Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations the beach clean-up and Lake Georgetopia

Brian,
If I saw that in my pond about 1.5 months after LMB spawn, I'd think it was a LMB!

Here is one more

Looks like baby LMB to me.

Eric,
The picture from under your dock looks the same. And the close up pictures do too. I think we have solved the mystery!! Now I am seeing them in schools of about 30-50 fry in an area. Does that mean the rest have been eaten already or are they dispersing?

Thanks for the lesson, I would not have figured that out without your help. I just thought they were minnows....

Note to self, I still have a lot to learn.

Many would have been eaten , starved or dispersed. LMB often have a first year mort rate of 95% + . Also when they switch to a piscivorous diet they disperse or go hunting in small schools. That would be at about 2 inches +-.

Well The Topias got cleaned. Allen helped me treat Georgetopia and Moretopia.

Here is what they looked like before treatment:



Pumping the Alum sulphate and hydrated lime was work, but we have a much better program this year!!



Right after treatment, we could start to see the water clearing!!



After a week of settling, Georgetopia has 18-20 inches of clarity using a sechi disk and Moretopia has 14-16 inches!



I have had an explosion of algae, but that is okay as I have some tilapia in there and I expect it to be controlled in short order!

Now I can see the beds being created in the topias!!




Even better than that, I found a second spawn of tadpoles in Extratopia!!




And to my surprise, I found a lot of fry in extratopia!! They look like CNBG fry!!



I'll follow them and update the thread as I learn more!!

I also have to report that the CNBG in Georgetopia are doing great, if I toss in food, they are on it!!! Their color is coming back as the water clears. It is a great time in Topia central!!

It might get turbid again if you don't get something down on the shoreline to stop clay from washing into the pond during rains. I see very little grass in those pictures. I remember someone mentioning that they have erosion mat and grass seed???

That is when you aren't busy!!

Its on the list......

Ahh..Pond lists! Check off one, add ten more to it!

Glad to see that water clearing after the alum treatment. I wen to get the tanks off of my spray barge the other day to discover someone had "borrowed without permission" all the camlock fittings, chemical hose and high end particulate filters from the barge. Crazy thing is, they used, and left, a pipe wrench on the boat to steal the stuff. Why they didn't just take the 2 trash pumps it was all attached to, I have no idea...then again, thieves are just stupid to start with. On the bright side, IF cops will look, there was a new digital security camera system installed by an adjoining property that is aimed directly toward where my boat is stored. Value was in excess of $2000, so it is in felony terriotory.

Lets hope the tape has a long enough loop that they are still on the video. That sucks!!

Nice work Topia King !!!!

I hope they get caught and you can use the wrench on them Rex.

Well the Topias are doing great! With a bit of work, the water looks great and is right for the spawning of Tilapia and CNBG.


Here is Georgetopia



Here is Moretopia



And here is Extratopia






To check on our progress, I, along with a few friends, seined Extratopia and Georgetopia to see how things are going, and they are doing great. Extratopia has had three Tilapia spawns and perhaps four. This picture was from two weeks ago and this weekend I checked again and found what looks like a fourth spawn of little tilapia!



Side note:
Can some one tell me what these are? I found them in the big pond.



So why all the work on the Topias? Simple, I was going to try to spawn by best LMB in Extratopia this spring and use Moretopia and Georgetopia for CNBG production. Well after I failed at trying to catch my finest LMB and try to get them to spawn in Extratopia, I regrouped. I talked with experts and decided I would try my hand at growing a few Camelot Bell LMB. So, I called Todd at Overtons and he fixed me up with some very nice fingerlings to work with.

This is the runt of the group.



From there, most of the CB LMB looked like these:




And a few looked like this!!




All I can say is "Bless you Todd Overton, You grow some outstanding fish!!!"


If you look at the pictures above, you can see the confirmation for the CB genetics. the green spot on their head, the gold coloration down their spines and the mottled backs. They are very good looking fish, and I can't wait for this fall to see how they do.

