I Think I Killed all the Fish in Our Pond when I Installed a Pond Aeration System - 100% My Fault 

Evan, I wish I had sent a message last week before this happened to you, because I have experience with pond aeration and I believe I know what happened. I live on a 1 acre pond which had a die off ten years ago after a very cold winter. Since then I have been aerating and have had no more dieoffs. The reason fish die like that is because you put your aerators in the deepest part of your lake. Normally there is a thermocline between the surface and the bottom of a pond or lake and in the summer or winter the fish can swim up or down to find a temperature they like. The water at the bottom is where the fish can go when the temperature is high, like the 100 degrees you said you had. The same is true in reverse in the winter where the bottom is warmer than the surface, and again the fish can find a temperature they like. By putting the aerators in the deepest part of the lake you disrupted the thermocline and the fish had nowhere to go to avoid the hot water. I have found it is best to place the aerators no deeper than 1/3rd of the maximum depth, and they should all be at about the same depth so they will be pumping against the same pressure, which is why some of your aerators were not producing bubbles. Also bluegills are more sensitive to temperature than bass, so they die first. On the plus side trust me when I say that not all of the fish are dead, and they will rebound quickly when conditions are right. My wife and I love your channel and look forward to the next installment

It took balls to record this and if you had not, nobody would have ever known. Don't beat yourself up because you are only human. I can only speak for myself, but after watching all your video's, I know you are sincere and honest person. You can make the pond better than it was before. Hello from Texas!

Trust and believe that those fish didn’t die in vane. I just had my aerator installed TODAY and watching your video just saved the lives of my fish! Thank you for posting this because this takes courage to allow others to learn from your experience.

I commend you for publishing this to help others. Many of us have fallen victim to not following the directions. It never would have occurred to me that this would happen. I have a pond, so this is important to me. Thank you!

Thanks for not being too proud to show your mistakes. Happen all the time, live and learn.

Sorry for your troubles. The thing that makes your videos so genuine is your willingness to show the failures as prominently as the successes. As hard as you two work I have no doubt your pond will come back better than ever. Pulling for you.

Hello! We at EasyPro Pond Products wanted to reach out and say how sorry we are about your fish dying. We also wanted to say thank you for purchasing our products and addressing the unfortunate issue you experienced so openly and honestly. You are not the first pond owner to have experienced this, and as several other commenters have mentioned, your video will help prevent others from going through what quite honestly is often a heartbreaking experience. You have a beautiful pond and we hope that the aeration system will continue to improve the health of the pond and your fish for your family to enjoy for years to come.

This had to be a tough video to make. But I'm sure that everyone watching this agrees that your honesty and humility have you standing about 10 feet tall and larger than life in our eyes.

It takes a honest man to admit a mistake That’s why we watch your channel I know you’ll make the pond better

Mistakes can happen at anytime😢 but thats life, and life goes on! U guys are doing a fantastic job no matter what🤩🤩 amazing videos as allways🤩

You're a great man for showing this situation, good for you! This is what is all about, helping, rather than hiding and covering up you chose to bring it to light and help your fellows!

Absolute respect for filming this, I doubt anyone would film an accidental genocide. Keep your head up, you will bounce back. Sorry for your loss and thank you for sharing your experience with us.

So sorry Evan. I know how hard y’all have worked to make a beautiful, healthy pond. Hang in there. We all learn by our mistakes, and all make them as well.

We had a problem like this years ago. You need to get with a pond management company. We worked with our local farm bureau who helped us get in contact with pond management company. They were great they tested everything and gave us a five step plan. It took two years but ever since our five pond is great and looks wonderful. Good luck and do not give up.

Thanks for posting this gut-wrenching video. In the long run, this video will save millions of fish. I hope and pray for you guys to have a speedy recovery of lively fish.

Wow! My husband and I feel so much for you guys- but THANK YOU for posting this video and discussing the pitfalls and problems of aeration. We are about to install aerators on our pond and you have no idea how incredibly helpful your honest (and heartbreaking) videos are. The comments that have come in are amazing too. I hope some of your fish made it and that your pond is back on track. Thanks again and all the best.

My wife had me start watching you years ago because I'd beat myself up so much for making a mistake during a project. You have always showed your mistakes, and then carried on to completion. Now I do the same, in huge part thanks to you! Thank you.

