Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Stocking forage pond

First a huge thanks for making my first Pond Boss Conference a great experience. The topics were excellent and well delivered. The moderators were especially helpful with specific info. I have to admit I was a little concerned if my wife would find enough to keep her happy - not to worry as she found the info interesting too and enjoyed our stay.

A little background and my question: Last summer I added a small catch pond above ravine from my 1/3 to 1/2 acre pond. The goal was to stop nutrients and sediment from an adjacent farm field. I added 5 LBS of FHM last fall with the hopes of being able to eventually provide forage for my larger pond. The small pond is 6.5 ft deep. I'm planning on adding 25 1-3 inch RES and 10 4-6 inch HSB. Does anyone see any problem with doing this?

Thanks,
Ed

Adding those fish to the forage pond defeats the purpose of the pond. Not a problem if your goal has changed. I'd remove them before winter hits. The FHM will survive low DO levels, but the others won't.

Thanks Essup. I guess I was wishful thinking - back to my original goal of forage only.

ECD, that catch pond sure is a great idea for the life of your pond! That should really keep down sediment and nutrients in your primary pond. How did you come up with that idea? I'm not surprised, as the Iowa DNR is pretty well known for their watershed managmement work on their public impoundments.

I think you could give the RES a try, but I would keep the HSB out. As esshup said, the RES may not survive the winter, but if they do they shouldn't eat too many of your FHM and could be a good source of additional RES to add to your pond over the years.

Dave, Actually the idea for the forage pond came directly from the Pond Boss Forum. Lots of good info here.

CJBS2003, Thanks for the input. For now I've put both the HSB and RES I got into the other pond. I'll let the FHM get good and established and maybe then add a few RES.

Even better, ECD!!

I totally agree Dave!! Sooo glad I found this site!!!

If you have or buy a seine you can remove most of the RES and forage in fall/late fall. Seining will be more effective if you can drawdown or even almost completely drain the small pond before seining. Since it is a catchment pond there should be no problem of it refilling before winter-spring for restocking. Ideal situation IMO.

Bill, That is exactly what I hope to do.
I installed a syphon drain and the pond has a relatively uniform area that is 6.5 ft at full pool and when drained down should less than 4 ft. The only concerns I have is the effect on vegetation when drained down.
My primary goal when building the pond was to be able to trap nutrients and sediment that comes off the neighbors farm field. Thus as we talked at the PB Conference I want to get plants started. I'm hoping to get Hybrid hardy water lilies as well as some of the other marginals you suggested in your PB Conf presentation. If you have any suggestions for sourcing plants I would appreciate hearing of them.

Hybrid hardy water lilies and most all marginal plants will tolerate quite a bit and often lots of drying of the bank areas even to the point the banks are cracking. Under soils where roots are will usually stay damp enough for the marginals and lilies to survive. It would be best if the drained dry areas were reflooded before the winter freezing of the exposed bank soils. Lots of sources available for hybrid water lilies and marginal plants from water garden places and wildlife nurseries. In my searching for plants species for the presentation, I found lots of online stores selling these plants. Shop, check, and price them out on-line. Thy these three first:
texaswaterliles.com
perryswatergardens.net
Wildlife Nurseries, Inc, POBox 2724, Oshkosh, WI 54093-2724

I highly suggest to wash, rinse all individual plants before planting to minimize the introduction of seeds and fragments from exotics and unwanted plants that are common at aquatic plant sources.

Thanks Bill for all the good info.
Glad to hear the marginals and lilies can cope with a draw down.

I checked out the texaswaterliles site and they have lots of neat choices. Their prices seem good for the lilies compared to some I've encountered.