How can anything decay in such cold water and create a build up of unwanted gases if closed off? Why do we have to worry about keeping it open? What is the science to this? And when lakes are completely frozen over why doesn't that kill fish?
as Lisa noted, the ratio of fish load to volume/surface area is a lot different between lakes and our garden ponds. In fact, there ARE fish kills when the ice+snow exists for prolonged periods of time. I have a 2 acre natural pond at the end of my road and three years ago when we had a long winter and the temps in Feb reached record lows that did not relent until March, had one of these. The fish floated toward the shore and most were large. Between the lack of oxygenation and the toxic gas buildup, some can't survive. If you google fish kills in Michigan, you'll find reports of it happening even in larger lakes. But it takes the right conditions even then. IMO we depend on the typical January thaw to open up the waterways to allow this gas-off and re-oxygenation.How can anything decay in such cold water and create a build up of unwanted gases if closed off? Why do we have to worry about keeping it open? What is the science to this? And when lakes are completely frozen over why doesn't that kill fish?
It happens all the time. Winter fish kill off is very common in smaller mountain lakes, especially in colder climates.And when lakes are completely frozen over why doesn't that kill fish?
I suspect our fish can survive a long time in a completely iced over pond, and most of the excitement is so the "experts" can feel important
I suspect our fish can survive a long time in a completely iced over pond, and most of the excitement is so the "experts" can feel important.
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