I know that phosphorus is one of the leading nutrients that cause my algae bloom. Will destratification and aeration help cure the release of this nutrient?
A. Destratification has the potential to reduce phosphorus (P) concentrations in some lakes. During summer stratification when the hypolimnion is oxygen-poor, P becomes more soluble (dissolvable) and is released from the bottom sediments into the hypolimnion. Because stratified lakes can sometimes partially mix, this allows greater amounts of P to “escape” into the epilimnion. These increased P levels in the lake’s surface waters can potentially stimulate an algae bloom. For similar reasons, algae blooms often are seen at fall turnover. Because destratification increases the bottom water’s oxygen content, it follows that P release from the sediments should be reduced, which in turn can lead to decreased algae abundance. However, the most suitable candidates for P reduction are deep, stratified lakes where a majority of the lake’s P comes from anoxic, hypolimnetic sediments (i.e., internal sources). In lakes where the majority of P comes from external sources (such as watershed runoff,
Related Questions
- I know that phosphorus is one of the leading nutrients that cause my algae bloom. Will destratification and aeration help cure the release of this nutrient?
- Would a UV sterilizer help control an algae bloom? Will chemicals like Algae Destroyer harm my Arowana or other fish?
- Is a phosphate concentration of 0.5 ppm by itself enough to cause a persistent algae bloom like Im describing?
