25/06/2026
How was the England game the other night? We don't actually know because we were out assisting a fishery with a dissolved oxygen issue until gone midnight.
We were called by the fishery who have a remote oxygen monitor installed in their lake which alerted the owner to severely low levels down as little as 0.2mg/l. Several fish were on the surface gasping, including some eels, demonstrating just how bad this one was. Luckily the fishery have access to a 6inch pump which they fired up. When we arrived our readings were around 20% and just below 2 mg/l. Upon looking at the water it appeared there was a small amount of algae present. Due to the initial call of just 0.2 mg/l of oxygen, we had taken with us our liquid hydrogen peroxide chemical assuming we would need to deploy this to raise the oxygen levels. However, as we were getting readings of 2mg/l we decided it would have been risky to deploy the peroxide as we know it kills off algae.
Although too much algae can be a problem for fisheries it is also important as a building block for the food pyramid and natural oxygen recovery within a water boy. Had we deployed the chemical then we would have killed off the algae, and with it, any chance of the lake naturally recovering from the low levels. So we decided to leave it for the night and leave the 6 inch pump running.
We did take an algae sample before we left so we could see exactly what was going on. Our local biologist team confirmed the next day that there was in fact very little in terms of algae that would be producing enough oxygen to help the lake recover from this crash. So when the fishery owner got in touch again confirming not a lot had changed we decided to load up with some hydrogen peroxide, but this time in a solid form rather than the usual liquid we use. The hydrogen peroxide crystals are contained in a bag, which when we puncture the bag and placed them in the margins they react quickly with the water and breakdown to produce vast quantities of oxygen. You can see on the graph in the photos the oxygen boost it received and that was on the static monitor on the opposite side of the lake.
The fishery will continue to monitor the oxygen levels and liase with ourselves but hopefully they are over the worst.
Anyway, I’m off to catch up on the England highlights. I’m assuming we beat Ghana about 4 or 5 nil so really looking forward to some exciting football.
Remember, we have a fishery officer on call 24/7, so if you are experiencing a fish mortality then you can call 0800 807060. All funded by your rod licence.