Thanks for keeping it real. I saw the 'green pond' in the background in the previous video and wondered about it. Bummed about your disappointment but I've seen you overcome obstacles over and over again. You'll get this figured out and resolved. Love your channel. God bless

Another sad thing about this is how incredibly easy it is to sustainably harvest the duckweed, since it floats on the surface in a very thin layer. It can be pulled (or pushed) into a small area, and then drug up out of the pond in mass quantities. Duckweed makes an awesome nutrient dense mulch for flower or vegetable beds that retains moisture during dry spells. I used to stretch a parachute cord across a canal shaped pond I managed, and used that to pull an old pontoon boat further up the pond. I then turned the pontoon sideways, and pulled it back slowly toward the dock. The duckweed piled up so thick at the dock that I could lift it out with a pitchfork. Along cord/cable of pool floats, with a weighted netting /chicken wire/fencing suspended below it could be looped around a large area, and again pull mass amounts of duckweed into a small area where it can be easily removed . . . and then used. A partially submerged trailer could be filled, and then pulled up out of the pond, or it could even be pumped. I had to harvest all of mine by hand, but it was so valuable as a mulch, that I didn't mind. I would fill 15 to 20 gallon landscape pots, and leave them sitting on the dock to drain. When I went to load them onto my utility vehicle, they were much lighter, after draining most of the water.

I know it really sucks but thank you for showing this video you must know that you have helped so many other people not make the same mistake it is very difficult at times to talk about your shortcomings on a project but that's when so many people learn I am so sorry about your fish but I know it'll all come back better than it was nothing but respect for you and your family John from California have a blessed day

I almost cried for you! Things happen, you guys have done so much. I think it was very honest and brave if you to share this!

I can hear it in your voice & it actually made me tear up. So sorry this happened to you Evan. I really enjoy watching your videos. Chin up. You'll get your fish populated again. 🙏

So sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing. It has helped me out a lot. I wish you the best.

Mad respect for not just showing all the good. Trying to provide for yourself and do things yourself means you make mistakes. Mistakes that have bigger consequences than most people these days. But they aren't taking the leaps of responsibility that you are. Keep on keepin' on, man!

Hey, Ev, the fact that you feel so bad about what you did (and it was an accident, you didn't mean for this to happen), says volumes about your character. My guess is that many more fish survived than you think, but your plan to re-stock and re-store them will re-vitalized your pond, and all will be made right again. You have succeeded in educating the rest of us, and you will still leave a positive legacy (pond-wise :). God is all good, all the time, and He reads the heart. I wish I lived closer to you, because you are someone I'm sure I'd love being a neighbor of / to. : )

Sorry about your setback. Our pond is in 40 plus years old too. I’ve run 4 double Vertex pods on our 2.5 acre pond for 15 years. We started slow and upon startup the stink was pretty bad. We followed the startup procedure to a “T” and we still lost a couple of fish, not on your level of loss. I start our air stations once the water temp reaches 50 degrees F in the Spring and run them 24/7 until November when water temps fall. Stuff happens. You’ll be surprised how your existing fish will rebound. Be patient, you’ll have bigger fish since the fish competition is reduced. You still have live fish. Don’t give up. I noticed your pump station doesn’t have a cooling fan. Our Vertex system has a fan integrated into the cabinet. You might want to install a cooling fan in your cabinet. Starting a new air system in this heat reduces the cooling thermaclime for the fish to cool off. Don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s going to be okay. Pondboss Forum helped me through the years. We love your channel, keep your head facing the wind and carry on!

your honesty and candor is highly appreciated.

This video will save millions of fish for other pond owners in the future. My heart hurts for you. There's not a worse feeling than killing something by accident. Keep your head up brother!!

Thank you for sharing your experience. We have a lot of duck weed & will probably be adding a fountain. Hopefully you can use all of these fish for creating fertilizer.

So sorry Evan! You work so hard to do it right but mistakes happen and learning comes with it. Keep after it! I appreciate your videos and humility to tell us what happened and how you are going to fix it. Your experience will help others!

I’d probably recommend making a weighted raised platform for the air diffusers to sit on two or three foot out of the sludge off the bottom of the pond. Something with spiked feet that would sink into the soft bottom of the pond & still leave it a foot or two above the sludge floor beneath it. You would eliminate a tone of nutrient from stirring up off the floor.

