Fish Pond supplies can be many but the number one supply or should we say the main supplement for fish is oxygen, dissolved oxygen. Same as us human’s fish need it too or we will not survive. The air we breathe has 20 percent of oxygen and fish only require 5 percent.
Breaking it down to something visual it would look like a 5 gallon bucket of water and add 5 drops of food coloring. The pond fish don’t need much at all, but as soon as the 5 ppm (parts per million)drops to 4 ppm the fish are beginning to stress, not eating or growing any bigger as they are trying to survive by looking for oxygen. Oxygen levels below 4 ppm approaching 3 ppm we’ll see the fish starting to die.
Pond aeration is what can save and promote healthy fish and a healthy pond, starting from 1000 gallon pond to many acres.
Other fish pond supplies besides food are fish habitat. I’m sure you’ve heard of habitat for humanity? Yep fish need habitat too. The short version for fish habitat is a place for the small fish to hide and or a place for larger fish to ambush their prey. The added benefit is a place for the minnows and small fish to take cover and able to reproduce without becoming extinct and the need of adding minnows for food every year.
What about water quality and clarity for the fish pond? Depending on the cleanliness of the watershed entering the pond, the fish population and the pond itself, algae blooms can occur creating the green colored water and very poor visibility for the fish not to mention trying to breathe in all the matter that could harm their gills. With the nutrients from fish waste and incoming water from the watershed adds fuel and feed for algae and weeds. Nutrient reduction can be achieved by using beneficial bacteria, plus these beneficial bacteria’s will reduce the mucky bottom of the pond. Ever smell rotten eggs when walking in or out of the pond? That is muck, from this muck comes gasses that over time can harm the fish eventually creating a fish kill.
