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Hey everyone! In the midst of a fun day...tonight's the night I have set aside to visit with you guys.
Drop your friends an email and let them know and you all be sure to come on at 7 pm CDT.
I'll stay as long as we need to answer all the questions.
You guys chime in on the threads, too.
I can type fairly fast, so hang in with me and I'll go as fast as I can.
For tonight, let's keep the topics on subject with pond and fish issues, first.
I have no idea where this will lead, but it will be fun.
Let's get as many people online as we can and see what happens.
Fish on!


Oh, and by the way, let's use Questions & Observations tonight. I won't look at the other topics tonight.


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Okay, folks. Let's use this thread and go to town at 7. You guys post, I'll respond and let's see what happens. I think if we have too many threads, we'll be overwhelmed.
Also, we have a 100% chance for severe weather tonight. If by chance I disappear from cyberspace, we probably lost our wireless and/or power.
I'm excited.
Supper with the fam right quick and we'll go at it at 7.
Fish on!


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Bob in a southern location (I-20 corridor) or other and assuming all 3 LMB types are available as needed - what % of each type (FLa , North, and F-1s) would you use in a first stocking and later stockings for a balanced pond (not seeking trophy LMB)?

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Bob:

Two water temperature questions.

At what temp. is it effective to start enzyme / bacteria treatment?

What temp. for spot treating the Duck Weed I am determined to get a handle on this year. I'llwill probably still be using Diquat.

By temperature stands at 59.

Bing


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Bulldozer rates: What is a reasonable hourly rate for an experienced operator who has pond building experience in the Cross Plains area of Texas? With the gas prices going up, should we expect to pay more now? If so, what percentage justifies the increase in fuel costs?

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Let's roll!
Eric, I recommend people stock 1/2 Florida's and 1/2 natives and let nature do what nature does. I learned that the "hard" way by seeing what happens when extraordinary cold spells hit Florida bass ponds. FLMB die. When you stock each, you inevitably get big fish, aggressive fish and F1 crosses. Then, about the fourth or fifth year, I might add some pure strain Florida fingerlings at the same time the resident fish have spawned. Even if we don't get but 10% survival, we get enough fish to change the "bulls" in the herd. And, you can do the same thing with native bass.
Remember, F1's cannot reproduce as they are. F1's can't make F1's.


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Bing,
Enzymes and microbes (generally speaking) become most effective once the water temperature climbs into the high 50's.

For duckweed, follow the label. Duckweed usually doesn't begin to grow until water is the upper 60's to lower 70's. Treat then.


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Eastland,
Dozer rates are based on dozer size and the debt service of the operator.
Yes, dozer rates have risen because diesel fuel is exploding in cost.
In terms of actual fees, I am hearing $85 to $125 for dozers in central Texas right now, depending if it's a small dozer or large one.


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Okay, I know you guys are out there. Let's go. We have a big storm passing, raining cats and dogs and another cell on the way. Someone throw a pitch out here.


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I’m in the process of clearing a site for a new pond and would like some input regarding future expansion. The first phase is about to begin, we start clearing the area in about 2 weeks. The site offers a gentle 5% slope, and will be mostly excavated. Phase I will be to create a pond roughly 1 surface acre in size. I plan to come back with Phase II and double the size in 2 years. I already have a 1/3 acre pond above the site to act as a silt trap. Should Phase II construction occur above or below the initial pond site.

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Eastland, to save some future dollars, I would think about building the first dam with the plans to raise it later. Build it wider at the base and you can add to it later without the expense of building a new dam from the ground up. Instead of a 12 foot crown, maybe make it 18 feet. Then, the money you might have spent to build a new dam you can use to excavate and sculpt the perimeter of the new water.


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Bob your thoughts on both GShiners and TShad plus the regular FH , BG and RES in a pond for a balanced population including LMB ?
















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I am getting conflicting info. from my Illinois fisheries people on whether tilapia are legal here. One said yes, the other said no. The one that said they are legal discouraged them anyway because she claims they are very ineffective on filamentous algae. What is your opinion?

Do you think it makes sense to make them illegal when water temperatures get into the mid to upper 30s where I live.


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Bing, I have been surprised and amazed at how well tilapia control algae. It seems tilapia, stocked at 15-20 pounds per acre, as they begin to reproduce, are quite effective.
Another thing about them...people think there is a wholesale die-off with thousands of dead tilapia. Where bass are involved, I have yet to see massive numbers of dead tilapia. Maybe 5 or 6, but not lots. As they slow down, bass gorge themselves on the tilapia.

As far at the concept of "sense," I have never watched agencies affected by political persuasion defer to "sense." They usually follow the lines of influence...of the human kind.


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Hi Bob,
We have 4 lakes totaling 24 acres in our POA that we are starting to manage. Our Balance of fish is pretty fair, although we are going to stock new genetics. My question is about feeding. At what rate per acre per day would you feed an established lake? We seem to be planning to feed Purina Game Fish Chow. Would this feed be your choice or is there something equal and maybe a little less expensive? Thanks for your help!
Dwayne

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Feed training redear

I am going to be starting a recirculating system and would like to get some ideas on experiments that I could do.

