epidemic in the honey hole!

[nealfish]

i was on afishing trip with some friends and we stopped by our "honey hole" of a farm pond, with like 5 pound bass in it . when we arrived, dozens of sunnies floated on the surface, and a bass lay dead in the algae. they were all in the water and some of them looked very old, while one, in the pictures, we watched die. they would settle to the bottom, and then start swimming around again but upside down and everything like that. on estimate, over 60% of the fish above 4"are dead or abou to die, adn about 30% more have the same charicturistics of sores that seemed infected. they also appeared to have pop eye. could a virus be affecting their slime coats? ill try and post the pictures once they get downloaded. (my computer is really slow.

 

[pcray1231]

I'm not discounting some sort of contaminant. But this isn't uncommon, and the most common culprit is low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, which can happen quite naturally.

Turnover of water is one common culprit in the fall and spring, bringing the oxygen depleted water from the bottom to the top, and vice versa. Also, poorly timed algae blooms can do it. In a perfect world, algae actually creates oxygen in the water. But this is only true during photosynthesis. On cloudy days, at night, etc., it consumes more than it makes. Likewise, dying algae consumes more than it makes.

So my guess may be that the premature warmth caused an algae bloom. But that's bad this early, days are too short and nights too long. Get a few cooler, cloudy days, and it dies. Low water doesn't help either, less supply of good clean water that feeds the pond.

 

[greenghost]

More information on what pcray was referring to: http://www.clearpond.com/docs/articles/sludge-removal.php

Also, another thought... I see you're from Bucks County, but if your pond was further west or north in the state, was there any fracking being done in the area?

 

[PennKev]

pcray1231 wrote:
I'm not discounting some sort of contaminant. But this isn't uncommon, and the most common culprit is low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, which can happen quite naturally....

I agree. it's very likely due to a natural cause. Small, shallow ponds are very susceptible to this sort of thing.

 

[nealfish]

our area hasn't seen any fracking yet, and the last time i was there (2 weeks ago) there was indeed a massive bloom that usually covers a shallow part of the pond during the summer. it was mostly gone when i was there last. this could actually cause sores?

 

[franklin]

In addition farmers tend to be the biggest contributors to farm pond water quality degradation. Fertilizer run off, insecticides, poor practices when spreading manure can all cause problems.

 

[pcray1231]

our area hasn't seen any fracking yet, and the last time i was there (2 weeks ago) there was indeed a massive bloom that usually covers a shallow part of the pond during the summer. it was mostly gone when i was there last. this could actually cause sores?

Sounds like the culrpit. No, lack of DO doesn't cause sores itself. However, the water is always full of bacteria and stuff that makes fish sick. They're usually strong enough to fight it off. But lack of DO can significantly weaken fish and their immune systems. Cause of death is often something different than the underlying issue. Underlying issue stresses them and makes them weak, infection finishes them off.