Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding 10-1 gain ratio

It seems that every time anyone mentions feeding fish on this site he is told that fish put on 1# for every 10# of feed. On the surface this makes sense but when reading anything about farm raising fish the feed to weight gain conversion ratio is quoted as being between 1-1 and 2-1, not just catfish but salmon, crappie etc. It seems to me that the often quoted 10-1 ratio applies to a wild fish in a natural feeding situation where a fish has to work for his dinner and much of his food intake goes into body maintenance and energy to hunt.
It seems that if you were to take a well balanced unfed pond where the fish likely gain at a 10-1 ratio and introduce supplemental feed, wether pellets or live feed, the supplemental feed would not only increase fish weight because of increased intake but produce a weight gain at a much greater ratio than 10-1 because a much smaller % of their food intake goes into staying alive. Am I wrong?

The 10:1 ratio is for live feed, such as minnows or other live forage. That is a Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of 10 -- meaning 10lbs., of minnows will covert to 1 lb., of weight gain.

When using food formulated for a particular type of fish, the FCR typically ranges from about 0.7 to about 2.

Lets assume that a certain "fish" will eat natural forage and pellets. If this fish has a choice, which will it be more likely to eat, pellets or natural forage? Or maybe I should ask the question as to does the fish know that pellets are a better weight gainer/nutrient?

I think most fish tend to eat what's convenient and tasty. My CNBG are picky, and tend to feed on Purina products better. I'm sure they forage, but they gang up about 20 minutes before the feeders throw.

The 10-1 ratio is probably accurate for larger fish, but the gains for brood fish or smaller fish is in the range that catmandoo said. Since I started making an attempt at raising my own forage fish, I tend to think you get more bang for the buck with a 1-3" CNBG than a 8-10" CNBG.

There are a lot of questions about conversion ratios. And, not a lot of absolute answers. See roadwarriorvt post regarding the difference in raising fish on feed vs live forage.

I know this topic is old, but just came across it and thought I'd throw in a little tidbit. Many/most of you will probably recall an article in PB awhile back about a guy who used smallish brook trout in his pond over the winter to add weight and mass to his LMB. They ended up growing substantially between the fall and spring/summer and it was determined the trout had a higher weight conversion rate than other fish, more like 2-1 I believe. The pond owner in the article ran into some financial trouble and couldn't continue the practice so there seemed to be quite a few unanswered questions, but again just thought about tossing this info out there.

B.A.S.S. pro Byron Velvick tells stories about trout stocking in California lakes years ago. He said the LMB gorged on the trout and seemed to know the minute the state fish truck showed up.

The LMB that came out of those lakes were brutes. There is something to the trout thing, and apparently trout are good, and good for you.

I believe somewhere on here Bob Lusk talked about a client who adds trout to his pond to grow his biggest LMB over the winter.

Guys this is all true info. The conversion rate of bass eating trout far exceeds other fish. This is for many reasons.

We sell forage trout but for some reason clients cant pull trigger on $7/lb. Many others charge $10/lb or more. Also fathead minnows and golden shiners are priced similiary and folks do that more commonly cant quite figure it out. Trout forage is one of the best means to grow bass and wish more clients utilized this resource.

The reason for the difference in the conversion for forage of 10:1 vs. 1:1 or 2:1 with pellets is water. Forage fish are mostly water, dry pellets obviously are not.

As far as trout being the best forage fish I have not doubt about that as they have a richer body composition than the other species.

Brook trout for forage! Shame, shame, shame! That's like feeding cavirar to your dog!

The reason for the difference in the conversion for forage of 10:1 vs. 1:1 or 2:1 with pellets is water. Forage fish are mostly water, dry pellets obviously are not and are concentrated.

As far as trout being the best forage fish I have not doubt about that as they have a richer body composition than the other species.

But Brook trout for forage! Shame, shame, shame! That's like feeding caviar to your dog! Rainbows sure, but brook trout!

Tiger trout would be acceptable forage too.