The fish are part of how the infrastructure works.

The figures show a ratio of about 7 bluegill for every largemouth bass, that is to say 257 to 38, since there is a plentiful supply of food and only a small number of predators.

A warmwater pond is only able to achieve ecological balance if it has both kinds of fish — a large enough number of bluegill to serve as food for the bass and enough bass to control the bluegill population. When this balance is disrupted there is an excess of bluegill, which causes their growth to be stunted because of the greater competition for the limited resources, and these smaller bluegill then eat the aquatic insects that usually feed on algae.

The fact that this pattern is a sign of a well-developed aquatic community and has been seen consistently over four successive summers, not just in one year.

That is not a ratio since a ratio only gives a snapshot of how the population is made up and says nothing about predator–prey interactions. In order to observe coupled oscillation—that is, to see predators increase when prey decrease and vice versa—one needs population figures over time, not just the number of fish that were caught. When the numbers of bass and bluegill are looked at directly during each session, there is no correlation between them (ρ = −0.08, p = 0.57), and this is exactly what one would expect because the fish caught in the afternoon are those that were feeding at that time, not a reflection of how many there actually were in the area.

It is tempting to think that bottom-feeding fish are of benefit to a pond since they disturb the sediment; however, with regard to common carp the current science indicates the opposite.

Carp feed by digging into the bottom sediment; this action leads to fine particles being resuspended, increases the turbidity, and causes the nutrients — which particularly include phosphorus — to be released back into the water. In a basin which is intended to allow the sediment to settle down and to take in fertilizer runoff from residences before it flows downstream, this has the effect of going against the purpose for which it was designed since it causes more phosphorus to become available, which in turn results in more algae growing and means that more nutrients are exported to Cub Run rather than fewer.

The usual opinion is that common carp should be managed and kept under control in stormwater ponds and that they should not be considered to be of any advantage; in this particular pond, however, that caution is only partly correct since the carp are there but never reach the levels at which they now cause a problem.

The fish in the pond make up only a small portion of the total catch — accounting for 3.4 percent and missing from 33 of the 48 sessions. While they are worth keeping an eye on, they do not currently form a problem.

People believe that the stormwater pond will have mosquitoes since they see standing water in the summer, and the typical reply is that the small fish eat the mosquito larvae.

They receive more attention than usual. While mosquitoes usually prefer shallow, stagnant water containing no fish — such as a blocked gutter or an old tire — rather than a permanent pond with 525 fish that serve as predators, there are genuine doubts about the effectiveness of mosquitofish (Gambusia), and it is known that this species can harm native amphibians and invertebrates in areas where it has been introduced.

When the dipper and the white tray are taken out of the shallow edges at the same time as on Saturday, a quantity that can be measured is obtained. This door is the cheapest of the unopened doors in the project and shows the limitation.