I appoligize if this question has been answered before, but sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees in the forum.

I have a new pond, it's located in North Texas(Gainesville area), it's just under 1 acre in size and it's full. What should my next steps be? Do I need water tests to determine if additives/amendments are required? If so, where does on get this done? If ammendments are necessary where can one aquire them also?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

In Gainesville, I expect that it's been full for awhile now. Get on the A & M website for an address to send a water sample. For the sample, get a new baby bottle and wash it out. Rinse well. Get a pond water sample and send it to them. They will send a water analysis with recommendations in a couple of weeks. Post the results here since the darn thing is almost undecipherable.

Between now and then, I would probably buy a couple of pounds of fatheads to stock. They are really tolerant and it will give you something to look at while you're waiting.

If you decide to get FH's the place where you get them may be able to test the water too. Todd Overton tested mine, and did it while I was there. He quoted $25 but after I got there he didn't charge and just threw it in with the cost of the fish. I don't really remember what he said in numbers, but in my case it amounted to I didn't need to do anything to my water it was fine. I dont know if they will test for more than he did, but I dont think so.

The results have come in, they are as follows;

Calcium (Ca) 13 ppm
Magnesium (Mg) 2 ppm
Sodium (Na) 1 ppm
Potassium (K) 1 ppm
Boron (B) 0.02 ppm
Carbonate (CO3) 0 ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO3) 54 ppm
Sulfate (SO4) < 3 ppm
Chloride (CI-) 2 ppm
Nitrate-N (NO3-N) < 0.01 ppm
Phosphorus (P) 0.02 ppm
pH 6.80
Conductivity 79 umhos/cm
Hardness 2 gains CaCO3/gallon
Hardness 41 ppm CaCO3
Alkalinity 44 ppm CaCO3
Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) 76 ppm
SAR 0.1

What do you think folks, does this look like fish water???

Looks ok to me. Here - this should help.

Thanks ewest!,since all looks good from a water standpoint, I guess my next step is speak to a fishery to acquire fish. I've had one make the following recommendation;

600 2-3" Coppernose Bluegill
200 2-3" Redear Sunfish
80 2-3" Native Largemouth Bass
10 lbs. Fathead Minnows

Also looking at the Aquapro Fat Cat fish feeder, it holds 200 lbs. of floating feed, both Cabelas and BassPro have very competitive pricing for it.

From a fish feed standpoint, I've had one biologist recommended Muenster Milling's gamefish product, it specs out like this;

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein, Min. . . 42.00%
Crude Fat, Min. . . . . 4.00%
Crude Fiber, Max. . . . 4.00%
Phosphorus, Min. . . . 0.80%
Moisture, Max. . . . . 12.00%

INGREDIENTS

Dehulled soybean meal, ground wheat, porcine meat meal, corn gluten meal, fish meal, calcium carbonate, monocalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, ethylene diamine dihydriodide, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplemement, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K), niacin, riboflavin, biotin, panthothenic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, choline chloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid and vitamin B12 supplement .

This product prices out at around $17 here in the North Texas area for a 50 lb. bag.

OK, I've mentioned some preliminary stocking numbers, a feeder option, and feed. Am I going wrong anywhere? Thanks again for ya'lls advice, I really appreciate it!

Forgot to mention, the reason native bass were recommended, as it was told to me, was because of the fact that native are less hook shy and mortality rates are less after being released.

What are your goals for the pond?

Primarily seeking larger bluegill, with the ability to harvest more often, hence the feeding program.

That number ought to work but nor sure you will need that many LMB to start.

I don't figure that you need a 42% protien feed. I am PERSONALLY very wary of the higer protien pellets that are coming on the scene.

It must be the right number of LMB. DD thinks it's too many and I don't think it's enough.

I dont think that many redear can find enough to eat in a new pond unless you left a good bit of timber or stumps for snails. I would go with 15-20% or so. 400-100-50 and 5 lbs FHM seems like enough.

Dave, you mentioned you were wary of higher protein products coming onto the market. I'm not sure if the Muenster product is new or not, but either way, what is it that is making you wary? From what I've been able to read, some people are of the opinion that higher protein diets increases growth rate. I have no experience to prove or debunk this view. What have you guys found with the feeds you use? What do you like? Does anyone have any experience with the Muenster product either good or bad?

Thanks

Higher protein content will help growth up to a certain percentage. For bluegill, I think that anything above 36% doesn't help with growth. For largemouth it is 42% and HSB is 45%.

Wary? Yes I am. I have some concern about liver damage with super high protien. I think the jury is still out regarding the new products. With potential liver damage, your fish cannot reach their potential. My belief is that more studies need to be conducted in this area. 32% for bluegill has been the standard for years.

I have no experience with the Muenster feed. But, I doubt that I would recommend a 42% pellet for BG.

It is my belief that the higher protien pellets would be OK for a catfish pond where you require quick growth leading to slaughter and marketing.

Theo how many lmb can you fit in a one acre pond?

Dave you may be right about having a long term problem but on the short term when I started feeding the purina 42% protein the growth rate doubled.

James there are a number of things that go into short term growth rate in addition to food. Energetics is a very interesting and complicated aspect of fish biology. I am not saying the higher protein food did not contribute to improved growth but all fish do not need higher protein food. Some need it when young , some all the time and some not at all. In addition the more natural food and the higher quality it is for the species offsets deficiencies in a pelleted diet. A real balancing act.

For example, trout start out on about 50% protein feed for the first few months of life. As adults they get by just fine with 42% protein feed.

I will try and find my notes on protein requirements.


Edit:
I didn't find much species specific requirements but here is an example.

Fry need 50% protein. At 6-8 weeks you can switch to 40% protein. Adults and juveniles will have a requirement of 30%. Just a guess, but I would have to say this is for catfish since thay don't need as much protein.

Eric I agree with what you are saying but for what ever the reason either by feeding the forage or by feeding the fish themselves the growth rate increased significantly when I went to the higher protein food. It could be that the lower priced food lacked some other nutrient that the purina aquamax gave the fish. I also was reading on the package that they add fish attractants to the pellets to get the fish to eat more. One of the things that Bob Lusk kept telling me was that not all protein is equal and to make sure that the first ingrediant is fish meal and that the protein is not coming from plants.

James fish meal is very important for carnivores as are the proper lipids. I will try to find the data to post on energetics. For example water temp , reproduction investment, size of food , energy expense and many more all effect growth rates.