Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Red Belly Dace

Where could I get some red belly dace to stock in my pond? I live in North east Indiana?

There are three species of redbelly dace. Northern, southern and mountain... The only species that can reproduce in a pond is the northern species. They tend to prefer tannic boggy waters with lots of vegetation. The other two species can survive in ponds, but would not be able to spawn without running water. So, if you want them as a forage species, the northern species is the only option. As far as where to find them... That's the trick! There are a few places on the internet that sell them for aquarium use on occasion. However, they are PRICEY!!! $4-$15 per fish... It would be best to purchase a handful, stock them into a rearing pond, allow them to reproduce and build in numbers and then transfer them to your larger pond with predators in them. If your larger pond doesn't have predators yet, stock the small number of fish and give them a year or two to reproduce. That or collect them from the wild, which carries its own set of risks and challenges...

I was up in Minnisota a week ago on a fishing trip all the bait shops up their had a minnow they called a rainbow minnow which looked very simalar to a red belly dace but may not be, they all sold them for 4$ a dozen, I should have brought some home.

Is their anyone from minn on here that might know what the rainbow minnow really is?

I am betting it is a redbelly dace. Either a northern or southern species. They are very popular as walleye bait. Around here they sometimes have redside daces which are a fairly close relative. I catch them in sandy bottomed creeks and use them for walleye bait. They work much better than store bought golden shiners.

Yes, red belly dace are sometimes called rainbows. I just looked it up to make sure and a lot of sites had red belly dace with "rainbows" in parenthesis. I know dace do eat fish eggs, although so do golden shiners. So that might be something to think about.

Welcome to Pond Boss, CBopp! Glad you're here. If you get a minute, start a new thread and tell us a little about yourself and whether you own a pond and, if so, a little about your pond and your goals for it. Great to have another New Englander here as that area of the country doesn't seem to be heavily represented on the forum. Looking forward to learning more about your neck of the woods!