Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What kind of fish are these? Also need help/ideas.

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here and I'm hoping I can get some advice.

I've lived at my house for over a year now, and the previous owner had setup a small stocked pond. I'm wondering what kind of fish are in there and how I should attempt to care for them. I was told there are some kind of bass in here but others have told me bluefish or sunfish. So that is one thing I'd like to find out. I really haven't done a thing to this pond in the past year and it still seems like there are tons of happy fish and it seems like it maintains itself.

My question is, should I just leave everything alone and let nature do its thing or should I be feeding these fish pellets? Every once in a while I break up some soft cat treats and throw them in and they love it... What about some kind of chemicals to get rid of algea, etc? I also have some friendly turtles who like to come right up to me and investigate when I go near the edge.

I know nothing about maintaining stocked ponds. I'm not sure if I should just leave it alone or be active in its care. The location of the pond is in Southeast Florida, sub-tropical climate.

Here are some pictures of the fish and of the pond. I know I should catch some fish and see what they are, but this is the best I have for now:












Here is a picture of my Grandmother feeding the fish, she loves the pond. Note that the tall grass (sawgrass?) seems to be spreading as the other wide shot of the pond is older.



Thanks so much for any advice!

-Kevin

Can you catch one and get a picture?

BTW, welcome to Pond Boss.

They look like Coppernose Bluegill to me.

This would seem to be the obvious thing to do, but unfortunately I don't have any fishing gear at the moment. I have never really been a fishermen and I don't really plan on ever fishing in the pond. I would just like to enjoy having the fish around and throwing in some food. That said, I'll try to catch one for you guys.

Thanks for the welcome.

Welcome to PB.

South Fla has lots of species of fish both tropical (tilapia , peacock bass etc) and warmwater fish ( LMB , BG , RES etc). Many of the fish in the pics are CNBG (coppernose bluegill). Notice the bright spot on the nose/head - that is the copper nose bar in spawning color. Also in one of the pics the wide bars on the side are visible. Here is a pic of one out of the water and one in the water on a spawning bed.

Thanks for helping me figuring out what kind of fish are in there.

Any ideas on how I should be caring for the pond? Should I feed the fish every day or just let them be? Does my pond look healthy? I am just not sure where to start.

It looks great Kevin. Keep an eye on the vegetation to make sure it doesn't get out of control.

How far down in the water do you think you can see? It is best to have the visiblity at around 2-3 feet to help reduce the amount of vegetation that grows along the shore.

I'd say with about 95% certainty they are coppernose BG... You can see the very distinct striping on them, the classic white edge to all the fins... Great photos for under the water! What part of FL are you in? To my knowledge, GSF are not found in FL, so they are no in the running. They definitely are not RES, as RES are very distinctive underwater when compared to CNBG. They don't appear to be tilapia or any of the other introduced cichlids found in FL... So I'm saying with high confidence, CNBG.

I am in southeast florida, sub-tropical climate.

Looks like we have narrowed it down to a combination of CNBG and LMB.. Thanks for the help guys

My aunt lives in Stuart, FL. I love fishing some of the lakes down there. Nothing like catching oscars and wild tilapia!