I think what you experienced was what is known as summer fish kill. Actually, installing the pumps during the peak of duckweed (middle of summer) is the problem. Older ponds (and lakes) suffer from oxygen starvation in the summer. The bottom layer of the water column near the muck bottom has little oxygen because it is consumed by plant decomposition (bacteria). The top of the water column near the surface also has very little oxygen because the duck weed and algae blooms consume it. What you are left with is a sometimes thin layer of oxygenated water in the middle where most of the fish hang out. When you disturb the water column vertically by adding bubbles, you mix the layers. What you end up with is not enough oxygen for the fish to live. This can happen naturally in a very heavy rainfall where the runoff disturbs the water column. That is a natural summer Fishkill. Winter would be a better time to try again. There is also something known as a winter Fishkill. It has a different mechanism. The bottom of the water column is cooler than the top of the water column in the summertime. That temperature differential gives the water columns stability. In the winter time if the temperature of the water in the water column is all the same from top to bottom it can create an instability. In such a situation the water column can actually roll over and mix by itself.

What a hard lesson to learn. That was such a beautifully pond stocked with some nice fish for you two to eat. My heart goes out to and I will be praying for you and your pond and hopefully you still have some fish left. God bless you guys.

Evan and Rebecca, we are so sorry you had this happen to your pond. Stay strong and get it back in operation and may your fish repopulate quickly after they are restocked. Stay safe, Fred.

I never would have thought about that. Thanks for the video. I run so many aerators in my aquariums and never thought of this being a possibility.

I feel so bad for you. I thank you so much for sharing your story and teaching others what not to do. You did what you needed to do to make it a healthy lake. I commend you for doing this video.

Thanks for having the guts to share this video. Many would not have admitted their mistake. No sense worrying about it any more, just fix it. That is what you do best. Good luck and best wishes.

The number of fish you can potentially save by sharing this mistake is inumerable! Thank you so much.

Feel for you man. So sad to see all of those fish die. Keeping a pond healthy is tricky and a lot of work. Thanks for doing these videos. They are fascinating.

Thank you for your honesty. I was planning to aerate my pond and you saved me from a bad mistake. I'll do a lot more research before proceeding.

I knew I liked watching your channel. Now I know for sure that I love watching your channel. You are such an honest person, you were willing to put yourself out there, at what you had done, and share with everyone what happened. I am so sorry for the loss of all the fish, was a hard lesson to learn, I read a few of the comments below and it sounds as though their explanations might explain what happened or why. Hopefully it will help, in fixing it. It might take a year or two. Once again, your sharing has helped someone else who maybe didn't know, will now. Thank you for sharing and educating us. I could tell you were just sick about this, which shows that you are a good person. God bless you and help you get through this.

Sometimes learning is tough. Perhaps you sharing this problem can help several others from making the same mistake. Wishing you the very best as you start over stocking your pond. Keep us updated on how it goes.

I learned something today. Thank you for putting this out. Good luck with your pond!

Thank you so much for posting this video. I hope your pond is doing better now. You've probably saved me a ton of disappointment and grief in my future pond plans, because I was going to do exactly what you did!

I've watched you make a ton of improvements to your place. The house the barn the pole barn all the livestock and fences. You have made one or two mistakes but nothing major I can think of. You admit your mistakes and you realise there may have been a better way. You are honest about all you do. This time it's a major issue and you are gutted, understandably. I feel for you, it's a heartbreaker. Remember the old saying, " Show me someone that has not made a mistake and I will show you someone that has not made anything. Take heart, you have made lots of stuff. God bless you both

The aerators along with the really hot weather may have caused the pond to turn over. That’s when the water layers mix and cause fish die off. It happens on its own during really hot weather. The aerator’s may just be a coincidence.

Hello from California I respect your strong honest ways,I know you are sincere and honest person. You can make the pond better than it was before. your pond will recover, thanks for this video post.

My heart goes out to you my friend. Thank you for sharing and hopefully making sure others don’t make the same mistake.

