Hopefully there's something in here that might help some of you with understanding the oxygen demand of a stillwater ecosystem.
I don't have the luxury of power to any of my ponds here on the farm, so monitoring the oxygen content is especially important for me to stay on the ball and be able to react quickly if I need to.
I haven't had to aerate any of my ponds at all this year or last, but I have experienced critical dissolved oxygen levels in the past. It's hugely stressful and no fishery is safe from low oxygen. Understanding the biological oxygen demand of your water allows you to strategicly manage your fishery to optimise the efficiency of the organic processes allowing potential pollutants to be converted into healthy forms that benefit the fertility of your water.
You should also understand that by managing your water to optimise the organic processes will increase fertility, so you should expect things to accelerate as you're creating an environment for fish to thrive, so they grow and reproduce quickly, which puts further stress on the oxygen load. Managing your fishery to optimise the health of water quality is a continuous management plan, if it was easy everyone would do it!
The 3 key points to remember:
- have a reliable oxygen meter
- maximise light and air exposure
- maintain a healthy biomass
9 сен 2024