Hello everyone! I am new to this forum mostly stopping by for one question. I work on a site with probably a 30 acre pond. The water level of this pond fluctuates frequently. We have a floatino aquatic plant thathat we are harvesting so we would like for it to be not disturbed or consumed by fish. We also have a significant minnow problem where they are just bubbling at the surface. We are pumping large amounts of water in and out of this pond and the fish are becoming a hassle in our filters. They are the only fish in the pond. Stocking the pond may be one of the better options. I am not sure how deep the pond is currently but I'm guessing 10-14 feet. I was thinking something along the lines of longnose gar or largemouth bass. Could someone give a little guidance to the problem at hand. Thank you very much!
Welcome to the forum.
Can you post a close up side view of the minnow?
No problem! I will post one tomorrow. For the meantime it is about a 2 inch fish very similar in stature to a guppy. Which may be the case. The pond stays heated year round.
Why not just kill the lake with Rotenone?
Depending on the lake depth, that could be a LOT of rotenone if the lake can't be drawn down to reduce the water volume.....
Would rotenone effect the floating aquatic plant in the lake? I understand it is an organic chemical and comes from plants in nature but that's about all I know. Would it just kill off the whole pond?
Depending on the lake depth, that could be a LOT of rotenone if the lake can't be drawn down to reduce the water volume.....
Good point. Being a business I guess it comes down to cost and profit margins. Stocking fish to get rid of fish seems like a losing battle though
Would the rotenone effect the floating aquatic plant or just the fish? Don't know much about it. Just a 5 minute Google search haha
Rotenone is lethal to fish, does not affect plants.
No problem! I will post one tomorrow. For the meantime it is about a 2 inch fish very similar in stature to a guppy. Which may be the case. The pond stays heated year round.
Mosquitofish maybe?
So the plants must give habbit, eradicating them with a predator fish Probly wouldn't work but might control them so long as they them selves don't over populate. Do the minnows give benefit to the plants? Like maybe keeping certian insects under control?
Can't wait to see the fish.
How do they heat the pond?
If you can put one of the minnows in rubbing alcohol the minnow will die with its fins spread out. Learned this from Bill C. and it works great to help id the minnow. Then take a close up picture of the minnow.
ID the minnow and learn its reproduction water temp, its max size, and natural predator. Then chose a course or action.
May have a bait business as well as a plant business.
Cheers Don.
What kind of floating plant are you growing.
Why are you filtering the water or are you just circulating it with a pump?
just curious, how are you heating such large pond?
Kiss principal. ( keep it simple stupid).A few largemouth bass will quickly control or even eradicate the minnows.
Maybe, but remember he's talking about a 30 acre "pond".
Will the LMB became a problem??
.30 acre pond or 30 acre lake?
Man the cost to heat a 30 acre pond...... has to be incredible... How much you getting for this plant.... lol
I would pull a Bruce on it and put about 500 HSB in it!!
If you can that is. They Don't reproduce and they would eat up all them minnows....
RC
Depending on the size of the pond, I would personally recommend not adding rotenone especially if the minnow is indeed a mosquitofish. You can stock a typical Largemouth bass(LMB)/bluegill(BG) predator and prey combination. You can stock Longnose Gar however they will most likely not breed and they might be hard to source. If you do put put in Longnose Gar(LG) I would look for them online at some aquarium dealer. Stocking fish really depends on the use of the pond. Initially when you add the LMB and BG they will quickly decimate the mosquitofish/minnow population to minimal over a course of a few years. I would recommend for every Largemouth bass you stock that you stock around 5 Bluegill. You may also add Channel Catfish(CC) but if your not going to go fishing often, it wouldn't really matter adding CC. You may also stock other fish combinations as well but this is far the most common and most studied. Typical stocking rates per acre in the Midwest is 100 LMB, 100 CC, and 500 BG. Good luck on the pond!
He must have pursued the rotanone idea?
Sorry for the late response thank you to everyone who responded. It is about a 30 acre pond/lake on private property. We are cooling machines with the water and putting the "waste" water back into the pond.
Rotenone is a great idea but there are some visitors and the smell of dead fish is a concern. Is there possibly a way to get the fish to sink?
