain= 2# dead bluegill
Now on the bright side …:.:.:.
He checked into preventing this. Aqua biologist suggested maybe a fountain ? I suggested this.
He checked into preventing this. Aqua biologist suggested maybe a fountain ? I suggested this.
TITANSFAN2104
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Dang those were some nice ones!!
Popcorn
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That's largely duckweed in a thick carpet. When that dies and sinks it will consume all the oxygen in the pond really quick. I would think if he didn't have bass floating as well then maybe he didn't have any big bass. Oxygen deprivation will be hardest on bigger fish. Maybe the bass stayed in the creek inlet and the gills were in bedding areas. Hopefully some young fish survived to replenish his stock.
I have a big bubbler and turn the fountain on in times of drought but I think the BIGGEST safety bet is to dye the pond. I religiously dye the pond 2-3 times a year to keep this from happening and weed growth.
looks like filamentous algae. that needs to be raked and removed. probably caused from runoff from that culvert.
a spring fertilization will keep that in check along with some pond dye.
my son had the same problem at his former house but we corrected it before any major kills. a lot of hard nasty work. he had a lot of milfoil in there too. a simple air bubbler we made helped keep the oxygen up.
a spring fertilization will keep that in check along with some pond dye.
my son had the same problem at his former house but we corrected it before any major kills. a lot of hard nasty work. he had a lot of milfoil in there too. a simple air bubbler we made helped keep the oxygen up.
That sucks! Apparently he doesn't have the right type of "bubbler". Fountains and surface bubblers do not work. A true aerator works from the bottom not the top and will aerate the entire water column not just the area it's in. The one I have is good up to a five acre lake. I can find the info to pass along if you'd like.
yeah the one we built we sunk the hose to the bottom.
Thank you and I will pass it along.
PS. I TALKED to him tonight. The BIG bass came up a day later. Estimated 5 #. Pretty sad.
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That's rough.
One of my dads ponds (about 4 years old now) has a big problem with grass/algae. It's about a 7 acre pond. It's near a big hog farm, and right next to a farm where they inject manure in the ground for fertilizer. I don't know if that runoff has anything to do with it or not.
It loses a lot of water in the summer, grass grows around the edges, then it fills up in the winter/spring, covering up the grass that grew in the previous year. That probably doesn't help.
The water is also really clear - lots of sunlight penetrating doesn't help. (he added aqua shade)
He talked to a guy a couple of weeks ago about digging a well for it to keep it full. Guy said it'd be 2 years before he could get to it!
The entire bottom is covered in algae-sort-of grass. You can't fish anything Texas rigged in there. You have to stick to moving baits (no treble hooks) or top water.
On the positive side, the bass are thriving. Biggest we've caught this year was 5.14 (post spawn!) not bad for a 4 year old pond.
Our biggest five fish Saturday topped 20lbs easily.
One of my dads ponds (about 4 years old now) has a big problem with grass/algae. It's about a 7 acre pond. It's near a big hog farm, and right next to a farm where they inject manure in the ground for fertilizer. I don't know if that runoff has anything to do with it or not.
It loses a lot of water in the summer, grass grows around the edges, then it fills up in the winter/spring, covering up the grass that grew in the previous year. That probably doesn't help.
The water is also really clear - lots of sunlight penetrating doesn't help. (he added aqua shade)
He talked to a guy a couple of weeks ago about digging a well for it to keep it full. Guy said it'd be 2 years before he could get to it!
The entire bottom is covered in algae-sort-of grass. You can't fish anything Texas rigged in there. You have to stick to moving baits (no treble hooks) or top water.
On the positive side, the bass are thriving. Biggest we've caught this year was 5.14 (post spawn!) not bad for a 4 year old pond.
Our biggest five fish Saturday topped 20lbs easily.
Popcorn
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What color do you use? How dark?
It's called "Midnight Blue" if I'm not mistaken. I always pick it up at tractor supply or Stockdale's. Hmmm it's not CRAZY dark but definitely isn't your "muddy" pond or "green" pond that most have. I've always of the mind to keep sunlight to a minimum to not promote these type of algae blooms or aquatic weeds that suck oxygen out of the water. Next time I dye the pond I'll set my phone up high in a tree and record it and send you a video or pictures of it happening so you can see the difference.
This is a "emerald" dye color. I like it but most of the time they don't have enough for how much I want to add at once.
I'd definitely tell him to dye the pond and add diffuser. There's a few different sizes, small bubbles adds more oxygen, coarse diffuser with a little bigger bubbles, and large. I think biggest help would be preventing all the sunlight getting down in the water.
Popcorn
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I take care of several ponds, some are easy, some are a pain. Owners dont want them dyed but one in particular has become impossible and I was thinking about using black dye and coloring a little at a time. Most just require a little shoreline maintenance like you said
They make little packages like tide pods you can toss out there. Just toss near any area that has "flow" to help spread or do it on a windy day and add a little with the wind and let it move it. Any reason why they don't want to add dye?
Popcorn
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They like the natural green of a healthy pond, unfortunately their 5 acre pond is brown microbiology dominant but the problem pond is shallow with no structure. It stays clear, I have fertilized it to no avail, limed it to adjust ph, treat water plants annually and battle algea all summer. I have got them to agree to raising the spillway and installing a outflow pipe, that will get another 18 inches of depth but we still are less than 10 at the deepest and an overall average of less than 8 ft. I am adding aeration and structure as well but in the end the pond is too shallow
