Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Raising fathead minnows

I have 4 farm ponds. 2 are older ponds (2 acre & 6 acre). The other 2 are 1 year old and about 1 acre each. I am wanting to grow big LMB & wipers (not in the same ponds). I have a good stock of BG. I have adding fatheads, getting tired of buying them. I am hoping to raising my own. I have several 200 gallon tanks. I was thinking of pumping in water from existing pond into the tanks and adding some structure for breeding. I know I would have to keep adding pond water to keep O2 and plankton in the water. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum! If the fish that you want to feed the Fatheads (FHM) to are larger than 9" or so, then it's time to switch to a larger forage fish. The predators have to expend too many calories per bite. Look into stocking adult Golden Shiners early in the Spring. They need grassy areas and submerged vegetation in 24" deep or less water to spawn on.

Largemouth Bass (LMB) do very well by having Bluegills (BG) as a forage fish. Typically LMB do best with forage fish that are 1/3 to 1/4 their body length.

If you still want to raise FHM, they spawn on the underside of submerged pallets, the underside of lily pads, etc. You'd have to have that type of cover in the tanks for them to spawn on.

Will look into GS. Thanks for the info.

How many fatheads would live in a 275 gal.tote if you don't add water regularly. I use them for bait.

Not long.. Without proper care.

Ditto even for flatheads that are very tolerant of of ammonia and nitrites. Conversely if you did some mechanical and biological filtration you could keep thousands in a stock tank. It can be a DIY project indoors or outdoors.

Ok, I have been wondeing a similar question. Lets say we stick with the same size tote as above that can hold thousands of FHM. How often and how many in each turnover/cycle could you get?

Not looking for a real detailed answere. Just a ball park, and I know there are alot of "it depends".

Essentially the FHM in totes becomes a recirculating aquaculture situation. CB1 how many pounds of fish can be raised per gallon of water with average RAS conditions?

Grubbm - are you raising the large LMB and HSB for sport angling, pay lake fishing or commercial use? The reason will help get you better, more practical answers. Why not drain, remodel your shallow 1.5 acre pond into two or three smaller ponds, a forage fish pond and two speciality unique fish ponds or three forage fish ponds?