Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Stocking in Cold weather.

Expecting CC and HBG to be delivered to town today. I'll pick them up in bags. We are getting a rare South Arkansas snow today. Should I be concerned about stocking in this kind of cold weather? What precautions do I need to take? When do I need to start feeding them?

Arktiger, we are getting the biggest snow i have seen in many a year here in Shreveport right now. A couple of inches on top of some ice so it is sticking. If i was going to stock today because i had no choice (the fish showed up) i would lay the bags of fish in the waters edge and let the water temps blend before i added them to the pond. Sorry but that's all i got for now.
Good luck
Tracy

Ask your supplier what he recommends.He probably knows the temp in his tank. Do you know the temp in your pond?

Tracy beat me to it. Thermal shock is the big danger. I'd add that given just how cold the water is and the dangers of rapid cooling in cold water conditions, I would advise you to try to go slow. Maybe wrap part of fish bags in old towels to keep it from cooling too quickly. Remember that the air and land are even colder than the water, so some insulation might be smart.

Here are some pretty standard guidelines for water temperature differences when stocking fish.
Before stocking fish in a pond, adjust the water in the transport tank holding the fingerlings to match the pond water in temperature and other water quality factors such as pH, alkalinity, and hardness. This can be done by putting small quantities of water from the pond into the transport container (called tempering), so that the container water is eventually similar to that of the pond usually within 5F.

As a general rule, most fish can withstand a 5 degree F change in temperature without severe stress and a 10 degree F change if the water is tempered over a period of 30 minutes. For greater temperature differences, care must be taken to slowly equalize water temperatures before moving the fingerlings from the container to the pond. In this case, adjusting water temperature 1 degree F every 10 minutes is a good rule to follow. Tempering is especially important if fish are going from cool water to warm water.

Insufficient tempering can kill the fish by temperature shock or shock from other water quality factors. If the fish are not killed by the shock, they can be weakened, which lowers their resistance to disease.

ADVICE FOR BUYING FISH
Starting with good quality, healthy fingerlings of known genetic background is very important for growing fish. Buy your fingerlings from a producer who has a reputation for producing good fish, who knows how to treat fish for disease, who has the equipment and the know-how to handle them without excessive stress, and who delivers accurate counts and weights.