Jones Fish Blog

As temperatures warm, many of us are eager to spend time outside getting the pond ready for spring. Like considering the nutrient ratio of your soil to achieve a lush lawn, it’s important to be aware of how an abundance of nutrients, such as phosphorus, in your pond/lake can result in nuisance algae, cyanobacteria, and weed growth. While phosphorus does play a vital role in the success of your pond and achieving fishery goals, an overabundance can increase the likelihood of diminished water quality. As such, part of getting your pond/lake ready for the upcoming season should be considering how you can limit the influx of phosphorus into the system and bind up or metabolize nutrients already in the water.

Nutrients enter the water from the surrounding watershed - spring rains are often responsible for this mobilization. While it can be difficult or even impossible to change your watershed, there are a number of actions you can take to limit nutrient inputs into your water. Lawn fertilizer should be applied at least 20 feet from the edge of the water. Grass clippings should be bagged or blown opposite the water. Trees should be planted at least 30-40 feet from the water edge to limit the amount of leaf litter that enters the pond in the fall. Resident geese and duck populations should be discouraged to limit waste entering the water. Septic systems should be monitored to ensure they’re not leaking. These actions have a major impact on slowing the aging process of your pond/lake.

Unfortunately, these actions do little for nutrients that are already in the water. This is where our team can help. Our biologists can sample the water to determine the total phosphorus in your pond/lake. From there, we can apply phosphorus binders to limit the amount of available phosphorus and reduce the likelihood of blooms. Beneficial microbes can also be used to slow the aging process of your pond and create clean, balanced water. Some blends of beneficial microbes target available phosphorus while others focus on breaking down leaf litter, fish waste, and other organic material that has accumulated on the bottom of your pond/lake. Depending on your watershed, your pond/lake may be an ideal candidate for native shoreline plants. We will select plants that have the benefit of up-taking nutrients from the water, stabilizing the shoreline and offering habitat to wetland birds and fish.

Ultimately, creating a healthy pond is complicated and requires more than just a one-time fish stocking or occasional herbicide application. We’re here to help with our extensive services. Contact our team today for your personalized management proposal.

We are excited to announce that we've begun a partnership with Aqua Services. Aqua Services, Inc. is a provider of specialized, large-scale reservoir aquatic plant control, water quality enhancement and fisheries management services to government entities, commercial businesses and homeowners. The acquisition of Aqua Services, based in Guntersville, AL, enhances Jones Fish’s footprint in the Southeastern U.S. and expands the Jones Fish service offering to include large scale aquatic resource management.

We look forward to changing the aquatics industry together while maintaining our focus on science and our clients.

Read the full press release here. 

Eutrophication is a normal part of the pond aging process. Using beneficial bacteria like Aqua-Tron & Waste and Sludge Reducer can help slow the eutrophication process.

Why winter fish kills happen

During the winter months, open water and circulation from winter winds promote relatively high and stable oxygen levels. Oxygen dissolves more readily in cold water. It is worth noting the pond simply requires less oxygen in the winter, because metabolic activity of fish, bacteria and aquatic plants is reduced in cold water. 

Shallow ponds are more likely to be affected by winter kill, because they have less water volume, but many factors play a role in the likelihood of an oxygen related winter fish kill including winter severity, fish biomass and the amount of decaying organic material in the pond. Leaves, dead aquatic weeds, uneaten fish food, and fish waste all contribute to the layer of accumulated organic material on the pond bottom. Hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and other swamp gases are produced by anaerobic bacteria that thrive on the pond bottom and consume decaying organic material in the absence of oxygen. The buildup of these swamp gases can be poisonous to fish.

How to mitigate winterkill 

Maintaining a small area of open water facilitates oxygen transfer at the pond surface and reduces the likelihood of winter fish kills. A diffused aeration system circulates warmer water from the pond bottom to the surface to keep a portion of the pond open. This circulation vents off swamp gases and introduces oxygen to the pond bottom.  In northern climates, diffused aeration systems should be run intermittently in the winter when ice is forming. Alternatively, the diffusers can be moved into shallow water if you wish to run the system continuously throughout the winter.

Questions?

Call our team today to discuss diffused aeration systems: 800.662.3474.