Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose a brand new north texas pond

sounds like good advice,Ewest.The alkalinity scale runs from 0-720,with around 170 rated as "ideal".Ph runs from 5.5 - 9.5, with 7.5 rated as "ideal". If my alkalinity is is in the 170 area, will the pellitized lime still do some good?

Howard it depends on what the alkalinity scale is. I have never seen one go to 720. If it is in ppm (parts per million) or mg/L (milligrams per liter) then 170 is great and you don't need lime. 500 ppm is very high (soda water)

Ideally, an aquaculture pond
should have a pH between 6.5 and
9 as well as moderate to high total
alkalinity (75 to 200, but not less
than 20 mg/L) and a calcium hardness
of 100 to 250 mg/L CaCO3.

Here is a good fact sheet.

http://srac.tamu.edu/tmppdfs/173593-471f...bd31dc4777c3918

only about 2 feet from full My herringbone pattern deck wasted a lot of lumber, but i like the way it turned out


don't want any precious topsoil in my pond!

thinking out loud here.. We do not eat much fish, so i don't want to be be harvesting alot. Catchability is important , however. With those parameters in mind here are a couple of scenerios I should consider.

1.cnbg,res,mosquito fish,female only lmb and maybe a few hsb.
Pros:minimal harvest requirements.
cons: I wonder about catchability. I bet those lmb would get impossible to catch after awhile.

2. hybrid bluegill..not sure what else would fit with this fish, but i understand catchability is very good. I guess the cons, would be the undesirable offspring. Maybe i would need some other non-reproducing predator..but i guess you would need another forage source also.

3. cnbg,res,lmb..and let the lmb stunt, generating a pond with big bg, and small,hungry bass. I haven't really seroiusly considered this option, but maybe i should. It sounds like this may actually have the best catchability potential.

I appreciate all the feedback from you guys. this really has been fun.

howard, one comment to make about catchability: I believe it is more of a factor if you're fishing with lures. I don't think it's an issue if you use live bait.

Also, I don't know that hybrid bluegill are any more "catchable" than a regular bluegill. Some (or most) hybrids may have a bigger mouth thus allowing them to eat larger prey items or bigger lures. Sometimes, regular bluegill will hit a bare hook repeatedly.