Abstract

Preliminary studies were carried out on water characteristics and bacterial population in high yield Kajola Fish Pond, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Three fish ponds stocked with Clarias gariepinus were examined for pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, total solid, total hardness, un-ionized ammonia, phosphite-phosphorous, total inorganic carbon, nitrite-nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen saturation and transparency values. The comparism of all these factors showed variability on the average.The population of each bacterium was significantly different (P<0. 5) from the population of the different genera of bacterial in each pond and in all the ponds. The bacterial population of the pond soil was composed of six species and one fungus. The bacteria are Escherichia coli, which occurred in two ponds,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Actinomycetes species andBacillus cereus, while the fungus is Clasdoporium species. B. cereus population was significantly higher(P<0.5) than the rest species population. The presence of these organisms was attributed to the human activities in and around the pond.

Key words: Bacterial population, water characteristics, fish ponds, pond soil.