Originally Posted By: DMRBG
I'll let the feeding pros talk about that. I plan to feed my pond but my population is not going to be as diverse as yours.

One thing I will comment on is that feeding should have little impact on the size of your RES because they (most of them at least) will not feed train them selves inside of a pond (though I wish they would).


While it might be hard to determine, I think RES will eat more pellets that hydrate and sink than you imagine. It's just that you can't see them eating.

I have a platform that is a couple feet above the water where the feeder sits. I can see RES picking up pellets from the pond bottom in <24" of water, but never see them taking pellets off of the water surface. I have about 50 RES in the pond, so I'd estimate about 10% are eating sunken pellets that I can actually see. These RES are from wild stock, not from a hatchery.

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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).