Greg Quote: "My questions for Deb is that she states some ponds continue good growth for 20 yearts, how does she explain that one? You are not suggesting GG live that long,"
I do not believe I ever stated that ponds continue good growth for 20 years. What I did say was that "Bubba" the 5 pounder, was in a pond that had been stocked with GG 20 years prior. Was he an original? We do not know because Ken got so excited when the customer brought the fish in that he did not do a proper scale sample (Ken still hangs his head in dismay for not doing this).
This is it in a nutshell:
Stock heavier than normal (meaning "the standard state recommendation") with the GG's and predators (one to five) to prevent most all of the offspring from growing up. Catch and release the GG's, or catch and eat then restock later down the road. Will you grow trophy LMB? No! Can you grow decent size fish of variety? Yes! If the catch and release program is followed you will get many years of good growth on the GG. I personally like the GG, HSB, and gambusias in a pond. But this is my preference, and everyone has their own. Every pondowner is responsible for their own pond.
Let's use Greg for example: A customer comes to Greg in need of pond maintenance and possible stocking options. Greg gets the history that he can from the customer and then makes recommendations based on what the customer wants to get out of the pond. Greg sells the guy some fish, chemicals, and/or equipment, and then the guy goes on his merry way. At what point does responsibility change hands? If the gentleman went home and did the exact opposite of what Greg recommended and then suffered a fish kill, chances are he would blame Greg. But it would not be Greg's fault, would it?
My point is that regardless of whether we stock, manage or advise ponds/pondowners, final responsibilty rests with the customer. It is our job to aid them, but we don't always have all the facts laid out for us. Now please nobody jump off on a tangent about me shucking responsibility, because truth be told we replace thousands of fish yearly for customers who purchased fish and then killed them within a day or two because they had high ammonia, low pH, or they did not temp them properly. Do we have to do this? No, but it is the way we handle business!
Back to the start of this post (with Greg's comment), what is the oldest freshwater fish anyone has seen? Anybody can answer, I am just curious!
Thanks,
Deb
