Pond Management

[oldcane]

Howdy, all. I am the guy being spoken about here. I?ve been in touch with the Conservation folks, the TWRA folks, some private firms and so on. I have manuals and flyers and handouts and?..lots of stuff.



I plan on stocking LMB, BG/RE mix and maybe some CC.

I have no spring feeding the pond.

The water from the well will be shot out into the pond as far as I can get it. Once full I may do a 15 on/off or so to keep it either full or aerated.

I don?t plan on any plants; I figure I will have enough trouble as it is keeping them down. Who knows, this may be the one thing in my life that works out well. I?m not banking on it though.

I plan on fertilizing if needed. I?m not sure where the ?fertilize with feed? came in but that?s not anything I ever heard of so it?s not being considered.

I may feed for the first season as my wife is all hot on feeding the babies. I?m sure that will last as long as her other pursuits.

I will build cover from tires, pvc, pallets, trees and rock.


I?ve done quite a bit of research and spent quite a bit of money on this and I?d really like it to work out. The questions I have are related to:



1) how many fish per acre

2) how much feed per day



So first, I have a consulting firm recommending 1000-1500 BG per acre (of course, they are in the business of selling fish). TWRA recommends 500 per. What do you guys think?



Second, how much feed per day do 2000 BG eat the first spring? If it?s going to take a house payment I won?t feed and I?ll stock fewer fish.



Thanks.

[meadowlark2]

oldcane,


In my area of East Texas, the common stocking rate for BG/RES is 1000 per acre usually in a 75/25 or 80/20 mix.

As related to artificial feeding, the rule of thumb I use is feed them the amount of feed they will clean up in no more than 10 minutes...some use 15 minutes but I find that causes wasted feed....which as you know, isn't cheap and worse it can contribute to water quality problems. The actual amount will vary. It will be relatively light at first as the fish become accoustomed to the feeding and increase as their size and propensity to eat pellets increases. You don't want to feed a fixed amount because that may not be appropriate...start light and increase up to the 10 minute limit, would be my advice.

Stock the BG/RES and fatheads as soon as they are available in your area. Wait until fall or better yet next spring to stock your predators. I can never be patient enough to wait that long, but if you can wait, it is better to get that forage well established first. Good luck and welcome to the pond meister club...like fly fishing, it can be addictive!

[EdD]

Howdy, all. I am the guy being spoken about here. I?ve been in touch with the Conservation folks, the TWRA folks, some private firms and so on. I have manuals and flyers and handouts and?..lots of stuff.

<snip>

I don?t plan on any plants; I figure I will have enough trouble as it is keeping them down. Who knows, this may be the one thing in my life that works out well. I?m not banking on it though.

I plan on fertilizing if needed. I?m not sure where the ?fertilize with feed? came in but that?s not anything I ever heard of so it?s not being considered.

<snip>

Thanks.

We had talked about plants. I didn't know that you had come to a decision.

I had also mentioned fertilizing with feed being done by several people that I knew of. They intentionally overfeed on the assumption and left-over feed will fertilzer the water &/or feed microbes.

Oh well, Oldcane and I have chatted about this a fair amount. BTW, are you interested in fish buoys?

Ed

[meadowlark2]

Ed,


Overfeeding may indeed add nutrients to the water, but may also adversely effect your water quality. Decaying, rotting feed will reduce the oxygen content in the water and promote the growth of undesirable weeds such as pond weed. In summer when oxygen content is generally low anyway, excess feed can cause a fish kill. That's my experience in several East Texas ponds.

[EdD]

I have no problem accepting that. I brought up fertilizing by overfeeding because it is something that I have seen done and seen supported in print. That's all. I have no problem beliving that a proper fertilizer is a better way to go about fertilizing. I now feel that the issue has been addressed, which is why I mentioned in this thread.

Thanks,
Ed

[oldcane]

Yeah, Ed, teh plant thing i think will be too late by the time the weather gets right. I'd maybe have to drain it down to get some going. Maybe not, I'm not familiar with aquatic types. We'll see for next year.

[Bear742]

"I will build cover from tires, pvc, pallets, trees and rock."

I do not clainm to be an expert. But I would rather mention this than have you miss it. I have read that tires leach out some toxic materials into the water for a while after they are submerged. If you remember what it smells like in a Tire Store, it is easy to think there is some nasty stuff in the rubber. This is not to say that you can't use them, just that too many could overpower a small pond for a while.

The rest of your plan sounds like "a plan."

[oldcane]

....like fly fishing, it can be addictive!

You mean there are other ways to fish?

[oldcane]

Last Tuesday we got 2000 BG, 2000 FHM and 100 CC delivered. Now, just waiting for spring.