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Wow...considering everything that has been said, I guess here is where I'm at:

1) Get the water checked, just in case
2) Plan on doing some feeding, (aeration is already in place as of yesterday)
3) Don't replace the dead CC, consider that this is likely a good thing in the long run
4) Ask APStockers to give equivalent minnows instead of replacing the waranteed dead CC.
5) Careful harvesting is a necessity.

I've learned a lot today from you guys already. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this...even though it is making me sick to see those dead fish. (6 more CC since I started this thread this AM--which is very unusual since they almost always croak at night.)

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You might not see the dead fish until a day or two later. Typically fish don't have enough air in their swim bladder to make them float, they are neutral buoyant. Only after a period of time when decay starts to set in, and gasses build up do they float.

It could be that the CC are starving to death too. Not a lot of natural food in the pond yet. Try feeding asap and see if that slows down the death rate in the next 3-5 days. Do they look skinny?


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eshhup, hard for me to tell if they are skinny. Someone that knows what to look for may be able to tell, but this is my first experience with stocking a pond so I don't really have a good reference. I got food today, so I'm going to feed for a few days and see how that works as you mentioned.

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CC are kind of not the most popular fish with many on this forum, because of the management problems they can create later. And I may have that same opinion of them in a few years.

But in defense of CC, they are the fastest growing fish (if fed) and will reach nice angling and eating size before anything else. To date, I'm glad they are in my pond. Wife and I have enjoyed eating a bunch of them this year and a 2-3# CC on the end of an ultra light rod and small jig is a pretty nice fight for a guy like me that has not really done very much fishing till the last couple years. In the past I was never that much of a fan of catfish meat. But I'm telling you, our fast growing CC fed commercial fish food are about as good of tasting fish as any I've had. Wife breads up the fillets and pan frys them.......... yumm.

So don't feel too bad about stocking CC, and if you think you stocked a few too many, just start harvesting at the smallest size you want to fillet or eat. Feed them a good feed and harvest all you can catch when they get big enough and enjoy them. You and I both may be cussing the management of them as our ponds get older, but right now I like the CC in my pond a lot.

Last edited by snrub; 10/06/15 07:45 PM.

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The fish deaths should naturally and gradually get fewer and fewer during the next several days. The weakest ones are dying and strongest ones surviving. I doubt they are dying for lack of food and dying due to stresses of grower harvest, holding, broker holding, again hauling, holding, then loading and then finally loading, hauling/stocking. Weak fish do not handle all those stresses very well.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 10/06/15 07:44 PM.

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FWIW I agree with Bill C. but IIRC most CC purchased from fish farms are pellet trained. I would get them on some good pellets (For catfish that is somewhere in the 30%+ protein category) to help them get started. Easy food to catch for them with very little additional effort or stress. I feed mine Cargill's 36% Multi Species. All my fish, except bass and YP, hit that, even the FHM.

Last edited by Bill D.; 10/06/15 08:47 PM. Reason: Clarification

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EngineerGuy? Welcome!

Did you meet APS at some co-op where they bag the fish with pure oxygen with your water and then haul to your pond for stoking? Did APS come to your pond to stock?

In both scenario's, taking fish out of holding water (pond side and or truck side), then placing them into new water without tempering or acclimating will cause stress. How different the water chemistries and temperatures are can range from no problems to near 100% mortalities.

My educated guess, based on stocking/seeing/replacing dead fish when time is not taken, is that your fish where neither tempered, nor acclimated and their immune systems were seriously compromised due to shock and stress.

For a combined stocking like yours, the LMB numbers and sunfish numbers sound good, but I'd say your CC numbers were high by about 350 and FHM low by about 20 pounds when stocked with LMB.

With that many CC, expect your water to stay muddy starting around Summer 2016



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In talking to the driver of the truck for the APS that comes here, he said that the fish could be on the truck for as long as 5 days before they are bagged, depending on where in the route the stop was. That could add up to a lot of sloshing around and net dodging in the tank.


