Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding new guy money questions

I have a new 2 acre pond. I will be stocking 2000 BG in couple of weeks along with 2000 FHM as recommended by the supplier. When I begin feeding in the spring I'm wonder how much feed it will take. I was priced Purina Game Fish Chow at $29/100lbs. Will that last a week, a month, etc? Just asking for your experiences on what it costs you guys to feed your fish. If it takes a house payment to feed them I think I will stock less and not feed.

i'll be very interested in the responses to this one.........CA residents can probably add another 10-20% :rolleyes:

edited post......forgot my manners......BTW, welcome to PB oldcane

I pay $13 for a 50# bag, so $29 for 100# doesn't seem to far out of line.

if stocking 1-2 inch bluegill you will not really need to feed until May/June. I suggest higher protein 36% and that might be what you are getting. With 2000 growing to 3 inches that will be about 60 lbs of fish, so 2 lbs of fish food/day would add to their growth quite well. So the $29 will last you about 7 wks.

Welcome to the PB Forum oldcane. The amount of food the fish should get varies on their size and the number/size/weight of the fish per acre. Also varies on the water temp/time of year.

For our supplemental feeding with small stockers in spring (same amount of fish but smaller area) it runs about 2 lbs per day. In summer with the same fish (they are much bigger by then) about 3 lbs. per day. I usually set the feeder for the minimum 1 second setting for from 2 to 4 times per day. I use GFC also but for new little fish (2-3in. BG and FH) I use smaller sized food (starter food ) with higher protein %. The rates can be higher for ponds that are more like aquaculture operations.

You can estimate the amount needed for feeding to satiation based on fish weight and % of food weight per day required.

Thanks, guys. Exactly what I needed to know. I've asked on other forums and what i get is the standard "whatever they can eat in X minutes". Boy that helps. I also hear no more than 10-15lbs/day/acre. Holy crap! 200 lbs a week?

I'll check out the protein. And I know you need to feed when the water warms up. That's somewhere in the 55 degree range, right? Warmer? Cooler? We usually hit low 50s in April. Now that it's a bigger body of water it may be later.

You can see if they start taking feed when the surface water temp hits 55 deg. Do not be worried if you don't get many takers until it's over 60 deg (or even then. It took my BG 2 1/2 years to really start hitting the feed. That's an unusually long time, but there was nothing wrong with the BG other than they weren't hungry enough to eat pellets where I was trying to feed them.).