Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Bream feed?

I have been using Game Fish Chow for over a year now and my dealer has stoped handling it. I cant find anyone around that carries it. I had to pick up a couple bags of Lonestar catfish food. Can I use this to get me by until I find another supplier?

Thanks

I hear the catfish food is good 34 % protein is what you want, and i hear it is alot cheaper as well.Its on one of the post but i couldnt find it when i wanted to.Hope this helps.

Shawn any Purina dealer can get GFC for you. Go to Purina's web site and get a dealer near you see link below. CC food with 32% protein or more will work in the short run.


http://wildlife.purinamills.com/GameFish/Home/index.aspx has dealer locator search

GFC seems to have more appeal to BG for me. The CC food from Land O' Lakes(which Purina is now a subsidiary of) just doesnt get much action for me. Maybe some have more attractant in them.
Get a small bag of high protein finngerling food and mix with it. It has a high fish oil content and will impart the flavor into the other food.

I am with you Burger. When I tried LOL the BG did not feed as well. In addition GFC has mixed sizes. I have mixed small Aquamax with LOL to improve the product. LOL seems to stick in my feeders more. Not in the functioning of the feeder but to the inside of the hopper.

Thanks for the info guys. I did try the cat fish food about 10 minuts ago. The bag says catfish fingerling food. My fish are acutally going cracy on it. I also can see several HSB's hammering it. I just wasn't sure if there was any disadvantage(health wise) in using catfish food for BG's.

No problem Shawn. These things are fairly generic when it comes to protien requirements. The problem might be when you exceed the protien requirements of fish. For example, a 100% protien pellet would have the same negative effect on a fish's health that it would have on our bodies. When they clobber a forage fish, you would think that they are getting too much protien but they really aren't. The scales, fins, guts, teeth, eyeballs, and other stuff is mostly waste but is still processed with the meat.

Hey Shawn. Sounds like your pond is thriving. I bet those GG's are getting huge!

I did a very unscientific comparison on my fish using Land O Lakes catfish pellets($13 a bag) and Purina ($19 a bag) and I couldn't see any difference in the feeding activity. Both are ~32% protein, so I expect pretty much the same health and growth rates. I suppose more expensive pellets could have secret ingredients (oil, vitamins etc.) that could possibly promote digestion, growth, and general health. I haven't seen any independent studies on that yet, so I'll stick to catfish feed for now.

Thanks dave.
Looking at the ingredients on the both bags(GFC and Lonestar catfish fingerling) they compare pretty close. The Lonestar has 36% protien and it does not have fish oil.

Bob,
I have been meaning to drop by and say hello. Just been too buisy. The pond is looking great. Bream are getting big but I think they may be geting a little over populated. I did transfer a couple of dozen LMB's in the fall to help with all the little bream. In a couple of weeks were are going to have our first fish fry.

HSB's are geting HUGE. They are only 14 months old and are really getin after it!

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/rocketman7313/DSCN8531.jpg


I have about 30 flying mallards around the pond and the wood ducks are filling the boxes with eggs right now. I also have 2 pairs of canada geese guarding the pond. I never thought I would enjoy a pond this much.

After I posted yesterday, I went out to the pond to try the food again. I had to feed 4 gallons of the new feed and they ate every pellet. I guess thats a good sign.

Great photo, Shawn. Gotta love gettin the kids away from the TV.
36% CC fingerling food sounds like a great BG feed. LoneStar, huh?
Wonder if I can find any in Texas?

Shawn that fish oil (fish protein) is important in fish feed for predators which include BG. It adds the type of lipids which are needed. It is not as important for CC and that is a big reason for the difference. It will not make a difference in the short run but long term it may.

Wow Shawn, looks like Cole is outgrowing the HSB! Are you sure he hasn't been snacking on that 32% protein stuff?

I'm jealous of your ducks. I had one duck all winter, and I think the poor thing was lost. I've been meaning to build some woodie boxes, but haven't got around to it.

Are you getting minks or otters at your place? I'm finding bream on my levee with 1-2" of the tail chewed off. I figure an otter would be big enough to eat everything but the head, so it may be mink.

I know what you mean about enjoying your pond. When the weather is good, we're attracted to it like a big magnet. We stayed there half the day yesterday, and will probably go again today.

Bob,
I have about 8 hens nesting on eggs. If you have a place to keep some young ones when they hatch, you can have all you want! The only time i can catch them is the first couple of days after the hatch.

Minks, Minks, and more Minks. I have traped 12 over the winter that were eating ducks and fish. I had 5 moscovie ducks and they ate one a night. Right now I have either a mink, opossom, or racoon eating duck eggs. I can't seem to catch this one. You would be suprised how many diamond back water snakes I cath at night eating large fish on the bank.

