Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Aquamax issues?

IMHO if fish food is a primary product of the company that makes the feed they brought you, stick with it!

Same report here Tony. That feed Scott introduced me to is like fish crack to my BG, PS, and GSF. It took them couple of days to switch but now its all they want.

What is it?

Sunfish specific food. The guys that make it were concentrating on the aquaculture industry for a long time, and are good at it. They will do necropsies, blood tests and other testing on fish to determine what to add or remove on the fish food to make it as efficient as possible. Less food going out the south end of the fish means better water quality and more efficient food conversion by the fish.

Matt got them to look into the pond industry. For Aquaculture they make food that is fish species specific, and this food is sunfish specific. I'm working on getting a bag of Largemouth specific food.

The biggest thing is working out the distribution system, i.e. shipping.

The pellets aren't "pellets", they look more like worms. The food works in Texas Hunter, Stren AquaPro and Diamond feeders - I've tried it in all 3. Sunfish that aren't pellet trained seem to train easier on this food. But, because of the weird pellet shape, pellet trained fish have to learn all over again - they don't recognize it as "food". Catmandoo said he has RES eating it.

Tony, I told you that your fish were weird!!!

Very cool esshup. I would be interested in purchasing it in the future. Odd shape may help the angler as well when pellet trained fish are hard to catch.

Esshup, I'd be interested too!

AQ500 on left, the new stuff on right.




It's curious. At first, my fish wouldn't eat it. HBG, native BG, nothing. They were trying to, but would pick a "pellet" and reject it...I watched a northern BG pick up and spit out the same piece of this feed six times before giving up. Interest in the feed was immediate, but what I'm calling the "mouth feel" just didn't seem to be what they expected. Finally, I resorted to hydrating the feed....man alive what a difference. I have witnessed the most aggressive feeding responses over the last 4-5 days, that I've ever personally experienced. The northern BG are literally boiling the water to get this stuff. I'm currently feeding twice the amount than I do with AQ, and they would eat more, but I'm shutting them off every night.

After feeding last night they of course wanted more, so I fed unhydrated AQ500. Nada. They would swim up and inspect, and them pass. I fed more of the hydrated new feed, and the water rolled.

To be fair, the hydration quality may be the deciding factor. I have always been a huge fan of feeding softened feed, but have gotten away from the practice this past couple years. I need to hydrate some AQ and do a head-to-head.

Also, the LMB and HSB don't feed on it very well, at least for me. I feed them AQ. The YP seem to have no problems.

And last but not least, my HBG are slow to accept it. They're beginning to feed better, but not nearly as well as the northern BG do.

I'm going through this stuff real quick. Cannot seem to get enough on the water to satisfy the fish.

Found this online. Has this been evaluted/debated on the forum yet? If so feel free to point me to the link. Is this a regional only fish food? Any personal reports to share in using it?

Fish food 50 pound bags, good or bad?

Your fish will probably eat the Farmers Choice 32% fish food but don't expect optimum results as far as the best growth rates. The lower quality feeds of 32% protein usually result in more fish manure and less aggressive feeding response. Digestibility of the food and nutrition gained are important parts of good quality fish feed. Choosing a fish food is dependent on how much value you place on the overall quality of your fishery.

Tony:

If you can, can you try hydrating some of the AM food and see what their response is to it? I'm curious if the response is to the "feel", or to the shape of the pellet.

I know you have a lot of other brands of food on hand, but I'll be in Jasonville tomorrow and could throw another bag or 2 in the truck if you want.

Thanks Scott. I'm thinking the same way - I need to establish what and where the attraction lies. I'll hydrate some AQ this evening.

Thanks for the offer. I'm tempted to take you up on it, but I do need to use the feed I have on hand. I'm curious as to how they will transition back to Purina and Skretting, after getting used to the new feed. If things continue as I hope, I see myself switching over completely to the new stuff once I get all this current feed used up.

Hydrated AQ500 this evening, by way of comparison. No contest....the northern BG ate it, but response was lackluster when compared to the last few evenings. The HBG fed well, better than they have on the new feed.

After I finished scattering the AQ, I went back with some hydrated new feed in the native BG ponds and business picked up. It seems more evident that my northern BG much prefer the new food over the AQ, but I think it's still too early to call it conclusive.

Nevertheless, I find myself wishing I didn't have three bags of AQ500 to use up. If the claims of better nutrition and longer BG lifespans hold up for the new feed, I see myself switching brands. I'm also thinking I will leverage my decision to hand feed vs. automatic feeder, by hydrating whatever I feed from now on. I think the fish take it better, and that's what it's all about in my eyes....getting the feed into the fish, not just on top of the water.

Tony my experience is in line with yours. My fish have preferred hydrated pellets over dry since I started feeding 8 years ago, without exception, every species, every time. I find when fish appear satiated on dry pellets, they will continue to hammer slowly sinking hydrated pellets until they literally regurgitate them. My fish are especially fond of AM LMB formula as they hydrate quickly, I rip off a portion, and toss into cages or around the dock. I'd say my fish have historically preferred hydrated over dry by at least a ratio of 10:1. In my experience, even at ice out when nothing but GSH are taking dry pellets, all fish will eat hydrated - at least a little, but reject floating dry food.

do fish have a sense of taste? The hydrating may give a change in texture or how it feels when they grab it but i wonder if it releases the 'taste' from the inside once it is soft? how does a bluegill know a real worm from a fake one, taste? scent? feel? texture?

