How Can I Increase Fish Production?

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How can you increase fish production in your private pond or lake? The answer is surprisingly simple, the methods are simple, but the process is surprisingly complex. It starts with the basic life cycle, which involves how everything in a body of water interacts with everything else.

Fish population and fish size

The number and size of fish populations is similar to the number and size of almost all populations in one way. The availability of food. If enough food is present, the average size per fish, and the population will both rise.

How fish get their food

So, aside from feeding the fish in your pond or lake with a fish feeder, or by hand, how do fish get the food they need to survive and thrive? The answer is in the food chain. Larger fish eat smaller fish, and some insects that cross their path. Smaller fish eat bugs. The bugs eat smaller bugs. The smaller bugs eat algae in the form of phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton production

The answer is pretty simple, for fish to thrive, they need phytoplankton to start the food chain. The obvious next question is: How do I get phytoplankton to grow in my pond or lake?

Well, the phytoplankton already exists in your reservoir. All you need to do, is encourage it to grow by feeding it. The way you feed the phytoplankton is with fertilizer. The fertilizer should be high phospherous, or micronutrients in a delivery system like nano silicates. This will kick start phytoplankton production. I encourage you to do a pH test before you start this type of program, and also to do a secchi test to determine how much phytoplankton is aready there.

See these articles for more detailed information and how to:

Lake And Pond Food Chain

Lake Management Lake Depth Secchi Disk

Pond and Lake maintenance using Diatom Algae

Lake Fertilization

The process works pretty rapidly, and continues as long as the proper fertility exists. This is something that will need to be repeated throughout the summer, but the payoff can be amazing.