Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Fish Dying

Donnie, Here is what I think is going on in your pond.

Firstly, Since you stocked these fish recently, Mar 6 and more BG on Mar 17, I think some of the weakest and roughest handled bgill are dying due to hatchery and stocking stress. This can be a common problem depending on the hatchery methods and time of year. Bgill are fairly sensitive when handled improperly in colder water. The deaths should taper off and strongest ones will survive. Sometimes (?) if you call the hatchery and report the recent stocking deaths they will replace those that died. Seven -14 days in cold water is a reasonable time to see latent stocking deaths from a Mar 17th stocking.

Ponds can form a bloom in winter and early spring if nutrient conditions are correct. A pond near me that was used years ago for manure storage, and is now aerated and recovering has some sort of bloom year round. I think your light green bloom dissappeared because the nutrient supply was exhausted by the growing and reproducing algae; the bloom that you had crashed. It happens all the time in natural, unfertilized ponds as nutrient levels naturally wax and wane.

Your fish will not readily eat fish pellets unless they were trained to eat them at the hatchery. As BJ mentioned, when the water warms to 60F and you "work" and spend a little time training the fish some will learn to eat fish food. When working with non-pellet trained fish that have a pretty good supply of natural food it can be a little difficult to get them to eat fish food especially in cold water. Hungry fish in a pond with a short natural food supply will learn quicker to eat fish food especially when the water is warmer and fish are more active. Al fish are new in your pond and things are still developing. Numerous things will determine if a fish eats fish food or not.