# dissolved oxygen meters?



## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

Anyone ever use one? Practical? Where can i take a look at one?

Thanks for any insights.....


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## JIG (Nov 2, 2004)

I Use My Graff To See Dissolved O2 On The Bottom In The The Summer. I Have Never Used A Meter But By Turning My Sencitivity Up They Can Be Viewed As Rising Vertical Lines. I Know This Is Off Limits To Eyes. Look Somewere Else.


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

Thanks for the info jig.

I did some searching on the web.....its really interesting reading....

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is necessary for aquatic life in order to survive. Dissolved oxygen is measured in PPM or parts per million. Parts per million is the number of "parts" by weight of a substance per million parts of water. Fast moving water tends to have large amounts of oxygen, while slower moving water, especially stagnant water, has lower levels. Colder water tends to have more dissolved oxygen than warmer water. Most dissolved oxygen is introduced into water through aeration, flowing over rocks, or as a waste product of photosynthesis. It is generally considered that DO levels of at least 4-5 PPM are sufficient for most aquatic life, however, good fishing waters average about 9.0 PPM.

Survivable oxygen levels for bass range from 5 to 13 parts per million (ppm), though they highly prefer and will seek out waters with 9 to 12 ppm oxygen. If the oxygen level falls below 3 ppm, the fish will die of asphyxiation. And if they remain in areas with more than 13 ppm, they will experience oxygen poisoning.


Heres a link to one....looks kinda "chincy" though:

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ...og/item-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=search&hasJS=true


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## JIG (Nov 2, 2004)

O2 ,co2,hyd.sulfide And Methane Gas Levels All Affect Where And When We Find Fish. Most Of Our Deep Clear Lakes Let Some Sun Light To Penatrate The Bottom And Promote Decomposition Of Bottom Sediment. If Fish Need To Lay On The Bottom To Avoid Uv Rays The Prefer A Wind Swept Shore Or Current So They Dont Have To Suspend. Im Not Saying Fish Dont Like To Do This Because Of The Food Source But At Certain Times Of The Year Given Certain Conditions It Makes A Difference. Im Not Positive On How The Ice Affects Some Fish But Theres Got To Be Some Type Of Thermo That Sets Up After The First Ice That Also Gives Indications On Were To Locate Active Fish. Any Help?


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## ashtonmj (May 3, 2004)

A GOOD D/O meter made by a company such as YSI or Quanta or some other environmental insturment company is quite pricey. They also require regular maintanence, usually changing a small membrane over the probe as well as adding solution to the probe. Something else that needs to be done quite frequently is calibration because many measure it factoring in barometric pressure so everytime you make a major elevation shift yuo have to recalibrate. Along with recalibrating you have to actually know if its reading properly and to do that you need to frequently use a bench instrument that has already been calibrated to test your meter against or use a standard solution. Neither are easy to come by.


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

maybe you can find this thru a real(dedicated) aquarium store.. if they have freshwater plants tanks, they would likely know where to find one at a decent price..
just a thought..


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

all good ideas...wouldnt it be interesting to know what the d.o. is of an area youre fishing? Read a good article on the net about a fish kill from low d-o. They were trying to figure out what happened.

That would be cool to see if youre in a good weed bed area or not, or see if the weedbeds are still alive or what condition theyre in, or just compare different levels around a lake....maybe someday Ill get one, but if i spend another penny (that she knows of  ) on ice fishing stuff for this year my wife will kill me! (this year was a shanty....no more bucket sitting for me)

I guess if theres no fish on the vex then the d-o isnt good enough. Just be cool to monitor throughout a season or a day, is all...i think it would be an interesting learning tool.


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