Aeration Benefits For Fish Populations

PREVENT FISH KILLS

Oxygen in ponds comes from three sources - photosynthesis, wind and wave action, and diffusion from the air. The most important source is photosynthesis which is the process plants use for manufacturing food. In the presence of sunlight, plants and algae add oxygen to the water as a by-product of photosynthesis. At night or in the winter, if the ice is snow covered, respiration of fish, algae and bacteria continually remove oxygen from the water. If the oxygen concentration gets too low either in summer or winter you can have a fish kill.

MAINTAIN LARGER AND HEALTHIER FISH POPULATIONS

Maintaining oxygen at the bottom of a lake or pond allows nutrients normally trapped at the bottom to be channeled up through the food chain. These nutrients are taken up and used by aerobic bacteria, microorganisms, invertebrates and aquatic insects, thus increasing the amount of available food for the fish and thereby enhancing their growth rate. Harmful substances on the bottom that were dangerous to fish are broken down to inert forms making them unavailable to fish.

By maintaining good oxygen levels throughout the waterway, the living space for the fish is increased allowing for larger fish populations.

INCREASE AVAILABLE FISH FOOD ORGANISIMS

Fish eat just about everything including detritus, diatoms, aquatic macro-invertebrates (particularly insect larvae, crustaceans and worms), mollusks, aquatic plants, algae, zooplankton, fish and their eggs, terrestrial insects, etc. When oxygen is limited at the soil/water interface, these food sources will begin to die. This, in turn, creates a shortage in the fish population's food supply. By employing a diffused subsurface or hypolimnetic aeration system, oxygen levels at the soil/water interface are increased. This allows new insect, larvae, snails, and other fish food to thrive once more, substantially increasing their availability as a natural food source for fish.