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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
Just had my new pond stocked on the 17th with 40lbs of fatheads from a reputable hatchery that delivered them to my pond. Problem is over the last 48 hours i have several hundred dead on shore already. Is this a normal occurrence before i call to complain? Pond water has been pumped from older pond which has bg,lmb, New pond had zero fish before the fhm. Just frogs.
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 275
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 275 |
I've never lost FHM after stocking. How big is the pond and I wonder if there is enough food for them. I do throw some AM 400 to mine every day and they attack it in droves. Forty pounds is quite a few FHM to gather feed if the pond in new and fairly small. They are generally very hardy otherwise and can live in very shallow water that larger fish can't.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,151 Likes: 491
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,151 Likes: 491 |
FHM dying three days after stocking into a new fishless pond is definitely not normal. If it was due to a food shortage the fish would not be dying 3 days after stocking. It takes weeks for a normal fish to stare to death. IMO either those fish were originally stressed, held too long prior to stocking, or stressed too much during hauling. Since the pond was filled from an older pond, lots of zooplankton (FHM food) was added to the new pond and poor water quality was not the cause of dying FHM.
Try as best you can to tally all the dead FHM and take a few photos of a collection or pile of the dead fish. If the same fish farm is to stock the pond they should willingly replace the dead fish when they add the rest of the sport fish.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
Thats what I thought. After collecting dead minnows I noticed tons of water type bugs and 3mm size tadpiles everywhere. I will be calling tomm. another 150 plus dead today .
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 733
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 733 |
maybe they died sooner and are just now floating up??
they look stressed or anything, the dead ones.? anything odd for a dead fish?
Good luck!
Water is the basis of all life, by design!
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Joined: Oct 2014
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080 Likes: 1 |
Are they all sizes or just the biggest?
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 573 Likes: 3
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 573 Likes: 3 |
One time I had large amounts of dead minnows after stocking. In my case it was caused by terns diving into the tight school of minnows. They would kill more than they ate. At the time I bought about 40 lbs also. All of those minnows swam very close together and looked like a big black spot.
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 352
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 352 |
buck-man, were you present when the fish were delivered? If so, did the delivery person acclimate the fish before releasing them, or just dump 'em in?
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
Folks were there and said Guy brought buckets of minnows to pond and put some pond water in them for just a couple minutes. Then poured them in pond. He did say he had some dead ones and put them in older pond for bass to eat. I got there an hour later and saw several large groups at top swimming around.a few dead here and there which i expected. Next morning they started washing up, swimming sideways, a bunch of single ones swimming solo. Then more and more dead ,all diff sizes. Filled a half gallon jug in 10 feet of shoreline. Very pissed off.
Didnt notice anything unusual with them .
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,722 Likes: 282
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,722 Likes: 282 |
Give the supplier a chance to make it right before getting mad.
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 23
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 23 |
Buck-Man, if that "reputable hatchery" was Logan Hollow or Fountain Bluff, they are indeed good hatcheries and I'm sure a call will get your fish replaced. I haul a LOT of minnows, and unfortunately, sometimes a tank will get stressed and I have to make a return trip, no matter how careful the haul is.
For what it's worth, it can appear that a LOT of minnows die when in fact, weight wise, it is very few. That does NOT sound like it's the case in your situation however. 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of dead fish would be about 20 pounds....near half your stocking. That seems like a very high amount for a "10' section of shore" as the FHM will spread throughout a pond without predators. Makes me think he may have given you a lot more than 40# in anticipation of a large die-off.
Give the hatchery a call, try to keep the anger and emotion out of it and be as factual as possible...most all hatcheries will stand behind their fish, since reputations are everything in this business!
EDIT: "Filled half of a gallon jug" Only about 4 pounds, but still too high on a mortality %. A 2% loss is almost "expected" on minnows, and is almost always gets covered with "extra fish" being stocked originally by most haulers/hatcheries.
Last edited by Rainman; 09/21/15 09:00 AM.
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15 |
How much time between filling the pond and stocking the fish? (Was wondering about the possibility of pumping stagnant "bottom" water from old pond)
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
Weve had a high output sump pump in a large tin bucket pumping out over the course of 2 months. When it rains it would also pump. I spoke to the hatchery and he is willing to make things right, On my next order.Says females should of been loaded with eggs and the delivery might of been timed poorly. Feeling better now.
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
a little update .. still waiting on the original hatchery to find time in his schedule.. to redeliver
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
Well after 2 attempts to deliver this spring and many excuses, I am left high and dry. I understand things happen. But when my property is 4 hours away and I have to drive down to open the gate and the Company doesn't show 2 times its more than frustrating . Kurt from Harrison Fishery seemed like a honest person. He stated the load was pregnant females that got stressed and if 10 lbs died you probably lost double that. Updated him on losing a couple more hundred of fatheads the following few days and he reassured he would make things right. We mutually agreed that the best thing was to just do a refund but the snake only refunded me less than a 3rd of what I paid. Ive texted and called , left messages but ignores my calls on the shortened check. Harrison Fishery 46074 Lassofish St Hurdland ,MO
Just thought you all would know about this place.
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 23
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 23 |
I can virtually guarantee the FHM were never sorted by sex! It would be very VERY labor intensive given the volume of fish!!! FHM spaw throughout the warm months....you need males to tend/fertilize eggs also.
I was close to you several times the past 4 weeks....
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,088 Likes: 96
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,088 Likes: 96 |
This is probably not the case but I want to throw the idea out there to add to the discussion.
FHM only live around 18 months. Could it be possible that a lot of the minnows were getting "long in the tooth" to borrow a horse expression and getting ready to die and the trip stressed them and finished them off?
Once they expend most of their energy spawning they are not long of this world. Could you have possibly got a significant amount of "old" FHM?
Don't know. Just asking if it is possible or if anyone has seen it.
John
I subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18
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OP
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 18 |
Ill say the long treck and his multiple stops before mine was the issue. Bottom line is company took me for a ride and one day it will return to him.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,055 Likes: 277
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,055 Likes: 277 |
I once turned down a load of tilapia. I looked in the bait tank and most were floating.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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