The summer heat seems to have hit all part of the states including Erie, Pa. where the pond turned into bath water temps. Is there concern?
Yes, the first concern is evaporation. Why is that a big deal? Aquatic plants need water, some need submerged while other need to keep their roots wet. Next concern, the pond is getting shallower and the warmer the water, the less it less dissolve oxygen it can hold. So the fish health becomes a big concern too.
With the summer heat and the pond losing water the plants all of the sudden end up with no water to survive. So in order to save the little woman’s lilies we dug them up and moved them out in deeper water for a second year hopefully now we won’t need to do it again unless we really get into more of a drought.
As for the warm water fish they have been holding up pretty well in this heat too. By day the water warms up but they do get a little relief from the night time cooling. Now is the time to be concerned about oxygen levels in the pond. Stagnant ponds without aeration have the greatest chance of losing fish to the lack of oxygen. Bottom diffused aeration is the most economical way to go from the initial cost to operating costs down the road.
Pond Fountains is another source for aeration but during these hot dry weeks and months it seems now we set up our fountain to only run in the morning hours to see it heading off to work and then in the evening for a few hours. The fountain can help the pond evaporate even more running during the day with the water being shot out into the air.
There you have it just a short post on the effects of evaporation and hoping we get rain soon. This has been the lowest the ponds have been since they were built, a little concerned but no need to panic yet. Wait a minute…I hear thunder…fingers crossed 😉
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