I believe it is in fact a mosquito fish. Stocking a non breeding fish would probably be the most immediate solution.
Any other alternatives you might have?
Thanks again
Hybrid stripes bass,? As suggested . Maybe a few catfish? To clean up the rest
The small fish are getting stuck in the filters then? What size of fish would not cause problems with the filters?
What is the water temperature profile of the pond for the 12 months of the year? I.E., how warm is it during the summer and how warm in the winter?
From what I'm reading, the plants are harvested and used, but the fish are not causing a problem with the plant harvesting operation, but the small fish are causing a problem with the filters in the cooling system of the machinery?
Not sure on the exact temperatures, but the fish need to be large enough to swim away from suction (which is very strong) and this is in the cooling system.
Throw up a picture when you can. They may be the young fish of a larger fish, or they may stay small.
Water temp plays a role in stocking a predator fish, to an extent. If the fish stay small, then only smaller predators will prey heavily on them. That's why a pic or an ID is important.
If you can give a guesstimate on the temps in the summer, that might be close enough. I was thinking Hybrid Striped Bass, but I am not 110% sure how well they would do if the minnows stayed small and were in warm water.
Sounds to me unless his temps are real high that HSB would be his best bet. He can get them a bit larger they don't spawn like other fish would then you have small fish from other fish as well as minnows getting caught in the filter.... He doesn't sound like he care about fishing really....
The only thing is eventually like Esshup said the HSB may end up starving....... or being very skinny but once again if quality of fish and fishing is not a concern still his best bet to go with HSB.... If he can and he can get them....
RC
Pretty amazing some one built a 30 acre lake and only put in one species of minnow. Are you sure there are not other fish in the lake. 30 acres is pretty big and you could have lots of fish out of site.
I know its not what you are asking about , but your answers just make me have more questions, just out real curiosity.
What kind of plants are you harvesting.
What machines are you cooling and what do they do.
are the plants and the machines related to each other some how?
if you have Gambusia, "IMO" you will not be able to eliminate them to any great degree in a large lake with lots of floating vegetation. Can you submit a picture of the "minnow" in question.
Funny story. When I worked for Shell Oil in Sarnia Ontario late one night we had a cooling line freeze up. So the other operator and I switched to another line and started steaming the first line. We were out there for hours. Being two rookies we worked and worked on this line. Finally when in for a break mentioned to the older operator about our problem. He said did you check the screen filter? Ahhh no? check it first.
So off we go belly full of coffee to check the screen. This 12" suction line was so packed with Perch we could have filled a freezer.
Long story long here maybe set up a secondary suction line and cleanable filters on each. If there is so much suction no mater what fish you add you will still have this problem. As you start to loose flow with a vac gauge on the right side if screen just switch to the other line clean screen and have the other line ready for the next time.
Cheers Don.
I would stock HSB, and would try fencing off the intake, and maybe building a better filter than has a backwash ability
I was kind of interested to see what they had going on ....
ALL fish will get caught up in suction if it is strong enough. I would let the minnows be, in the pond. What the SIMPLE solution is, is to put on a proper intake strainer that reduces suction by spreading it out over a large area. For example, on a 6" diameter intake pipe, put a 15"-20", (or larger diameter pipe) that is at least 20' long and/or "TEE'd, and has a 1/8" mesh stainless steel screen over it. If attached with flexible suction hose and in the right location, it would be easily cleaned with a garden hose.
Chances are high that the "minnow" is Gambusia. Gam's are live bearers just like guppies. They will thrive in the roots of your floating plant (I'm guessing Hyacinth's), and the gam's will keep the roots cleaner along with creating some nutrient for the plants.
A proper pre-strainer that has minimum suction will save a buttload of time and money from down time...relatively east you design, install, maintain, effective, and with one or two back up strainers to switch to, the least expensive solution, long term.
Find me a good Fab shop and materials, and I could you could have you clog free for several weeks at a time in just a few days... and for only a few grand. WAY less than rotenone, which is unlikely to kill all fish. Adding fish won't solve the minnow problem, because predator fish will need food, and even if adding enough predators, what do you do with the predators after minnows are gone? Catfish are out, because they eat plants, and so would most any fish, if starving to death.