Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Minnow Problem

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum mostly stopping by for one question. I work on a site with probably a 30 acre pond. The water level of this pond fluctuates frequently. We have a floatino aquatic plant thathat we are harvesting so we would like for it to be not disturbed or consumed by fish. We also have a significant minnow problem where they are just bubbling at the surface. We are pumping large amounts of water in and out of this pond and the fish are becoming a hassle in our filters. They are the only fish in the pond. Stocking the pond may be one of the better options. I am not sure how deep the pond is currently but I'm guessing 10-14 feet. I was thinking something along the lines of longnose gar or largemouth bass. Could someone give a little guidance to the problem at hand. Thank you very much!

Welcome to the forum.

Can you post a close up side view of the minnow?

No problem! I will post one tomorrow. For the meantime it is about a 2 inch fish very similar in stature to a guppy. Which may be the case. The pond stays heated year round.

Why not just kill the lake with Rotenone?

Depending on the lake depth, that could be a LOT of rotenone if the lake can't be drawn down to reduce the water volume.....

Would rotenone effect the floating aquatic plant in the lake? I understand it is an organic chemical and comes from plants in nature but that's about all I know. Would it just kill off the whole pond?

Good point. Being a business I guess it comes down to cost and profit margins. Stocking fish to get rid of fish seems like a losing battle though

Would the rotenone effect the floating aquatic plant or just the fish? Don't know much about it. Just a 5 minute Google search haha

Rotenone is lethal to fish, does not affect plants.

Mosquitofish maybe?

So the plants must give habbit, eradicating them with a predator fish Probly wouldn't work but might control them so long as they them selves don't over populate. Do the minnows give benefit to the plants? Like maybe keeping certian insects under control?

Can't wait to see the fish.

How do they heat the pond?

If you can put one of the minnows in rubbing alcohol the minnow will die with its fins spread out. Learned this from Bill C. and it works great to help id the minnow. Then take a close up picture of the minnow.

ID the minnow and learn its reproduction water temp, its max size, and natural predator. Then chose a course or action.

May have a bait business as well as a plant business.

Cheers Don.

What kind of floating plant are you growing.

Why are you filtering the water or are you just circulating it with a pump?

just curious, how are you heating such large pond?

Kiss principal. ( keep it simple stupid).A few largemouth bass will quickly control or even eradicate the minnows.

Maybe, but remember he's talking about a 30 acre "pond".

Will the LMB became a problem??

.30 acre pond or 30 acre lake?

Man the cost to heat a 30 acre pond...... has to be incredible... How much you getting for this plant.... lol

I would pull a Bruce on it and put about 500 HSB in it!! If you can that is. They Don't reproduce and they would eat up all them minnows....

RC

Maybe he meant 3 acres?

Depending on the size of the pond, I would personally recommend not adding rotenone especially if the minnow is indeed a mosquitofish. You can stock a typical Largemouth bass(LMB)/bluegill(BG) predator and prey combination. You can stock Longnose Gar however they will most likely not breed and they might be hard to source. If you do put put in Longnose Gar(LG) I would look for them online at some aquarium dealer. Stocking fish really depends on the use of the pond. Initially when you add the LMB and BG they will quickly decimate the mosquitofish/minnow population to minimal over a course of a few years. I would recommend for every Largemouth bass you stock that you stock around 5 Bluegill. You may also add Channel Catfish(CC) but if your not going to go fishing often, it wouldn't really matter adding CC. You may also stock other fish combinations as well but this is far the most common and most studied. Typical stocking rates per acre in the Midwest is 100 LMB, 100 CC, and 500 BG. Good luck on the pond!

He must have pursued the rotanone idea?

Sorry for the late response thank you to everyone who responded. It is about a 30 acre pond/lake on private property. We are cooling machines with the water and putting the "waste" water back into the pond.

Rotenone is a great idea but there are some visitors and the smell of dead fish is a concern. Is there possibly a way to get the fish to sink?

I believe it is in fact a mosquito fish. Stocking a non breeding fish would probably be the most immediate solution.

Any other alternatives you might have?

Thanks again

Hybrid stripes bass,? As suggested . Maybe a few catfish? To clean up the rest

The small fish are getting stuck in the filters then? What size of fish would not cause problems with the filters?

What is the water temperature profile of the pond for the 12 months of the year? I.E., how warm is it during the summer and how warm in the winter?

From what I'm reading, the plants are harvested and used, but the fish are not causing a problem with the plant harvesting operation, but the small fish are causing a problem with the filters in the cooling system of the machinery?

Not sure on the exact temperatures, but the fish need to be large enough to swim away from suction (which is very strong) and this is in the cooling system.