By the way, I Had 4 Canada geese. This after noon, a wild one flew in and joined the party. The wild one is in the back of the photo.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/rocketman7313/DSCN8612.jpg

Bob And Shawn,

Wow 2 local guys on the site. Shawn G&H Co-op in Eunice can get some game fish chow but you will need to call and order it. Released 16 flying mallards 2 weeks ago with good success had problems with bobcats earlier. Would love to get Canada Geese. You and Bob need to come and see my lake. Cajuns Wow!! this is so cool. Yall try to take a break and go to the pond boss conference this year. Dr. Bob

Good to see some fellow Louisiana folks. Just noticed the locations. I'm originally from the Dry Creek (DeRidder) area. I now live in Quitman. Bob I plan on releasing some mallards on my pond as well. Would also love to get some Canada's. I love the honk they make, but all we ever see are Snows and Specks here in LA. Where did you get your mallards?

Hey guys, I'm from Louisiana too. Central Louisiana, right outside Alexandria near the biggest speed trap in the state, Woodworth. Anyway, we have about an acre pond and released 10 mallards on it two summers ago and they quickly disappeared one by one until there was just one hen left. She's still here, I don't know what she knows that all the others didn't, but she knows how to stay alive. Just two weeks ago, we added 15 mallards, not fully grown yet, but almost there. They're pretty tame, so they follow us to their cage and we give them food and water at night and lock them in to hopefully keep something from snatching them. We're in the process of building a larger cage off of the ground with the main door being a ramp when open, so they can climb up and get water or food or shade or hide during the day if needed, we're also going to make the rear of it two levels, the top level will be pretty much all closed in and have a few nesting boxes in it. Besides that, I'm also building one or two floating platforms to anchor down out in the middle so they can have a safe place to hang out and not have to worry about dogs or foxes or coyotes. I'll put a roof and some type of walls with entry ways right in the center of the main platform, so in the center there should be shade and shelter and outside it would be open to the sun and the water.
My first idea was to make a frame out of PVC pipe to set the platform on so the wood stays up out of the water, then use boat bumpers, (the big oblong white rubber ones full of air) and tie them underneath for floatation and stability. But I've also read online that people are floating them on top of layers cut out of those sheets of foam insulation for houses. I'll experiment and see what does the best and is the most stable.

For the second floating platform, I've read about people floating a large, homemade wooden box on their pond filled with soil and different types of plants and grasses, which would be like a floating island. If it works and the ducks don't just ruin the plants, then it would be another place for them to stay away from dangers and could be nice to look at with the right kind of plants, grasses, and maybe some flowers (if they last).

Anyway, that's our plan for sprucing up the pond a bit and help keeping the ducks happy and safe from predators as much as is possible. I know this isn't really the what the topic of this thread is about, but seeing some fellow Louisianians, I thought I'd go ahead and post here. If anyone has any recommendations and/or questions, get back to me.

I plan on starting feeding the fish in our pond as well, I'll be looking for some Game Fish Chow this week. Hopefully they'll have it at the Co-op or Petrus Feed and Seed or this new feed store they opened up in Alexandria by the mall. Petrus is in Alexandria and has pretty much everything. That's where we get our duck feed from and actually where the mallards came from too. I'm hoping they'll have a good supply of alum., lime, gypsum, etc. to clear up the muddy water and start catching fish again too. Look forward to learning all I can and communicating with others on the forum, I just joined today.

Do a search for "floating islands" (search button at top in tool bar). There are some good threads here on doing what you are contemplating.

Get the water/dirt tested. I suspect you need lots of lime to off set the duck waste , lower the acidity of the area (pine country), and help clear things up.

Check these out ( and the included links):

