Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Fish Dying

I had pond built in Sept 2005, first stocking was on Mar 6th 35HBG 3-4', 50CC 6-8", 1000FH, 12LMB 4-6". Check pond daily and saw no problems saw minnows and few fish swimming ok. Mar 17th stocked 350 regular BG 3-4", 90RES 3-4", 1CC 9", 2000FH. Check pond every other day all seemed ok no dead fish all ok. Then went out this morning and found 18 dead BG, laying around the bank sure there are more that I cannot see. What could be my problem the pond is around 200x90 7-9' deep. I see minnows swimming in groups along the pond doing ok and seen a few bluegill swiming.

Maybe your bluegill had a disease?

I have went back and removed all the dead BG from the pond that I can see. None of them look like they are diseased. I could tell that some had been there longer than others, two were still alive but barely. The water in the pond is getting too clear the bloom is fading away. I can see about 4 ft into the water at the banks. I also made a attractor out of pvc pipe a placed it about 6-8' from the bank and I can see the lower legs thought the water. I also cut opened one the BG that was still alive and I didnt notice much in the way of fat tissue (orange colored mass), but than I am not much of an expert on fish tissue. Still looking for more help and advice. Thanks

Donnie:

Some amount of post-stocking mortality is to be expected; I do not know if the level you have experienced would be considered normal or a little high. IF it does not incerase it would not worry me.

Two possible causes - 1) poor condition stockers not getting enough to eat (I think that would be self correcting as Spring progresses and food becomes more available), and 2) Temp swing. WRT the latter, after the 17th we had a big water temp drop fairly fast here. I saw several dead small BG in my pond afterward where none had been apparent earlier in the year. You're close enough to share the same general weather and perhaps that affected you as well(?).

Whatever the cause, I hope your morts are over with.

Thanks for all the info. I will check the pond twice daily for dead or dying BG. I hope whatever the cause, is done as fish cost money and its a shame just to see them die for no apparent reason. Thanks again

I am going to guess a water temp change but have your water tested. You would not have a bloom this time of year. BTW you stocked LMB six months
early

Donnie,
Hey I have so info for you. Don't waste your money or your time to test your water for anything! If you are not losing other species besides BG, then don't mess with testing.

You are experiencing a problem mother nature is causing due to the weather. I am guessing you are losing either HBG or BG. They are more than likely between 4-8 long. I would be suprised if you are losing anything smaller than that. If they are all HBG, it is because they can't tolerate the winter like BG. So it is not unusual that you lose some each Spring.

If they are BG, it is the drastic changes in the weather. You have a shallow pond which is influenced much more by the weather than a deeper pond. Your BG are affected by being under fed from last winter combined with the current weather changes. So the question is, what can you do? Well stock not only more FH, but also Golden shiners to feed your fish. To give you an example, a 0.5 acre pond one should stock 10#'s (approx. 3000) of minnows and 5#'s (approx. 750) of shiners twice once in the spring and the fall.
I hope this helps!

Yes, I did stock the LMB to early, but thats what happens when you dont know. I hope that by only stocking 12 it wont hamper the BG forage base to much.

If part of the BG dying could be directed at not enough food, why wont they eat the pellets. I have tried to feed them twice a day and they wont eat it. I cut that back to once a day, and now I have stopped all togather. BG or CC will eat nothing, if the pond is not producing enough food then you think they would eat the pellets.

If it to early to establish a bloom, when? I thought when the water turned green, the bloom was developing. Mine had a green look to the water, but last week it has started to clear to the point that I can see farther into the water.

Sorry for the silly questions, but never had a pond before just trying to learn how to take care of it.

If you are trying to feed your fish, fish food don't start feeding until the water temp gets to 60 or more. Reason being, they can experience problems if they eat the food on a warm day, then a cold front comes thru and they don't digest it properly.
So I come back to bait fish......they are the best way to feed all of your fish. Pellets only feed a small percentage of your fish, which are typically the larger and more aggressive ones. So forget the pellets. Also, make sure you have plenty of structure in the shallower areas (4-6 ft. deep). This will help your minnow and shiner populations.
Pellet feeding involves a little bit of work. I would start out by training them. Once the temp is up to 60 degrees or better, then throw a cup of food and no more. You want to feed in the same spot and roughly at the same time of day no more than 5 times a week.
Please note, that CC will compete with your LMB for food as they get larger. So they can cause your bait population to shrink quickly!

Donnie, Here is what I think is going on in your pond.

Firstly, Since you stocked these fish recently, Mar 6 and more BG on Mar 17, I think some of the weakest and roughest handled bgill are dying due to hatchery and stocking stress. This can be a common problem depending on the hatchery methods and time of year. Bgill are fairly sensitive when handled improperly in colder water. The deaths should taper off and strongest ones will survive. Sometimes (?) if you call the hatchery and report the recent stocking deaths they will replace those that died. Seven -14 days in cold water is a reasonable time to see latent stocking deaths from a Mar 17th stocking.

Ponds can form a bloom in winter and early spring if nutrient conditions are correct. A pond near me that was used years ago for manure storage, and is now aerated and recovering has some sort of bloom year round. I think your light green bloom dissappeared because the nutrient supply was exhausted by the growing and reproducing algae; the bloom that you had crashed. It happens all the time in natural, unfertilized ponds as nutrient levels naturally wax and wane.

Your fish will not readily eat fish pellets unless they were trained to eat them at the hatchery. As BJ mentioned, when the water warms to 60F and you "work" and spend a little time training the fish some will learn to eat fish food. When working with non-pellet trained fish that have a pretty good supply of natural food it can be a little difficult to get them to eat fish food especially in cold water. Hungry fish in a pond with a short natural food supply will learn quicker to eat fish food especially when the water is warmer and fish are more active. Al fish are new in your pond and things are still developing. Numerous things will determine if a fish eats fish food or not.

As usual, BC's 2 cents worth is worth about 2 C-notes.

Dead BG as of yesterday morning is now 60+ and still dying. I have called the hatchery but I do not think they are going to do anything. Is this number of BG common in new pond with fresh stocking.

I have not seen any CC or LMB since stocking, I hope they are not dead in middle of pond that I can not see. Minnows are still swimming around the bank, they seem to be ok.

Hope this stops soon or I will have too get more BG, and the fish trucks wont be back til around July. Will have to catch some from lakes or other ponds, hate to do that.

Thank you all for your information.

You stocked almost 500 brim in less than 1/2 acre. You still have plenty. Can you act like a potential customer to the stockers and ask their order of delivery in towns? Maybe your fish had been on the truck for a while. Were they tempered well? You wont see the CC for some time, or the LMB. If your water quality is OK., dont panic.