Liming and clearing ponds topic of Aug. 20 webinar
AgriLife Extension program to cover water quality aspects affecting pond and fish health
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present the webinar “Liming and Clearing Ponds” from 6-7:30 p.m. on Aug. 20.
Cost is $35, and advanced registration is required at https://tx.ag/LimingPonds.
Todd Sink, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension aquaculture specialist and associate professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, will be the featured speaker. Sink is also director of the AgriLife Extension Aquatic Diagnostics Laboratory in Bryan-College Station.
Water quality affects fishery health
Sink said many pond owners don’t realize how important water quality is to support healthy fish populations or how different water quality factors can impact fish in unusual ways.
“Alkalinity, hardness and calcium all affect fish survival and growth,” Sink said. “Alkalinity naturally decreases in a pond over time as photosynthesis and bacterial processes occur. This can lead to reduced food and energy production within the pond and, in turn, lead to reduced fish growth and smaller fish populations.”
Sink said in rare cases, this drop in alkalinity can lead to fish deaths and the collapse of recruitment to a fishery.
Webinar topics covered
Minor amendments to water quality, including liming or clearing a pond, can drastically improve fishery health.
“Liming a pond is the primary way to increase alkalinity, hardness and calcium,” Sink said.
The webinar will cover the various compounds that can be used to lime a pond and what effect it will have on the fishery.
Turbidity — the murkiness or cloudiness caused by suspended solids in water — and its effects on pond health, as well as a variety of remediation measures, will also be discussed.
“We will also cover how to have your water quality tested, what is tested during a standard water quality test, how to fix any issues found during the test, and how to apply treatments,” Sink said.
A 30-minute question-and-answer session will be held at the end of the webinar.
For more information, contact Brittany Chesser, AgriLife Extension aquatic vegetation management program specialist and lead diagnostic scientist at AgriLife Extension’s Aquatic Diagnostics Laboratory, Bryan-College Station, at [email protected].