Like others here in the E Texas area, George1 and Pat, I was picking up Cargill fish food from Overtons. It was a 7 hr round trip for me. Walt (Overtons) mentioned they could get it delivered to me direct. So I tried a 20 sk delivery. Boy OH Boy, did those 20 sks go fast !! 3 Texas feeders will throw out some feed ! And the CNBG will eat it as fast as it hits the water. So, I placed a full pallet order (50 sks) and it arrived yesterday, (1 day after I placed the order) and delivered it right to the barn. The only problem is I have back problems and so I am waiting for my grandson to help stack it in the barn.
Cargill 1/8" Triton, A blue colored 50lb sk.
Crude protein Min. 45%
Crude fat Min. 12%
Crude fiber Max. 3.0%Phosphorus Min 0.9%
Feeding directions "it depends" is printed right on the sk, Haha, where have I herd that before?
Concern's? Do not overfeed, overfeeding will result in oxygen depletion of the water. I am not sure about this warning on the sk. My Overtons CNBG seam to eat most everything that hits the water and what is not eaten by those fish are eaten by the FHM and crawfish. I have watched the big crawfish put the feed in their mouth and it looks like I have good crawfish numbers for now, but the CBLMB, recently introduced, should put a hurt on them in the next few months.
So if you might think I am over feeding, I am trying to get my CNBG big fast and reproducing fast so I might get those CBLMB in the double digest ASAP

Tracy

Ordered 6 bags of 500/600 and got them to the feed store I use in North Mississippi in a week.The 500 was definitely a lighter color than my earlier order but the 600 had the rich dark color as before.Hope this isn't a quality issue but it did surprise me a little

TJ, up until a couple years ago, I fed hydrated feed every night. I slowly got away from doing so, as it is messy and takes longer. But watching my fish feed these past few days has caused me to rethink that strategy.

I was asking Scott when he was here the other night, "is this new feed the missing link?...is this the final piece of the puzzle needed to produce 2lb bluegills in our ponds with any sense of "regularity"? If a feed can promote longer lifespans and improved fish health, will that translate into a longer time period in which to feed, and grow bigger? I think it should, which leaves me to try and figure out how to best use that to my advantage.

I'm thinking hydrated feed is more palatable, and more readily consumed in quantity. Especially for younger, smaller fish, during those all-important early growth years. It's easy to feed bigger bluegills, but the future, potential trophy status belongs to those smaller fish. I need to de everything I can to get that feed into those fish.

Just got our 4 bags of AM600 in this week here in south central Nebraska.

I picked up one bag of AM600 2 days ago here, made in MN, 41% protein according to the label. My YP, SMB, RES, and GSH seem to like it much better than the Sportsman Choice from TSC that they have been eating lately.

I haven't been able to get AM LMB since April. I have orders out at 3 purina dealers in the area...

I'm starting to get impatient because it's the only feed I can really get past my bluegill and only to my FT LMB and HSB.

The best I can do is throw like a gallon of AM 500/600 or so all together from a bucket and have it sit on the water thick. Otherwise the bluegill win.

Also supplies of 500 and 600 haven't been consistent and I'm having to use 500 a lot because the 600 isn't in.

Very frustrating, but if I could get a different feed locally, I would. I may have to drive to Overtons (6 hour trip for me) and try the Cargill feed.

Reports from home say I finally got the Aquamax 500 ordered months ago. Grandson has been feeding the fish for me, so don't know how they like it yet.

I got two bags of the 500 the other day. I dumped in a bag on top of a small amount of mixed 400 & 600. The feeder was jammed the next time I looked. The 500 had some big blocks of clumped together feed. I went through the feeder putting everything into 5 gal buckets. I threw a bunch away. It didn't look right. I am not sure if it was like that when I dumped it in or not. I'm going to look through the second bag of 500 as I put it in the feeder, and make sure there are zero clumps. If so, I'm taking it back to the dealer. I don't know if it's new production, or something older that they found. The YP love it though.. They are small, and can't take the 600.

Taylor
My CNBG love the Cargill from overtons I buy the 1/4and 1/8 and mix so all sizes can eat
I use the 4512

I fed the last of the new feed on Monday, so now I'm back to AQ500. The HBG are taking the AQ readily, but the northern BG are finding the transition difficult. I'll broadcast the feed, and they'll swarm it initially, but quickly recognize it's not what they've grown accustomed to eating. They leave it on the water while following me down the dam, hoping I'll toss something more to their liking. They will eventually begin cleaning it up, but without the enthusiasm they've shown over the last few weeks.

Not that long ago I was desperate to get AQ. Not so much, now.

I just purchased 4 bags of 500, 6 bags of 600, and 3 lmb AM at Coop in NE.

The 500 is same dimension as my previous feed, but much lighter in color. No big deal I hope.

The 600 is about 1/3 smaller than my all the 600 I've ever bought. It's almost like they cut the original pellet 2/3 down, and one side is completely flat - it's no longer a rounded cube. I don't know why.

The LMB is much darker brown and again is about 1/3 smaller - it's now in a rounded cube like an oversized 600 pellet of it's former dimension. I fed it and the SMB and HSB seemed not to mind. I did notice it takes 2x longer to hydrate than my original LMB formula. The bag is no longer plain brown bag, it's now in packaging just like the 500 and 600.

I've been buying AM for 8 years and the feed dimensions have never changed. Seems that if they were going to alter the shape and size of the pellets, they would announce it in some manner, in order to manage their customer's expectations. I suppose this is to be expected, however, since AM generates such insignificant revenue for a conglomerate like Land O Lakes.

Has anyone else experienced different sized/shaped pellets?