We also had this happen in a 2 acre pond in 2001 when we had a heavy rain which stirred up the nitrogen in the bottom of the pond. We lost most of the fish by the next day and several more over the next 2 days. We then purchased and installed a aeration fountain to prevent this from happening again as advised by our local fishery. We now have 4 grass carp and hundreds of blue gill, bass, and catfish. Sorry for the set back, this too shall pass. Don't beat yourself up.

Oh man, I'm so sorry. Don't beat yourself up. Mistakes happen. We all make them, and you have shared your experience i hopes that someone else maybe doesn't make the same mistake.

Your honesty earned my sub! Props. Cant wait to see what your pond evolves into.

Thanks for the lesson. I wouldn’t have known. Sorry you had to go through that

Dang what a bummer Evan. Hopefully it didn’t kill as many as you think, tough to know. I appreciate you putting this out there, I bet you save someone from making the same mistake

Keep your head up! You guys have done such a awesome job with everything on the homestead. I have no doubt, with your attention to detail and care, that the pond will come back better than ever. Keep up the great work!

A brilliant video. Thank you for your honesty. Your experience will help thousands of others.

Just wanted to say thank you again for taking the time to post this. I would have never imagined in a thousand years that aerating could ever hurt the fish. I feel so bad that you had to go through it :(. I hope your pond is doing ok now!

Hi Evan, you can hear the absolute pain in your voice and see it, this was a honest mistake, a accident, and I am more than sure that you will get it working and be fine again, just keep in mind that we wishes you all the best and luck with this, and that it takes a absolute huge amount of courage to show this to us, it just straight up tells everybody that you and Rebekah is the best persons and with the best of intentions

I had a fish kill when I stocked pond for the first and found the problem was that when we excavated the pond down to the clay layer there were dormant roots in the clay when we exposed them they took all the oxygen out of the water and killed hundreds of fish I install a large submersible pump with a fountain head to add oxygen and overnight my fish quit dying . I know how devastating this is and I feel for. I'm sure your aware of the triploid grass carp that cannot reproduce. the hatchery I purchased mine from said no more than 15 per acre. Good Luck with your pond .

Thanks for posting and helping raise awareness. Praying for a quick recovery!

I am sorry for your loss! Thank you for the lesson.

Sometimes you have to go backwards to move forward. Especially when you start dealing with a long neglected pond. Don't beat yourself up, just keep trying to move forward.

You unfortunately have to learn of your mistakes things like this only happen to people who try harder ! It was very honest and strong of you to record this for us ! Love your videos stay strong keep it going on lots of good vibes from France 🇫🇷

Sorry to hear about your loss. Thank you Very much for the lesson. Cheers from Nova Scotia

You have helped millions by posting this vid I know it had to really hurt but your a true bad ass dude for sharing this not to many people if any could do what you did your one of a kind you might have lost some fish but let me tell you have saved tens of millions of fish just by being completely honest with the world your a bad ass dude Thanks for posting this

Evan, I use the same system on a 1 acre pond. I'm adding a couple of observations for you and your readers. Firstly, the Duck idea sounds great in concept. I did the same thing but used 18" lengths of 1 1/2" PVC wire to the diffusers. Here's what happened the first spring thaw. Since the ice melts first around the shore line that leaves the 'floats' still frozen in the big sheet of ice on the rest of the pond. The wind moves the ice around and rips off the floats off. I used wire and fortunately it just broke the wires and left the diffusers in place. We both had the same great idea but it didn't play out for me. 'Just a heads up to all on that. Secondly, I took one look at those cabinets they sell and thought.., Oh Hell no! If there's one thing electrical things hate it's heat, dirt, and moisture. I built my own from plywood and installed it up on the wall of a run-in shed 4' off the ground so it's shaded at all times. But wait..., there's more! Notice that your pump pulls air from each end. Using plain old 6" stove pipe I plumbed them to draw fresh air from outside the box, then I cut long 2" wide slots near the top of the sides and rear of the box to allow heat to escape. Now, the pump isn't sucking in it's own heat and the heat it generates can escape from the cabinet. Plus, on the front door of the cabinet I installed a little 120v muffin fan right in front of the motor which is tied to a controller. If I recall correctly it's set to come on whenever the inside cabinet temp is over something like 80 deg. F. In 5 years of use I've never had my cab. temp go over the mid 90's. I forgot to mention, all the cabinet openings are covered with plain old window screen to keep the bees and spiders out. I also have my system on a timer so I can run it as much or little as I like depending on the season without having to keep throwing switches everyday. Anyway, sorry this is to long but it may be of help to someone. Cheers, Fred

The duck decoys were a great idea. Great videos as always.

