Fish Kill?

Past Sunday, suddenly had fish kill that came and went, only lasted one day. No more fish died. Today I was sitting next to the small pond, only about 50 ft across, and a large amount of bubbles, about 3 ft diameter, came up in one spot and lasted about 10 seconds. About 30 seconds later same thing.

There are active oil wells about 3 miles south of this location. Is it possible that natural gas is bubbling up in the pond, removing the oxygen from the water and killing the fish?

Or what else would have caused the bubbling?

George

If it's real hot the oxygen level drops in the water, if it got over 95 degrees at the plant I worked at in Tennessee we'd get fish dying in our storm water pound. The bubbling can be from biological action from decaying organic matter laying on the bottom of the pond. If natural gas were bubbling up through the pound I don't think it would absorb oxygen as it passed through. If it gets hot and the dissolved oxygen levels in the water drop you might get some bubbles as you switch from aerobic to anaerobic respiration in the pound.

Look up "lake turnover or lake overturn".

any film on the water?natural gas can seep out of the ground,its not at all unusual ,but is hardly ever pure natural gas.it has all types of impurities in it,crude oil,sulfer,methane ,ethane ,tars all types of stuff.now if it were cleaned and treated natural gas,say out of a pipeline,maybe,but you would smell it.Also natural gas,in its raw state probably would freeze your pond or freeze into like ice cubes.ive seen 12-16" lines freeze solid almost instantly.its almost like propane or butane that way.despite what you hear on the internet,its highly unlikely for a well to leak after surface casing is set.It is possible however,for a well spudding in to lose circulation and it come up nearby in a field or pond.ive never seen one go three miles though.BUT...the rig would be losing water or mud,not gas.and the level of your pond would be rising and turning to solid mud,a scum will form on the surface from additives they would add trying to circulation back,and it wouldnt kill just a few fish.
like the others say probably the pond turning over. this hot weather will probably get a lot of them i would guess.

Turtle farts ???

(quoted from post at 16:52:38 07/12/12) Past Sunday, suddenly had fish kill that came and went, only lasted one day. No more fish died. Today I was sitting next to the small pond, only about 50 ft across, and a large amount of bubbles, about 3 ft diameter, came up in one spot and lasted about 10 seconds. About 30 seconds later same thing.

There are active oil wells about 3 miles south of this location. Is it possible that natural gas is bubbling up in the pond, removing the oxygen from the water and killing the fish?

Or what else would have caused the bubbling?

George

Click to expand...

Article in the paper today, (NW Indiana) there are many fish kills going on. Like already said the water is getting too warm (Lake Michigan is 80 2 foot down) and the O2 levels are getting low and the fish are dying. The warmer the water the less O2 it can hold.
The bubbles are more than likely a turtle or just organic matter giving off gasses as it rots. Really common.

I live in Terre Haute, been over 100 for days before the fish kill and even after the kill. Kill only lasted one day. Nothing unusal as for how the water looks. One large turtle fart. I've seen bubbles caused by turtles, Looked nothing like it. I was looking for something to erupt. Massive amount of bubbles, two different times. No smells either.

Has it been dry there and has your pond been green? If so its the algae. They run in cycles, bloom, die, decompose. The decomp pulls all the oxygen from your water, fish die. It can happen in burst that will surprise you in how fast they can come and go. I am in school for these sorts of things and have seen examples of it.

The water looks normal.

Was at a fish hatchery couple days ago.... they've had a lot of calls on fish kills the past week or two. Algae - not necessarily the thick green stuff, but the cyanobacteria? type. bottom based bubbler/aeration is a big help.
They were even having problems there at the hatchery...

Good luck and maybe try getting some air to the bottom of that pond - until I sprung for the right bottom diffuser a few years back, I had a small air pump going to a soaker hose tied to a brick. worked for a while. I'm about same latitude as you - just other side of the state.

Tony

I accidentally discovered what you said about turtles. They move along the bottom of the pond and in doing so disturb the decayed matter there that apparently has CO2 trapped. You can follow their movements by watching the bubbles.

I had a massive fish kill last year caused by too much coon tail moss and blue green algae. I was able to kill off the algae with copper sulphate CuSO4, and the moss which had completely choked my pond with Aquathol Super K Granular from Aquacide Company, 800 328 9350. The Super K is extremely efficient and it doesn't take much. I bought 2ea 25# buckets (a little smaller than the size of a 5 gallon bucket) and treated my 2 acre pond the initial kill off and a little touch up after......I'm not even down to the half way mark on the first bucket. The stuff is outrageously expensive, but not if you use it as directed it isn't, so don't over do it when you buy it like I did. I have enough to last me the rest of my life.

It's been almost a year now and I only have maybe a dozen little blobs of moss that I can detect at the surface. I am impressed. The perch weren't affected by the kill off and I restocked catfish this past winter. I have been feeding them and have a thriving fish population currently. With no predators left to bother them the little guys are doing great.

The Copper Sulfate can be purchased at a building supply center.

Mark