Chemical Budgets for Polyethylene-lined, Brackishwater Ponds

Budgets for water, nitrogen, phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and dissolved oxygen (DO) were estimated from May to October 1986 in three 0.09 ha ponds stocked with striped bass Morone saxatilis (Walbaum). Ponds were lined with highdensity polyethylene sheeting to prevent seepage. Pond bottoms, except for side slopes, were covered with soil. Total rainfall roughly equalled evaporation. Liner runoff augmented rainfall inflow by 43%. The largest source of nitrogen input was feed -88% of the measured input. Overflow was the greatest measured loss of nitrogen. Denitrification and ammonia volatilization apparently removed large amounts of nitrogen. Feed applications and runoff were the major phosphorus inputs. Fish harvest and uptake by mud represented the major losses of phosphorus. The production of each kilogram of fish required 2.09kg of feed and released to the water, as metabolic waste, 118.55g nitrogen, 1.2g phosphorus, and 1.67kg COD. Metabolic wastes from fish resulted in the production of an additional 3.71kg of COD in phytoplankton and benthic algae. Thus, 1kg of live striped bass resulted in a total of 5.38kg of COD. Benthic respiration exceeded respiration of microorganisms in the water column. Total respiration exceeded oxygen produced by photosynthesis, but diffusion of oxygen from the atmosphere into the ponds was sufficient to maintain adequate DO concentrations for fish survival.