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=102352&fpart=1

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=36712&fpart=1

OK, thanks. I've recently gotten the name and number of a wildlife and fisheries guy a few miles from my house at a fish hatchery. The people at the store I found that carries gypsum said he's the best and he would test it for free or even come check it out and give his advise. So that's what I'm doing this week. When I know something, I'll give this an update. Also, as I said, I found the Gypsum here locally, and the people at the store swear by it. They've got lime and fertilizer as well, plus I grabbed a 50 lb bag of fish food. Now I was kinda disappointed they didn't have the Purina, but what they carry is labeled as floating catfish food. It IS 32% protein just as the Purina is, and as far as I can tell it looks about the same. The people at the store say that customers have been using it for years to feed their bass and bream, so I figured I'd give it a try, otherwise I've gotta drive an hour to go pick up some Purina. I've just started feeding them and am about 4 days into it. The first day I got a few little bream nibbling at it, the next day a few more, the third day some bigger fish joined in, and yesterday evening there were a few more. So obviously they like it. I'm just going to keep going out at the same time and place and see if more continue to come feed. If anyone reads this, do you have any suggestions as far as feeding them? From what I've read, I should throw out feed at the same time and place every day. Is there any certain type of place or depth of water that is best to feed them? Or is it ever necessary to change the area I'm feeding at? Besides that, I really don't know how much feed to put out either. I've just been taking a tall cup full and throwing it out by hand little by little as I see them starting to hit the top of the water. Well, I'll post an update later this week on how the feeding is going and hos the test samples turn out. OH, I'm really wanting a fountain but for a cheap price. I have access to a submersible pump, some hose and an electric cable. Does anyone know of a way to build a homemade fountain for now, until I can buy a nice one later on? I've thought about connecting the pump to PVC pipe put together in the shape of a triangle, with very small holes drilled in it uniformly, or even putting T fittings all along the PVC pipe with threads at the top open end of the T's and screwing on a number of old-fashioned water hose sprayers. They're like little one inch long metal nipples that you would screw onto the end of a water hose and they have a small hole at the end. (resembles a miniature fire hose) And on a water hose with normal water pressure alone, they shoot a straight stream of water about 15 - 20 ft. in the air. I know it sounds dumb, but if it can save me $600 - $800 for now, I think it's worth a try. Anyone else ever try to make or succeed in making their own homemade fountain? Alright, thanks in advance if anyone bothers to read all of this. And thank you Ewest for responding. I have been looking at the threads and some pictures of floating islands and duck houses, and I've taken a little from a few of them and combined with a few of my own ideas, I think I'll be able to make a nice looking and functional little getaway for the ducks to relax/hide on. Thanks again, I'll post back when I've made some progress later toward the end of the week.

On bream feeding (only):

Same place, same time every day is the standard drill. It sounds like you have found a time and place the BG like, so I would stick with that.

BG fill up pretty quick (small stomachs compared to catfish), so the "feed only what they consume in 10-15 minutes" rule is especially pertinent. Any more feed would likely be wasted and can cause water quality problems as it decays. The amount that you can safely feed will probably go up as more and larger bream join in feeding, then will drop towards the end of the year as the water cools and fish metabolism lowers. You should generally stop feeding when water temps are in the 55-60 deg F range. The fish may eat in colder water, but feed is hard for them to digest quiclky when it is colder and the unprocessed feed sitting in their stomachs can cause health problems.

Your idea for the fountain sounds like a good one. I would make it of PVC and sink it with some bricks or something. It doesn't have to be pretty, because it will be under the water. If you don't like seeing the white PVC pipe in the water, spray paint it with some Krylon Fusion spray paint. It is designed for use on plastics.

I started out feeding just like you...after a couple weeks, the BG started to really come to the dinner bell. Also, painted and snapping turtles, bass, and everything else in the pond. Pretty neat.

I'll never try to feed all the fish until their full...I want them a LITTLE hungry so that when I fish I can catch something!

Thanks everyone for replying.

Theo, thanks for the info about feeding. I'm continuing to feed at the same time and place daily (actually in the evening before dark.) I'm wondering if I should try any other places or times of day... or just keep on going the way I am now.

Matt, what type of food are you using? The Purina GFC or some Catfish Feed or some other type? I'm using the 32% protein Catfish Feed now. I think I've had a few bass hit it too, because there have been some big bites and splashes a few times while the other ones feeding seem to be small little bites, probably young bluegill or those damn little "sunfish." Haven't attracted turtles yet, they stay away when we're around. We've been trapping them and getting them out of the pond because it was overrun with them. We caught 21 in the trap on the first day, then it slowed down a lot, but we've gotten at least 35 out of there total.

Ezylman, thanks for taking interest in my idea for a homemade fountain. But actually, I was planning to float the pvc on top of the water so it would look like an actual fountain when it's on and spray water in about 15 ft. streams in the air. I did plan on painting it for sure. And I'd anchor it down where it stays out in the center, and have the submersible water pump attached to the pvc fountain with some hose or tubing, and hanging down not quite to the bottom of the pond, but somewhere between the middle depth of the pond to maybe a few feet from the bottom. You see what I'm saying? Let me know if you have some ideas and/or criticisms. Thanks again.



And finally, I DID find a new place here that has Purina game fish chow, or can order it if it's not in stock. I've read some of the posts above saying that the GFC has fish oil and lipids and possibly other attractants, plus it has various sizes. They say it attracts more fish and is better for them. I've talked to people who swear by it. I think I'm going to go ahead and pick up a sack of Purina GFC and start switching over to it instead

Thanks again for people taking the time to read my posts and offer your help, opinions, and advice.

It is my understanding that GFC is a nutritionally complete food but does not contain fish oils. I thought it was soy with vitamins added. Am I correct or as usual?

DD, GFC smells more strongly of fish to me than Aqaumax (500 or 600, at least) does. Aqaumax feels oilier to the touch and seems to make more of an oil slick on the water when fed.

I think GFC has fish oil, but less oil, and has more of a different (fishy-smelling) attractor.