Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Breeding between BG and RES

You probably will not ever see a RES eat pellets unless you train them to do so. (OTOH it is possible to do this if you want to set up a tank for them and keep them in it for a 2-3 months.)

3"-5" BG should be able to handle most Aquamax ("AQ" below) sizes except the new humongous Largemouth pellets. I think most PMs utilize either AQ 400, 500, or 600 sizes (products 5D04, 5D05, and 5D06 here ); 3" BG might have trouble swallowing AQ 600's 9/32" pellets. But small hungry BG will usually work over the surface of pellets that are too big to swallow outright and get feed off of them anyway.

One of the reasons I like mixing Purina Gmae Fish Chow with my AQ 600 is that the GFC has multiple sized pellets for mulitple sizes of fish. Even 1"-2" BG can handle the smallest GFC pellets.

Whether newly stocked BG in a pond will take pelleted feed is always a good question. If they have plenty of natural food to eat, you may not see them taking pellets for a while.

Snails can probably be counted on the show up on their own. Very few RES lovers (OK, only me as far as I know) will admit to going to the extreme of stocking snails on purpose.