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FWIW I agree with the pros that the fish have probably been heavily stressed on their journey to your pond. Lesson learned for you. I also understand that any fish that died after 3 days is on your dime. My thought, IMHO you need to do what you can to help the remaining fish in your pond survive now and worry about what you can do to improve future stockings later. That's why I recommend you get them on a good pellet ASAP. IMHO The additional stress of trying to find food in a 2 or 3 month old pond for a 9 inch catfish cannot be a benefit to them. They need an easy nutritious meal and then rest.

But I am not a pro...Just my 2 cents

Edit: Once the fish start feeding I would consider feeding pellets soaked in a good antibiotic for a few days...but again, I am not a pro

Last edited by Bill D.; 10/06/15 10:17 PM. Reason: edit

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Rainman, yes. Met them at a farmers co-op, and they bagged the fish. I did follow their recommendations for acclimating them though. I was prepared for the initial wave of dead fish. It is the on-going wave of dying each day. But at least now I'm looking at it differently--as a positive in the long run.

Thanks Bill D for the pellet recommendation. I'll make plans to try some of that brand.

My thanks again to everyone for their insight and encouragement. This is certainly a learning experience and I have some ideas on which direction I work toward with the pond.

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Maybe this is a dumb question, but I have to ask. Is CCVD a realistic possibility?

The last two days, floaters are appearing in higher numbers despite the aeration and attempts to feed. 13 yesterday, and today about 20 so far. They are seeming to float up today by the hour.

A few things that I have noticed: A number of them float with head up, tail down for a while before finally going belly-up. Also I see what appears to be internal bloody areas on some of them, maybe 20% of them. The first few that I saw I was wondering about a parasite. Any time that I walk around the pond today, I will see a number of live CC right up next to the shoreline, in barely enough water for them to fit in--just laying there. I nudge them with my foot and they will generally swim off, although some come back to almost the same spot.

Also, as opposed to the first time that I threw food out almost a week ago, the fish will hardly show any interest in food. I realize at certain water temps feeding may be erratic, but it just seems strange that a week ago they were swarming to some food, and the last 3 days that I have tried to feed...they won't touch it.

I happened to see an article on CCVD, and it seemed that they mention as symptoms a number of things that I am observing. Hard for me to believe that I got diseased fish directly from the stocker like that, but I wanted to ask if that was a possibility, or likely coincidence.

Thanks in advance!

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CC Viral Disease is a possibility in your stocker CC especially since you are seeing bloody areas on some of the fish. Starving CC should not have 'bloody' body areas.

Is there a web link available that describes and shows symptoms of CCVD?

Last edited by Bill Cody; 10/08/15 04:00 PM.

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Here are a couple, although mine are not showing the bloated condition of the ones that they show in the pictures.

http://www.extension.org/mediawiki/files/a/a2/Channel_Catfish_Virus_Disease.pdf

And a few pages from the "Channel Catfish Farming Handbook"

https://books.google.com/books?id=PdxLfZ...ish&f=false

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There are also common bacterial pathogens that are ubiquitous that attack stressed fish that produce "bloodied" symptoms.


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I am not a pro but FWIW It sounds like an infection and you may lose them all. They should be over any acclimation issues by now, IMHO I would throw some antibiotic soaked pellets and hope the problem is a bacterial infection. The antibiotics will not help if you have a viral infection. I am not sure there is anything you can do if it is viral.

I would also find a new source for the future.

Just my 2 cents


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I agree with Cecil that the stocker CC may have a form of bacterial infection that is common in stressed fish.


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I have recieved cc from arkansas pond stockers twice this year with no issues ,,


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Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
I agree with Cecil that the stocker CC may have a form of bacterial infection that is common in stressed fish.


So what is the solution? I got the antibiotic soaked pellet idea from something I read that Bob L. wrote.

Last edited by Bill D.; 10/08/15 07:51 PM.

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Originally Posted By: Bill D.


So what is the solution? I got the antibiotic soaked pellet idea from something I read that Bob L. wrote.


Bill D....out of curiosity, where did you get those pellets? I've been searching for them and haven't been able to find a source. I'm not sure that they would help me as right now, I'm not getting the fish to eat even the regular pellets very well, but would like to know where to get them anyway. Thanks!