I've always wanted a pond like yours. I sincerely hope for all the best outcomes for your efforts in getting it back to being healthy and productive Sir. Good luck.

Thanks for all the valuable information, specially after you have gone through such an ordeal. So sorry you went through so much

I'm just sick for you guys. Mistakes happen, but oh my goodness. As a pond owner myself, I can tell you that grass carp are the way to go for weed control. We put many fewer than were recommended for our 10 acre pond, but they did an amazing job at cleaning up the weeds.

Evan I think you should maybe consider looking into dredging the deeper parts of the pond where all of the toxic debris has settled , and maybe this will help clean up the pond before you start restocking it with fish … just something to consider , it maybe a little spindly but probably well worth the effort

Much appreciate your humility. I've got a buddy that's building near a pond. I will pass this info to him. As the saying goes..." If your not making mistakes, your not doing anything"! Take er' easy.

Your honesty will help many THANK-YOU.

Im so sorry for what happened. I have 3 aquariums and I have learned over time that any adjustments you do need to be done very slowly, even adding 5 or 6 new medium sized fish to an established tank can decimate a lot of hard work because an established ecosystem is very finely balanced. Do you have any lilies in your pond? If not then they could be a good addition because they will suck the nutrients out of the water faster than duckweed and the duckweed will eventually die off. Some carp will eat a barn full of duckweed in days too. I have duckweed in two of my small tanks and I scoop it all out once a week and dump it in with my goldfish. I have 4 goldfish and they eat it all in a couple of hours. Carp also naturally stir up the bottom and keep it healthy, but do some research into the type of carp that you stock because some are seriously invasive. Mirror and Common Carp are gorgeous and they will give you a hella fight when hooked. I would keep away from Grass or Asian Carp. Aeration will work very well eventually and keep testing your water before adding new fish. I really wish you great success in the future and I'll subscribe and hopefully see what happens. 🙏

Don't beat yourself up too bad Evan. I would have done about the same thing trying to make the pond better and probably a lot of other folks would have too. But I will say if it killed the catfish, it probably got all fish because they can usually live in VERY muddy water. Anyway, we live and keep learning and try to do better next time around. Thanks for sharing and keep your chin up. 👍

Oh man. I feel terrible for you. Thank you for letting others learn from your mistake. It's greatly appreciated.

My heart goes out to you . Your pond looks just like the one on the farm where I grew up. Takes a big man to admit when he’s messed up. I can’t imagine how terrible you felt when you saw all those dead fish. I watched ahead and saw that you put the grass carp in and I pray they take care of your duck, weed problem, and that your pond will come back to life and re-populated with fish in abundance.

This is very interesting to me as my husband and I live on a very large retention pond too. Ours is in the shape of a W with three channels. We've discussed getting an aerator to move and churn up the water because like in summer when there is a week of no rain all this algae forms but the pond is so beautiful after the rain. I'm going to ask my husband to watch this video. We share the pond with some neighbors so especially our next door neighbor who stocked the pond with bass he'd be pretty mad if the fish died. So perhaps we will hold off on the aerator but this video although I know you didn't mean to kill any fish has helped us. Thanks for making the video. God bless you

Call your local Co-Operative Extension office to see if they can test your water samples to make sure the water isnt’t toxic. Heavy metals and acid rain deposits.

Man, I'm sorry this happened But thank you so much for sharing this with the community so we can all learn. Thank you.

You did such a good job. Bless your heart ❤ Sometimes our best efforts just don't go as planned. 🙏

Sorry to hear about your fish kill in the pond. Your mistake was placing the aerators in the deeper part of the pond as in warm weather, ponds will stratify with lower dissolved oxygen in the bottom of the pond in deeper zones. The remains of decomposition bacteria locks up ammonia in the sediments. Most likely, the aeration stirred up the low dissolved oxygen water and released ammonia back into the water column. The right way to aerate would have been in the shallowest water of the pond starting out with only 5 minutes per day. And if you wanting to reduce the duckweed, there are chemicals that will eradicate it and not harm fish. However, youaren't the first person to do this. Contact a good pond management and they'll get you back on track. Also, you can check out Bamabass, another RU-vid site outlining pond management from a new pond standpoint. Good luck and don't feel bad. It's fixable.

