Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Calcium Chloride Question? Need advice please.

I just stocked HSB in my 1/4 acre pond. I bought a 40lb. bag. How much should I apply at a time?
Thank you for advice.

Not familiar with adding calcium chloride in a pond, what is it used for?

The supplier I got my HSB from told me it helps with there slime after handling and prevents disease. He said they added it to the tanks whenever they delivered fish.

That's true, salt is sometimes added to tanks when hauling fish. I'm sorry wood, but I wouldn't have any idea how much to add to a pond, or even if you could get enough in there to do any good and still be practical?

Word of caution, IIRC Calcium chloride can affect the PH.

He may have ment just for the transport. There was an older post about adding salt to a lake awhile a go but for different reasons I think.

How many gallons of water are in your pond?

40 pounds won't do much - I add 5 or 7 pounds to slightly more than 200 gallons when hauling.

Thank you guys. I just realized I should have put this under water chemistry too. Please bear with me as I learn this site. My pond is small, 1/4 acre with avg. 6' depth. It is fed by 3 springs and good water. So far all my fish seem very healthy and growing. I have already bought the salt. He had said to add about 10 lbs. at a time. Would it hurt to go ahead and spread all 40?
I used a good quality net to load and unload so not much handling. It has been a week and a day now and no floaters. They are eating 600 and in a tie with my Rainbows for my favorite fish. Maybe my favorite as no problems with catch and release where Trout are so fragile.

[img]httphttp://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/o490/OldWoods/My%20Ponds%20and%20Fish/004_zpsrb1eqe7t.jpg://[/img]
For some reason I can only load one picture at a time.

These two show pretty much the whole pond. Last fall and recent spring when we were planting. That is about as much as the water drops too. The April shot is full pool.
I think this last picture is pretty cool. They returned this year too.

This is probably a moot point now, but adding salt (normally stock salt) while transporting has many benefits in reducing stress on fish being transported. The biggest danger comes when stocking and NOT acclimating the fish. They can die from Osmotic shock going from a salted environment into one without salt.

Thanks Rain man, when I got to my pond I drained water out of the tank while pumping water from my pond in. About half and half at first and then pretty much all. I only had two floaters the next day and one did not look healthy from the start. I was anxious to get them in my pond but I took my time. I had two aerators going so not worried about air.

I did end up with a few Bluegill floaters too. All my dead were the first day. They were all day on the road and from one tank to another before going in my pond. I think both are pretty tough fish.
Should I go ahead and spread the 40 lbs. over the pond?

I just noticed Rusty Wallace advertises on this site. He is a good guy. I made all his flooring and 2 sets of stairs for his house in Banner Elk NC. He was real nice and treated my crew well. He took time for pictures and autographed something for everyone. He had originally ordered the main 2 floors and stairs but when he came to look and meet us he added the basement finished area and staircase.
It was a nice log cabin with a great view but the builder was a dummy and made lots of mistakes. One of the worst I remember was the deck all around the main floor was not stepped down. With melting snow I know they had leaks.

Suggest you get a water test prior to adding stuff. Salt would likely not hurt any. Here is some info on salt and HSB but keep in mind some fish don't have the high salt tolerance as HSB.

https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/54/


Hybrids survive and do well in a
wide range of environmental conditions.
A temperature range of 4 to
33 C is acceptable, but optimum
growth occurs within a temperature
range of 25 to 27° C. Hybrids are
generally stocked into freshwater systems
but they do well in salinities of
O to 25 ppt, and some can survive
salinities up to full strength seawater
(35 ppt). Dissolved oxygen levels as
low as 1 mg/l can be tolerated for a
short period of time, but optimum
dissolved oxygen levels range from 6
to 12 mg/1.