In the thousands of pond related questions we get every year, there are a few that always seem to come up pretty regularly. Of course there are the ever present pond algae related ones, but another common question is, “if I have too may fish what can I do about it?” Right along with this is the question, “if I have smaller fish, how do I catch them easily?”
Since the focus of this site is related to algae control, for smaller ponds fish always factor into the equation. If you have too many fish in a pond for it’s size, there’s no question that this overstocked situation will lead to water quality problems, potentially high and toxic levels of ammonia, and most likely, green water or string algae.
Here’s a recent article we put together on this very topic – Pond Algae And Fish – Are The Two Related? Here we talked about how to calculate if your pond is overstocked or overloaded. It’s good information to have if you have fish and algae in your pond.
The focus of this article though is what do you do if you find you have too many fish? The reality is, if you do, you can try treatments, potions, and remedies, but chances are you’ll still have algae because you haven’t addressed the real root of the problem. While it’s true, if you’re close to the threshold, beneficial bacteria or improved filtration can help but there’s a limit to everything.
Case in point. June wrote to us a few weeks ago and noted that she’s sure she has too many fish in her pond and algae has been stubborn. But she’s got a problem. “I know I have to get a few fish out of there, but I don’t have any other pond owners near me and I don’t know what to do with the one’s I take out. I like my fish so I don’t want to just “get rid” of them and I know it’s not a good idea to release them in a natural pond or lake. What should I do?”
And here’s another good question. Angie writes, “We have a small pond which we put in last summer. We added 4 gold fish to this pond. They survived the winter and we were thrilled until they had at least 100 babies! We caught about 40 of the babies about 3 weeks ago when they were smaller and gave them to a friend who had a large pond. But now the fish have become smarter and faster and we can’t catch them. We’ve tried everything we can think of and still no luck. We know we can’t clear up the algae problem without first getting rid of the fish. Please help!”
So dear readers, here’s my plea on behalf of pond owners everywhere. From your experience, (and there is no greater resource than experience in my book) what are the best options for safely getting rid of a few too many fish, and if they’re fairly small and quick, what’s the best way to catch them? Please share your comments, thoughts, and ideas below…it will help out a lot of folks.
Many thanks!
Mark
Pond Algae Solutions
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