Stock tank gurus, why is my water golden brown and is it healthy for fish?

[KactusKiller]

My small stock tank at the ranch in Navarro seems to always be a golden brown color, especially this time of yr. When I bought the place in July 2017 it was loaded with bass even tho it is only about 1/3-1/2 ac. Don’t think it has been dry since at least 2010/2011 if ever. Holds water well. Shortly after we bought it the fish seemed to hit a quick decline and now we haven’t seen anything but bluegill in near a yr. we didn’t see any bluegill the yr before but there was a lot of little blue gill and some decent size this yr.
I’m worried I have a golden algae prob or something since there was a steep decline.
What do you think?

[ramrod]

Browning can be from algae or silty run-off after heavy rains.

[doghouse]

I have no clue, but check the pond boss forum. They have lots of info.

[easeup]

golden algae looks like thousands of tiny gold bubbles suspended through out the water

[KactusKiller]

I wonder if there is a test kit to see if the water is “fish friendly” ?

[Kenner97]

We have a 2 acre tank and it is always dirty looking. Just have catfish, but don’t seem to bother them.

[Reelthreat]

Gypsum will clear it up... gin clear.

[KactusKiller]

I have plenty of that may give it a try

[sailor]

If it's only 1/2 acre....
Broadcast 50lbs of Corn Gluten Meal....
If it's alge, it will clear up in a couple weeks....
this is cheap, easy to do, fish love it....
And, it's organic.....

[KactusKiller]

Ok after some research looks like the brown or “tea” color look is from tanin from debri like leaves.
Now to just find a cure and exactly how harmful it is besides removing the debri which obviously isn’t an option.

[RCDuck]

Not a pond expert, but if it's tanin stained, I'd say it isn't any problem for the fish. I go on a Canadian fishing trip every year where the water is almost red... I asked the outfitter about it and he said it was just tanin stained... 50+ fish per person per day for people who don't really even know much about fishing would suggest it doesn't bother the fish.

[KactusKiller]

The only thing I have seen is that it may cause oxygen depletion because of the breakdown and lower the ph level a lot.
Just trying to connect the dots of why I had such a drastic fish loss.

[duckboy007]

If it's the brown, but clear, color your talking about, it's fine. I can also tell you its fine for fish because a bass can live where ever a bluegill can, they are in the same family of Centrarchidae. You don't have a problem with your water chemistry if the bluegills are still there.

A small pond like that lives on a knife edge of balance between the bluegill and bass populations. It's very easy for the bass to get basically starved out. They over populate quickly, and if there is not much cover, they can eat themselves out of house and home. Best thing you can do would be to add as much cover as you possibly can, and still be able to fish it. Treetops, rock piles, etc. This gives baby bass somewhere to hide from other bass and adult bluegill, and will help you support more fish. I highly doubt there are zero bass in there now, but if so, a restocking wouldn't be a bad idea, that small of a pond doesn't need many fish. Your best bet might be to find somewhere that you could catch a few and bring them in. Depending on the size of the bass, you realistically can only support 30-50 individual bass in a pond that small, it's more like a big fish tank. Unless you want to look at supplemental feeding options.

[BrianL]

Get a test kit and test the water, or send a sample to A&M or both. I did water test on mine last night. Ph, hardness, and alkalinity are your big ones. My guess would be you will have a PH below 7 and need lime. Staining in water isn't much of an issue. You would prefer 18-30" visability, with "good" stuff in the water. It is a whole food chain thing that starts with microscopic phytoplankton and zooplankton... pondboss.com is a good source

[Mike Murphey]

Call your local Texas Biologist...he/she can help...