OK, thanks. I've recently gotten the name and number of a wildlife and fisheries guy a few miles from my house at a fish hatchery. The people at the store I found that carries gypsum said he's the best and he would test it for free or even come check it out and give his advise. So that's what I'm doing this week. When I know something, I'll give this an update. Also, as I said, I found the Gypsum here locally, and the people at the store swear by it. They've got lime and fertilizer as well, plus I grabbed a 50 lb bag of fish food. Now I was kinda disappointed they didn't have the Purina, but what they carry is labeled as floating catfish food. It IS 32% protein just as the Purina is, and as far as I can tell it looks about the same. The people at the store say that customers have been using it for years to feed their bass and bream, so I figured I'd give it a try, otherwise I've gotta drive an hour to go pick up some Purina. I've just started feeding them and am about 4 days into it. The first day I got a few little bream nibbling at it, the next day a few more, the third day some bigger fish joined in, and yesterday evening there were a few more. So obviously they like it. I'm just going to keep going out at the same time and place and see if more continue to come feed. If anyone reads this, do you have any suggestions as far as feeding them? From what I've read, I should throw out feed at the same time and place every day. Is there any certain type of place or depth of water that is best to feed them? Or is it ever necessary to change the area I'm feeding at? Besides that, I really don't know how much feed to put out either. I've just been taking a tall cup full and throwing it out by hand little by little as I see them starting to hit the top of the water. Well, I'll post an update later this week on how the feeding is going and hos the test samples turn out. OH, I'm really wanting a fountain but for a cheap price. I have access to a submersible pump, some hose and an electric cable. Does anyone know of a way to build a homemade fountain for now, until I can buy a nice one later on? I've thought about connecting the pump to PVC pipe put together in the shape of a triangle, with very small holes drilled in it uniformly, or even putting T fittings all along the PVC pipe with threads at the top open end of the T's and screwing on a number of old-fashioned water hose sprayers. They're like little one inch long metal nipples that you would screw onto the end of a water hose and they have a small hole at the end. (resembles a miniature fire hose) And on a water hose with normal water pressure alone, they shoot a straight stream of water about 15 - 20 ft. in the air. I know it sounds dumb, but if it can save me $600 - $800 for now, I think it's worth a try. Anyone else ever try to make or succeed in making their own homemade fountain? Alright, thanks in advance if anyone bothers to read all of this. And thank you Ewest for responding. I have been looking at the threads and some pictures of floating islands and duck houses, and I've taken a little from a few of them and combined with a few of my own ideas, I think I'll be able to make a nice looking and functional little getaway for the ducks to relax/hide on. Thanks again, I'll post back when I've made some progress later toward the end of the week.
