Pond Boss
I'd like to try raising fhm as forage for my 1/3 acre pond. I have two 250 gallon food grade tanks that I picked up for next to nothing and would like to use them for this purpose if possible. Has anyone heard of anybody doing this previously? If not, what are your thoughts?
I don't see why not as long as you keep the water quality good and provide the proper spawning habitat for them.
I can work but will require work and knowledge of FH life cycle.
Originally Posted By: LarryHale
I'd like to try raising fhm as forage for my 1/3 acre pond. I have two 250 gallon food grade tanks that I picked up for next to nothing and would like to use them for this purpose if possible. Has anyone heard of anybody doing this previously? If not, what are your thoughts?


Not to rain on your parade, but:
I have tried raising FHM in a small, 40 ft x 50 ft four foot deep pond. It's hard to raise enough forage in there for even a 1/4 acre pond, but I have managed to raise enough to stock another 1/4 acre pond that does not have predators yet. A 250 gallon tank could not raise enough to feed even a medium sized bass, IMO. My "minnow pond" likely contains at least two to three thousand FHM, I estimate, many of them only half grown. It's been stocked for a little over 13 months. Initial stocking was about 3.5 pounds of FHM.
Thanks for the reality check, John. I'm getting ready to introduce 50 6-9 inch YP and 10 HSB to the existing 2 yr old HGB & FHM population and wanted to ensure that there was enough forage in the future. I do supplemental feeding with a mix of Optimal BG and BG jr., so hopefully the new species in the pond will pellet feed also. In the meantime, I'll put more FHM nesting areas out ( 2' sections of 3/4", 1", and 1 1/4" pvc pipes bundled horizontally in 3' of water).
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