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ureener lawns, healthier house plants and better yields from gardens and farms all occur when we fertilize. Dairy and beef production is higher, too, because the benefit of fertilizing pastures is passed on from the plants to the livestock.
Can you expect similar benefits in increased fish production by adding fertilizer to farm ponds? Probably not.
In theory, adding fertilizer directly into pond water does the following:
• It stimulates the growth of microscopic water plants (phytoplanton).
• It promotes the growth of small aquatic invertebrates (zooplankton and insects) that feed on phytoplankton.
• It improves the growth of sportfish which feed on the invertebrates.
In practice, however, this idealized “biological chain reaction” of fertilizer to phytoplankton to insects to fish seldom works. Remember that fertilization of soils is only one of many things that farmers do to enhance crops. In addition to fertilization, we also protect cultivated land from nuisance weeds, destructive insects and other pests. To insure maximum yields, these systems are intensively managed, but fish ponds are not. In the absence of intensive management, fertilization of fish ponds is not usually a good idea.
Some of the major objections to the use of fertilizers in fish ponds are:
• Instead of promoting the growth of desirable plant life (phytoplankton), the added fertilizer is much more likely to stimulate the growth of nuisance waterweeds and filamentous algae that are not used as food by insects or fish.
• The addition of fertilizer is usually unnecessary and quite expensive.
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