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I just get mine at Farm and Fleet. The full name is

Sportsman's Choice
Trophy Fish Feed
Multi-species Formula

It's a 36% protein food made by Cargill


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Originally Posted By: Bill D.
I just get mine at Farm and Fleet. The full name is

Sportsman's Choice
Trophy Fish Feed
Multi-species Formula

It's a 36% protein food made by Cargill



Thanks!...I'm assuming that I would buy the antibiotic separately and soak the food in it?

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The food is just the kind I feed my CC. No magic cure there. I am sure any good pellet would work. Wish I could tell you more, I just remember reading about soaking pellets in antibiotic in something Bob L. wrote. Maybe one of the pros can offer more info on treating a bacterial infection.


...or maybe I saw it in something Cecil wrote

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I can't imagine the amount of antibiotic that you'll need for that particular "aquarium"!


grin grin grin Oh God no you don't add it to the water like you do in an aquarium! Yeah that would be some water treatment for 100,000 gallons! grin grin grin But believe it or not it wouldn't take much potassium permanganate to treat a pond this size at 2 ppm. (Used to kill parasites and gram negative bacteria I believe).

Actually you either order the antibiotic premixed in with the feed, or you buy the antibiotic seperate and add it to the feed yourself. In this case you just add water and the feed at I believe 2.5 percent. Minimum order was 5 lbs. of Romet ( a broad spectrum antibiotic)so I probably have enough for the next few years if needed. That's 2.5 lbs. added per 100 lbs. of feed and I've been feeding much much less.

The trout farmer that said taking a fish to Purdue would be a waste of time basically said they would tell me I have a bacterial infection anyway so why wait for results when you can feed them a broad spectrum antibiotic? He raised brook trout and said pretty much welcome to the club. They can be a real PITA.

Interestingly today I had just enough Romet feed for one day (left over and frozen) and they fed better than they have in a long time. Go figure.

The Romet antibiotic was overnighted today so I should get it tomorrow. You only have to feed for five days straight vs. 10 days for oxytetracycline laced feed.


Last edited by Bill D.; 10/09/15 03:00 PM. Reason: Clarification

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It has been a couple of months, but I wanted to report back here just in case it will help someone else. I kept careful records of the CC mortality. After about 2.5 weeks after the stocking, the dying simply stopped--almost cold turkey.

I wound up talking to another fish supplier--his opinion was that the catfish that I got from APS were simply stressed when I got them. He may well be right. As it was, I lost about 130 out of the 400 that I originally stocked. In reality, after hearing from you guys and some others, that is a good start to getting the #'s back down to something reasonable anyway. Lesson learned. When APS came around to give the warranty fish (whatever was lost in the first 3 days), I said no more CC--and they gave me FHM, shellcrackers, and a few LMB instead.

Due to the recent rain, my pond is now completely full--way ahead of when I expected. I guess runoff will do that. Built a pier, and am now looking forward to future seasons! Thanks to everyone for the help.

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Good swap,and good news all around on getting a full pool and varying fish, EngineerGuy!!!



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I just read this thread today. Pretty interesting. My first thought was way too many CC, and probably too many of everything else. There are many guides on stocking posted on the Net, and I don't think what APS recommended was even close to anything I've seen. BG multiply rapidly. They will spawn at least once before the LMB will be big enough to prey on them, and fewer of them would probably have been plenty, and if you're not really interested in catching bass and you stocked them mainly to control the BG, you probably didn't need so many of them either. If you eat the CC, you can probably do well by replacing a few more than you take each year until they are at least 3 yr old. They may spawn at 3 or 4, especially if they have some suitable nesting spots. In addition to the BG, you might have stocked some RES, and you still could when the fish stop dying. I'm also wondering what the members think about stocking shiners and/or shad? Maybe grass shrimp or scud too.

The pond is probably going to sort itself out and find its own balance by the end of next year, unless there is something fundamentally wrong with the pond, such as bad water or it's too shallow. If you take a lot of fish out or put a lot of fish in, it will be harder and take longer for the pond to reach equilibrium. I expect that's why most ponds need to be managed. If you hand feed pellets, you'll get a pretty good idea of how many CC you have, and probably it won't be long before the BG begin to take the pellets too, but there probably won't be much going on before spring.

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