Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Fathead minnows, is this an acceptable dead loss?

I ordered 1,000 small FHM from Anderson Minnows. They made it here around 5 pm on Friday. I followed the instructions letting them acclimate and released them. But there were a ton of the belly up in the bag, after 15 minutes I released them anyway and it seems like maybe half of the floaters were able to swim away.

I didn't attempt counting but would you consider this acceptable or should I email them about it? They didn't say they include extra for dead loss, but they may have.

Here are the minnows once unpacked:



Here they are 15 minutes later after I released them:

I would forward them this post. Should not be that many floaters.

It is too warm to be shipping minnows. If they agree to replace some of them, have them wait until the water drops below 72F. One can expect dead fish when shipping them in air temps of over 78F. On a loading dock or in a truck temps can easily reach 90F+.

I had held off on shipping because of the heat. However with the storm hitting us Thursday night and the temps dropping, I thought it would be ok. I think the extra time in the back of the fedex van is what cost me.

I emailed it to them and they asked a few questions about how the box/bag looked. It all looked ok, then they wanted a guess on percentage of kill. Heck I don't know, there were two of us there and we figured 20/25%. They seem like good people, so maybe we can work something out.

Those FHM were not small ones. They look like breeders from this spring which are okay. If the pond is new with no predators then you should be able to estimate fairly closely how many died. Predators will eat lots that are weak and struggling to survive. Try to count how many were dead on arrival (dead-in-the-bag pic) then count how many are dead in the pond pic. I counted at least 50 dead at the shore. Then add at least 100. Send them your dead fish pics.

I would plan on adding some more either in Oct or March next year when the weather is cooler. Adding young of year FHM 1"-1.5" in Oct in GA allows them to grow to breeder size by next spring. With low numbers of fish in a new pond it generates many more zooplankton and tiny invertebrates which is the buffet when you do add small fish. In the meantime you might be able to locate a closer FHM dealer.

Bill, I thought they looked a little large myself. I ordered small and they said that would equate to 1,000 FHM. I thought that was a very generous estimate based on the amount of minnows in the bag but I wasn't going to try and count them. I sent her these two pictures, we will see what they say.

The pond is empty besides a few bull frogs and maybe a few crawfish that survived it being dug the 2nd time. I saw a really large crawfish when we started pumping it down, hopefully enough survived to reproduce.

So I just used Paint to mark out each minnow as I counted and I got to 371 before I got to the top where they are too hard to see.

I would rather drive a considerable distance for fish than have them shipped. Delivery services don't care to leave them in the sun or in a hot truck, and handling can be rough. Having fish shipped would be a very last resort for me.

John,

I agree but since I am in coastal GA and they were in Arkansas, driving was not an option. I also talked to countless DNR, Biologists, Fisheries in my area and nobody sells FHM.

5 to 10 % is a normal amount. But it obviously varies a lot.

She emailed me and said they figure 5% as a normal loss so they would give me a 1/3 refund or take it off another order.

From counted 371 dead I would guess around 500 or better were alive. Do you think that is enough or should I go ahead and order some more?

I will be added 2 inch BG next month and 2 inch LMB in March along with Golden Shiner Fry in March.

500 should be enough, if that many are actually swimming around. I put about four pounds of FHM in my 1/4 acre last fall and this spring, and now have AT LEAST a few thousand minnows. I have a bunch of CC over 12 inches along with mature BG, and still have lots of minnows.

It is hard to see them since that hard rain washed some dirt into my pond. It is starting to clear and then I will have a better idea.

Did you send Anderson pictures of the bags and dead? Shipping is by far the bulk of the loss, but I'd think Anderson would replace the entire order with those pictures.

I would think with that large of a loss and unknown what would die in days to come that Anderson would do a 100% replacement.

Also, did they ship last Thursday or Friday (before a three day holiday weekend)? We don't ship anything perishable or valuable UPS or FedEx on Thursday or Friday before a holiday since laying around in a truck or warehouse can lead to excessive heat, not to mention increased chances for theft.

They shipped them out Thursday overnight, then they were delivered to me Friday at 5pm. She said since it sounded like a third died she would replace a third of the money. I have never really had experience shipping fish so I told her that sounded ok to me.

I am sure they were doing well when they left, when FedEx arrived they were in the back of a van which was a little warm.

Do you think I should ask her to split them with me?

Also I walked the around the entire pond and threw out a few small pieces of bread and then looked again. I didn't even see 1 minnow, none in the grass, none in the rip rap I have in one corner. So now I am getting worried.

They should replace the entire shipment IMO. Most of the cost is in the shipping anyway. Shouldn't ship to GA until October.

I am not a pro but it looks like way too many in one bag given the conditions.