Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Raising different forages

About this time of year many of us are thinking about growing extra forage for our fish. GW has a terrific thread on Black Soldier Flies (BSF), and he got me started on that last year. They are a great source of food for my fish and no problem to raise - he sells something called a BioPod unit if you're like me and too lazy to build my own. JR1 just started a thread on Euros & red wiggilers, and masshkinoozhe mentioned growing grasshoppers and crickets.
I'm hoping that people will add new ideas about growing forage for their fish - hopefully we can get some new ideas and have it all in one thread for future references.

Randy,

I'm going to try some "rot pots". Instead of using meat, I'll use cheap fish pellets. That way there's almost no odor. My first try will be a 1' long piece of 4" PVC pipe, plugged at 1 end with a small butter bowl. Or maybe just a quart plastic bottle with the top cut off. I'll use a "L" shaped rebar about 3'x2'. The pipe will be skewered on a ~30 degree angle so the larvae can climb out when they're ready. The bottom of the pipe or container will be perforated to let out rain.

I thought of that when I left a soup can of pellets behind, and it got rained on. When I stumbled across it, it was full of fat fly larvae, and had no strong odor. I think of it as a fly-powered fish feeder.

Hi Bob, sounds good. Will this be hanging over the pond?
I might try that too - do you know how long flies stay in the larvae stage?
I'm going to go with the BSFs again this year, and because of your endorsement SHRIMP!!!

I have a gecko i feed crickets and have compiled some info on raising them for this purpose. My original idea was to setup a breeding box for grasshoppers/crickets on an island and net a few adults to lay eggs there. They would never make the swim back to shore mwahahaha.
using local species should minimize the upkeep in getting them to breed. My real curiosity is the nutritional value of insects compared to worms...

These are all interesting ideas!

The one thing I have an interest in is producing high quality zooplankton for the pond. Many fertilize their ponds to cause blooms, but I have often wonder if you can introduced preferred zooplankton species to your pond to build your forage chain. That way when you fertilize the zooplankton that booms in numbers are good ones for BG, RES and other species to feed on...