Bluntnose Minnow(BNM) Vs. Fathead Minnow(FHM) - 05/14/09 05:47 PM
OK, Bill Cody maybe the only guy on here who may have the answer/opinion to my question, but I'll pose it forum wide and let others weigh in...
We all know what the FHM looks like:
The bluntnose minnow BNM:
As far as I know, there is only one hatchery that commercially raises the BNM. It is in Illinois and according the Bill, they sell a lot of BNM. BNM are extremely closely related to FHM. As you can see from the pictures, they look very much alike. Except the FHM is a little less elongated and doesn't have quite the checkering. The BNM gets a little larger in size, perhaps by an inch or so. Also the breeding males look very different. The breeding BNM gets very darkly colored from tail to nose without those yellowish bands that he FHM male gets.
Spawning BNM male:
Both spawn in very similar ways, with the males using the underside of a rock, log, wood pallet etc to lay their eggs. There the male uses turbercles that develop on his head to clean the nest and then the spongy pad that develops on his back to clean and care for the eggs.
From my experience with both species, the BNM is more capable of maintaining self reproducing numbers in ponds with bass and other predators in them. BNM are native to most of the midwest and have been introduced into most eastern drainages as well. They are now very common in the part of Virginia I live in. They were first brought east by the US FWS for use as feeder fish in their aquaculture ponds found along the banks of the Potomac River. Subsequent bait bucket releases and other human releases has spread their range even further. Many ichthyologists feel the BNM is the most common fish in the United States.
I collected a few dozen from the wild last year and have been raising them in a forage pond for the last year and much like FHM, when they are left alone without predation, they multiply faster than rabbits. I am getting a new pond ready for stocking with game fish next spring by building up the forage base in it for nearly a year and half.
This is my question: Currently, I have no FHM in the pond I am building the forage base in. It only has BNM in it along with a few other forage fish species like GSH, spotfin shiners and banded killifish. Would adding FHM be a good idea to bump up forage fish numbers even more and perhaps take the pressure off the BNM when the bass are added next spring, or should I just keep BNM in the pond so they do not have to compete with the FHM for spawning space, food etc... I know BNM are more tolerant of predation, so I want them to be the primary fish species as compared to FHM which I know will quickly be eaten and long gone within a year or two of me stocking the SMB next spring.
Any and all ideas are appreciated...
We all know what the FHM looks like:
The bluntnose minnow BNM:
As far as I know, there is only one hatchery that commercially raises the BNM. It is in Illinois and according the Bill, they sell a lot of BNM. BNM are extremely closely related to FHM. As you can see from the pictures, they look very much alike. Except the FHM is a little less elongated and doesn't have quite the checkering. The BNM gets a little larger in size, perhaps by an inch or so. Also the breeding males look very different. The breeding BNM gets very darkly colored from tail to nose without those yellowish bands that he FHM male gets.
Spawning BNM male:
Both spawn in very similar ways, with the males using the underside of a rock, log, wood pallet etc to lay their eggs. There the male uses turbercles that develop on his head to clean the nest and then the spongy pad that develops on his back to clean and care for the eggs.
From my experience with both species, the BNM is more capable of maintaining self reproducing numbers in ponds with bass and other predators in them. BNM are native to most of the midwest and have been introduced into most eastern drainages as well. They are now very common in the part of Virginia I live in. They were first brought east by the US FWS for use as feeder fish in their aquaculture ponds found along the banks of the Potomac River. Subsequent bait bucket releases and other human releases has spread their range even further. Many ichthyologists feel the BNM is the most common fish in the United States.
I collected a few dozen from the wild last year and have been raising them in a forage pond for the last year and much like FHM, when they are left alone without predation, they multiply faster than rabbits. I am getting a new pond ready for stocking with game fish next spring by building up the forage base in it for nearly a year and half.
This is my question: Currently, I have no FHM in the pond I am building the forage base in. It only has BNM in it along with a few other forage fish species like GSH, spotfin shiners and banded killifish. Would adding FHM be a good idea to bump up forage fish numbers even more and perhaps take the pressure off the BNM when the bass are added next spring, or should I just keep BNM in the pond so they do not have to compete with the FHM for spawning space, food etc... I know BNM are more tolerant of predation, so I want them to be the primary fish species as compared to FHM which I know will quickly be eaten and long gone within a year or two of me stocking the SMB next spring.
Any and all ideas are appreciated...