Basically any minnow that can spawn in a pond and produce a decent number of offspring each year is good in a pond setting. Many of the creek - stream minnows require stream influence or habitats for successful spawining. In most ponds the bass will fairly quickly eliminate most of the smaller sized minnows and shiners including the dace. Exceptions are in ponds with weed beds that act as expansive refuge areas for the minnows.
Fathead minnows are promoted heavily because they are readily available and easy for hatcheries to spawn, raise and transport. I never saw or heard of a hatchery that sells dace. I suspect they are hard to raise in a typical pond setting. I would like to obtain dace that can spawn in a pond.
John, do you know the three species of minnows that you have in your pond? It will very interesting to see which species is able to survive after two or three years "pressure" from predatory fish.
