Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Feeding FH

My pond was dug last Sept and I want to put in FH asap, probably mid-late this month. I've read that they take to pellets real good and convert well. ? is, is there a specific type of feed for them or do I put some cheap dog food(I ain't cheap, just financially challenged)in a gunny sack and run over it with my truck a few times? Also is there a certian water temp that has to be reached? Bob-O

What fish food do you have to choose from. Catfish crumble is good for FH and less expensive than regular fish foods. Dog food (dry) cost about the same and is not nearly as good. I would use it for FH only if that was the only option.

Water at 50 F is a good place to start for FH. Could go a little lower.

You don't need to mash the feed/pellets. They gather around and gnaw on it as it softens. However, it doesn't give fish the 32% protien that they really need.

Not to hijack Bob-O's thread but.... I put FH and GSH in my pond last October when the water was only 3 feet deep. There was some vegetation growing on the pond bottom before it started filling up and the water has had a green tint to it every since then. Should I have worried about feeding them? Aren't they filter feeders?

RobA, recount the FH/GS stocking numbers if you don't mind.

I think you'll be OK.

Shiners and FH are not filter feeders like shad.

16# of FH and 5# of GSH went in around mid-October. Pond will be 2 surface acres when full, 10' deep at one end, 12-13' deep at the other. I'll probably add more FH and GSH this spring. BG fingerlings in May, LMB in July/August.

I have heard a few people say they put a bale of some kind of hay in the water and the fatheads eat on it like crazy.

I wouldnt worry too much about feeding them, cause they usually have plenty to eat before other fish are introduced (insects lay millions of eggs in water), and the fatheads dont last too long after other fish are introduced to warrant feed training!

But if you must (or are like myself and enjoy feeding fish of all sizes) I would buy any local fish food, put it "in a gunny sack and run over it with my truck a few times"

Uh oh. Why was I thinking they eat plankton, etc?

A reasonable amount of FH and or GSH will survive on the paucity of natural foods okay in a newly built and filling pond especially if the water is above 55F. New water blooms of plankton in a new pond are usually pretty rapidly developing despite the pond not being at full pool. Nature abhors a vacuum and quickly from various numerous sources starts to populate newly impounded water. Cooling water temps suppress plankton blooms. The initial stock of minnows in a brand new pond will usually survive better than the fingerlings of a complete stocking of sportfish that are often addedd at the same time as the minnnows. Feeding the newly stocked minnows is usually not necessary unless you are trying to achieve high production or the water is quite muddy from suspended silt. Suspended silt will stiffle but not eliminate production of plankton especially in a new pond.

As Dave D mentions it is not necessary or even advantageous to crush large floating pellets for the adult minnows. Minnows that are hungry will fairly easily find and eat the pellets as they soften. Be careful not to feed too many pellets to newly stocked minnows. Uneaten wasted food often causes other sorts of problems. Crushing pellets often results in lots of the crumbles sinking to the bottom where food ramains unseen and uneaten.

FH and GSH are not true filter feeders. FH are opportunistic feeders, eating plant materials, various sizes of invertebrates, small insect larvae and what appears to be bottom materials or ooze. GSH are sight feeders with uptilted mouths. They often feed at or near the surface and eat a lot of animal based materials, a lot of it suspended in the plankton. At times insect larvae, algae, small clams, snails protozoans water mites and small fish are abundant food items.

""I have heard a few people say they put a bale of some kind of hay in the water and the fatheads eat on it like crazy."" Minnow, small fish picking at hay or dead vegetation are not usually eating the actual vegetation, but they are eating the tiny animals and or algal growths that have developed on the decaying hay or vegetation.

I know that some say the "new" water should be allowed to age a little bit, but I don't know if they mean that stocking baitfish in "new" water means that the baitfish won't make it, or more so that they won't thrive as well as they would in aged water. I think it's more of the later case assuming that you didn't heavily overstock (which I don't think you did).

The water never seemed to lose its green tint this winter. In fact, the tint seems to have gotten greener over the past month despite some pretty cold weather.

Various species of algae can bloom at various water temps; some even in cold water. It all depends. Not all planktonic algae are good foods for zooplankton.

Aging of new water is very relative to what is being stocked. It all depends.

minnows feed off detritus or decaying plant material. If you seeded when the new pond was built, then some growing grass is now submerged. That should be plenty of food for the minnows. If you are worried that they dont have enough to eat, then throw in some range cubes and/or alfalfa cubes. I have never thought about minnows starving to death, though.