In short, the Topias are in great shape with the visability between 14 and 22 inches, all with the PH around 7.8 to 8.0 and the total alk between 60 and 80 I am very happy with our water this year. I am glad to see all the fry in each of the Topias and seeing the RW's from our big pond, I think we are at a good balance point right now.

Here is a CNBG I caught in the big pond this weekend, it was around eight inches and just under eight ozs.




Its a good time to be the pondmeister at our farm.

Brian, about how many CBs did you put in ExtraT? Is the plan to grow 'em out and put in GeorgeT and/or hold some back to spawn? Is ExtraT roughly 25x25?

Excellent work Brian!! You've got it going on!

RM,

First off, I put less than ten CB LMB in each of the Topias because the water was so nice and I figured I just might learn something this summer. Also, I figured I would spread out the risk of failure to all three ponds. Extratopia is about 40 feet wide and about 50 feet long with a curved western face. It is a little deeper just in case it did not get as much water from the rains. After I get TP&L up and running, I'll use pumps to keep the water where I want it, and periodically change out the water in the Topias.

The plan is simple, I will grow them out this year and in Feb, I'll collect them all and find the biggest, nicest, healthiest few and put them in Extratopia for the spawn. The rest will be placed appropriately. If I loose all or most in any given pond, I'll learn something, if they all do great, well that will teach me something else. In the long run, I will try to spawn them and up the genetics in the big pond.

Good Brian, thanks, it is fun to learn and it is really fun to learn when a few things go right after you first failed.

Brian, I know we talked about it, but looking at the pictures I thought the plants would be further along. I really, really think you need to get the seed and mats down around the Topias and get the grass going ASAP. Even before the aeration in the big pond, before you spend more time on the solar. A gully washer could reverse all the work that you did on them this year....... That wouldn't be a good thing.

Brian my friend, you now have some of the VERY best OTS CNBG and pure Florida genetics in the country....IMO!!!
CONGATULATIONS!
Pretty neat ID characteristics - no problem ID Forida LMB from natives anymore - good luck on your brood stock program!
George

Brian, you know we are 20 miles apart, and we manage our ponds completely differently. IMO, this CB move might be the biggest addition you've made to your place so far. You document far better than I do, so be sure and take pics as you go. I'm particularly interested in the unique markings of the CB. 3 month, 6 month, and one year pics would be very helpful to all as far as the growth rates.

Outstanding work !!!! Much more to come in the next year or so on LMB genetics over time. There is some truly game changing info in the works.

Brian see how close your fish in question looks to this

http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/linetopm.html

I'm almost sure its a topminnow... it could be blackspotted. You should post it over on the nanfa forum, they could tel you.

This is a blackspotted topminnow.

Good luck with it Brian.

It was seeing your Topias at the PBF get-together that was the final push for me to build my own mini-forage pond after reading about a number of other forage ponds here on the forum.

So far I have FHM fry and saw a RES on the nest, which are the two species in the pond. So far, so good.

What you are doing helped get me started.

My mini-forage pond

Scott, agreed the matting is on the list quit high. I have to finish sculpting the banks and tops of the banks and then I can get it covered. I also have the seed needed to get the bermuda going.

George, I learn slowly sometimes, but I do learn.

Al, you know I will collect data and pictures as I go. This should be interesting, and I hope fun. I also agree that both systems work.

Eric, I can't wait for the new info, but for now I learn as I go. As for the minnow, it does not have stripes, so I would go with Gavin and call it a black spotted topminnow. I have lots and lots of them hiding in the shallows.

Gavin, thanks for the picture, it is right on. Now I know what they are!!

John, Glad to help, and sorry for the addiction, it is contagious!! I found one Topia to not be enough. Just saying....... And if my CB LMB are successful, three might not be enough either...

That sucks, Rex! Sounds like they are taking only the components they need to make meth -- not a steal & sell job.

It was a pleasure having Brian here to see us harvest his fish, and hopefully he picked up some pointers based on our procedure for pond harvest.

I want to thank you Brian for posting pics of these fat little Camelot Bell fingerlings. Made my day to see your posts. Makes all of this hard work seem worth it somehow, LOL.