First time Fish Kill

[Stevew305]

I have a 150 x 75 foot pond that is 5 -6 feet mostly and 18 feet at the deepest. I never had a problem with the pond which has 6 sterile carp and 9 or so 12 " large mouth bass (added last year) and sunfish. I have an aerator on the bottom. I always add aqua shade to the pond throughout the year. 3 weeks ago and then 10 days ago I added NT Max in the recommended amounts for moderate algae, but in fact I probably only have minimal algae growth.

Over the last 4 days I have removed 100 4 inch baby bass, 4 2 foot carp and 6 large mouth bass, all floating on the surface dead.

It was warmer than usual around here that week, and I only run the aerator at night.

What happened?

 

[HTH]

Only a guess but

"Commercial Grade NT-MAX Liquefies Sludge into water and Co2."

"CO2 levels in excess of 25-30 ppm are dangerous for fish. Common signs for CO2 poisoning are an increasingand more rapid breathing, gasping for air, and a staggering swimming behavior – all leading to suffocation of the fish."

[SIZE=11.818181991577148px]I would leave the aerator on all the time when you are using this stuff and try to use the chemical during cooler weather.[/SIZE]

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes, leave the pumps running for sure. Sounds like the chemicals that killed the algae, may have lead to the fish death. I think some algae is very good for pond and fish. The stuff you used to kill the algae, NT Max, what is the warnings on this product? Do you have any other plants in your pond at all?

 

[callingcolleen1]

Hmmm, looked up the NT Max, seems to be some all natural product, so it should be safe, and so is the blue dye for pond safe too. I have used many sludge busters that are all natural in the past with no ill effect, and the dye is safe too. I would agree that turning off the pumps led to fish death by suffocation, like Howard said.....

 

[Stevew305]

Thank you for your replies. I have to agree with the CO2 theory. I think I blasted the fish with C02, maybe the NT Max was too effective. It was sad to see those big beautiful fish belly up. I am conforted by someone on this website who said "you aren't a pond manager until you've killed 1000 fish." Man I have a lot of fish left to kill!