Wow that's a tough hit. Maybe you could at least use some of the dead fish to boost the compost pile. Definitely have to cover it to keep the stink down but it would make some mega good compost.

I'm glad I watched this and read the comments for corrections before I decide on a similar path. Thanks for the info.

We fall and than rise again learning from our mistakes, don't let it bother you to much. You care for your fish and i know you'll bounce back with more knowledge. Keep up the good work and in the next clip we'll see the pond back to it's old glory!!

I'm very sorry about all of those fish, I hope Timothy is right and there's more fish left then you might think. From my aquarium hobby, I've learned that the bubbles travelling trough the water isn't actually what aerates it, it's the movement those bubbles create on the surface. So aerators in shallow waters have the same effect as ones placed as deep as possible

Aerators are more about water movement than aeration. With the idea being that they mix the water layers so the deepest water is brought to the surface. You should have started while the water was cold and a thermocline had not yet set up, or installed the airstone in shallow water and slowly moved deeper( 1 or 2 feet a day) to prevent the anoxic water from mixing too quickly. You likely released an incredible amount of nutrients as well with it being an old pond. Post from Acoursey A Oct 2017, West Lafayette, IN from The Pond Boss Forum.

Sending you good energy buddy. Don’t beat yourself up. We all make mistakes even with the best intentions.

It's nice to see someone post an honest mistake and not pass the blame. I learned a lot from the comments too. I'm sure you'll mend the damage.

I find the best way to deal with it is remove manually (Makes very good compost!) then plant something else to take up those nutrients in the pond. Lilies, mash plants like cattails and bulrushes, iris and even something like a weep willow tree. Also removing some of the built up on the pond floor could help too but dredging is a lot more work and money for a pond that size.

I was thinking if you had two boats and a floating line, just pull the duckweed gradually off to one side. Gather, compost it. Huge volume of free high N plant matter.

I'm so sorry this happened to you but thank you so much for sharing! I was about to install one of these in my retention pond behind my house to help circulation. It's loaded with bass because we've stocked it for years but its shallow 6 -8 ft, about 1.5 acre's in central Florida so it gets very warm over the summer.

Hello from north texas, sorry to hear about your pond. Im subscribed and going back to watch ALL your videos.

Tip: Try recirculated pond water. That's what I do on my small koi pond. The water flow should be pumped along the surface creating bubbles. This also prevents a total freeze up in the winter as long as there is an area of water flow. I use a submersible pump and leave it going 24/7/365. My fish are over 15 years old and early on I lost a couple of them to seagulls. To combat the gulls I allowed a small maple tree to branch out over the pond. Gulls have a large wing span and now they have no landing zone! I'm up here in Gloucester, Ma where we have brutal winters. Best Regards, Jay

Sorry man but you may have saved other pond owners from making the same mistake. I certainly would not have expected this outcome either. Live and learn right! Thanx for the video and your honesty. Good job 👍

So sorry to hear but appreciate the share. I feel sick about it for you. I killed off all my fish in my pond adding copper product to help clarify the pond. Thanks again for sharing. I'm about to ad a diffuser soon.

Wow. I feel your pain bro. Sending love from the UK. It’s given me a real good warning as I was about to do the same.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You're an awesome person farmer. Big ponds have an ecosystem. Before restarting the pond try to reaerate the pond and minimize the duck weed and algae. By correcting the issue sets the pond up for a greater ecosystem and then restock it. It's hard and you feel a heavy heart but stay focused greater is the man who learns from his mistakes. Don't feel so bad

Just a thought. Do you think installing the frames on some type of platform maybe 3 ft off bottom would have helped to keep them away from the muck on bottom of pond? Glad you had the courage to make this video!

Bummer about your fish...but thank you very much for posting this.These kinds of videos are valuable as hell for the rest of us....thanks so much for posting..and thanks to all the comments..that info was gold as well... I plan on doing a big pond on my property and I didn't know any of this so thank you to all.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! We all learn from each other! Thanks