I will have three 90 gallon tanks for the fish and a 400 gallon tank as a filter. Heaters and chillers will be available.

Here are some experiments that I have thought of so far:

1. Determining if the percentages of feed trained fish goes down once the fish are above a certain size. I would raise fish of a certain size and see if the percentages of feed trained fish change.

2. Determining a diet that maximizes growth.

3. Determining a temperature that maximizes growth.

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Eric, I haven't been a big fan of shiners in a new pond, but once a fishery is established I can see using them to fill a vacant niche.

For threadfin shad, if someone lives in an area where these fragile creatures can live 3 or 4 winters out of 5, I think they are a "must." Threadfin fill a forage fish gap between bluegill spawns and force bass to move toward open water in the summer, pushing them (at least temporarily) away from the most active bluegill spawning sites.


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Bob:

Hola from the world wide web!

I'm trying to decide when to release 20 feed trained Redears into my new pond. They range in size from about 6" to just over 9". It just filled this last Winter, and though the water has a nice green tinge and there is a small bit of FA on the bottom along the shoreline, there isn't much for RES to eat other than the 10 lbs of FHM I stocked 2 weeks ago. I will be feeding them Aquamax (which is what they are used to) once they go in.

My one reason for hurrying the process is to try and get a spawn out of them this year. Last year, I put their 6 biggest brothers and sisters into my other pond during the first week of May, when water temps were about 70 degrees. I saw 2 of them on spawning nests within a couple of weeks. One was definitely a male and remained on the nest until his fry swam up, while the other I only saw a couple of times and I have no idea what sex it was.

Right now water temps are about 63 degrees F. I could go ahead and put the feedtrained RES in the new pond now if that would increase the odds of their spawning successfully. OTOH if the odds aren't changed or if they are lousy since the fish have been indoors at a constant temperature all Winter, I think might as well wait until the water warms up some more and there are baby FHM to eat in addition to the Aquamax and whatever invertebrates show up.

What do you think of the odds of a successful spawn and the timing of putting the RES in the pond?


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The man who told me they were illegal here got quite upset when I suggested the state might be behind in their thinking about Tilapia. He quoted a central Pennsylvania example where he claimed they escaped and found a warm water source, (a electric generating pond I suppose) where to took big $$$ to get rid of them. The chance of that happening where I am is next to zero.


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Dwayne,
I would start feeding supplementally at first, to assess what you have that will be attracted to the fish food. That means 3 to 5 pounds per acre per day, max. Game Fish Chow is an excellent choice for this program. Watch the fish eat and adjust. If the fish eat all the feed in less than a minute, feed more. Or, set the feeders to feed twice daily.
Game Fish Chow is what I would use. It may cost a fraction more than other feeds, but if you look closely at the ingredients, cheap feeds have cheap ingredients and not nearly enough DIGESTIBLE protein.


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Chris,
Go get 'em! You are paving new ground and possibly setting the groundwork to influence pond management. Look for some foodstuff that smells and tastes like a snail for a redear. Let us know how it goes.


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Theo,

A common hatchery technique is to keep broodfish captive in a controlled, confined environment until the hatchery people are ready for them to spawn. I think you can hold them for another two or three weeks and ensure they eat the food and develop their eggs. Once you turn them loose, there is no guarantee they will actively seek you for food. Plus, if you back them up a couple of weeks, you will have more natural food for them, too. I think they will be more likely to spawn at the same time if you keep them up a little longer.


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This will be my 2nd summer as a pond owner. Pond is 1/4 ac with 137 CC and 50-60 hybrid bream...also have FHM and one pretty good size gold fish. We've had it all...DW... FA.... primrose... so far we've overcome. Now I've started wondering about fish health. What are some of the problems I should watch for this year? And - how likely is it that you would run into 'health' problems?

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If I were in charge of the power plant lake and it had tilapia that I didn't want, I would probably try to work it out to shut down the plant for two or three days for maintenance in the winter. (It's common practice for a power plant to shut down for maintenance.)
Of course, I'm not in charge of a power plant lake...heck I'm not even in charge of my house. (Debbie says to tell you and Connie "Hi!" and look forward to see you this summer.)
The biggest issue with agency people is that tilapia are exotic species. Their job is to protect our environment. They don't normally care what we, as individuals, want. Their mission is to protect public waters. Therein lies the rub. Often times they are uninformed about success stories in the private sector. Nor, do the usually care. So goes the relationship between entreprenuerial landowners and those whose salaries come from our taxes. Different missions, different motives.


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Pond Girl, health issues are almost always a consequence of water quality going bad. Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as overcrowded and underfed fish. Too much aquatic plant life can lead to O2 issues, too.
Pay attention to your water, keep it clean and make sure the fish have adequate food and you won't have any health issues.


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