Bruce that is a fantastic HBSB! Do you think that size and health can be obtained from pellet fed fish in a 1/2 pond that is groomed and maintained with that result in mind? We are starting our new pond now and I intend to leave my smaller pond as a HBSB experiment!We have airation,forge,cover,good water qulity and I feed.Please tell me I have a chance to grow a fish like that!That is why I bought the HBSB now I am hooked on them!
Yes, you absolutely can do it. Genetics is the one variable you don't have covered. I like to start with fish that are top of the line "super-growers". I start with about 5 times the number that I actually need, then spend a couple of years culling them so that only the best, fastest growing females remain.
Then if you really want to be like me you can let your water quality slip and watch them all die in one horrific grease fire after raising them for five years.
