Decaying fish play an important role in delivering nutrients into rivers and lakes but can create water quality issues. The release of cyprinid herpesvirus-3 (CyHV-3) in Australia with an associated mass common carp mortality may have serious effects on water quality in lakes. To evaluate the effect of a virus-induced fish kill, different biomasses of dead common carp (250–6000 kg ha^–1) were placed into 2000-L mesocosms within Prospect Reservoir, Australia, for up to 40 days. Decaying carp created anoxic conditions within all treatments except the 250 kg ha^–1 treatment, in which oxygen saturation dropped to 30%. A higher biomass of carp led to longer periods of anoxia. Total nitrogen (TN) increased from a baseline of 0.25 to 1.5–30 mg L^–1 in the different treatments, whereas total phosphorus (TP) increased from 0.01 to 0.05–5.0 mg L^–1. Chlorophyll-a levels increased from <5 µg L^–1 to levels between 100 and 1000 µg L^–1 in the different treatments. Mean nutrient levels (TN and TP), chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton biovolume all showed a significant (P < 0.05) linear relationship with carp biomass. This relationship can be used to support the quantification of water quality risk from a known biomass of carp. Our experiment suggests that carp mortality may significantly reduce water quality in shallow lakes where the biomass of dead carp is above moderate levels (250 kg ha^–1).

腐烂的鱼在向河流和湖泊输送营养方面发挥着重要作用，但也会造成水质问题。澳大利亚鲤科鱼类疱疹病毒 3 (CyHV-3) 的释放与相关的鲤鱼大规模死亡可能对湖泊水质产生严重影响。为了评估病毒引起的鱼类死亡的影响，将死鲤鱼的不同生物量（250–6000 kg ha ^–1）放入澳大利亚 Prospect Reservoir 内 2000 升的中层环境中长达 40 天。腐烂的鲤鱼在所有处理中都造成了缺氧条件，除了 250 kg ha ^–1处理，其中氧饱和度下降到 30%。更高的鲤鱼生物量导致更长的缺氧期。总氮 (TN) 从基线的 0.25 增加到 1.5–30 mg L ^–1在不同的处理中，总磷 (TP) 从 0.01 增加到 0.05–5.0 mg L ^–1。在不同的处理中，叶绿素a水平从 <5 µg L ^–1增加到 100 到 1000 µg L ^–1之间的水平。平均营养水平（TN 和 TP）、叶绿素-a和浮游植物 生物量均与鲤鱼生物量呈显着（P < 0.05）线性关系。这种关系可用于支持对已知鲤鱼生物量的水质风险进行量化。我们的实验表明，鲤鱼死亡率可能会显着降低死鲤鱼生物量高于中等水平（250 kg ha ^–1）的浅湖的水质。