Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Bull minnows yes or no?

I agree that the one above is stickleback. I'd avoid these fish in the pond. Predators eat them but there are better forage fish. That's only my opinion.

Does anyone, including Travis, know if the bull minnow sold by Zetts WVA are banded killifish or gulf killifish?
https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/149/

I have never personally bought any from them, so I cannot say for sure. However, based on the artwork they use in their catalog, the fish appears to be a banded killifish as does the description they give. Also, if they were going to raise a different species, it would likely not be the gulf killifish, but rather the mummichog,Fundulus heteroclitus.

I would like to add this about the banded killifish and mummichogs. I have been fishing with these for years. I like the 3" size ones.

They can live all day on a hook. They can live forever in a 5 gal bucket if you feed them and change the water. They are well known around here as being the best bait for flounder.

I have personally fished these for catfish side by side against Danny Kings punch bait (which was the best) and the minnows won.

Besides catfish, they are excellent bait for LMB, Rockfish (striped bass), and chain pickerel. Smaller ones are great for crappies. They are also great bait for both yellow and white perch.

I believe the way both of these minnows act makes them much more survivable in a pond than say golden shiners and certainly fatheads. They are very fast and stay close to cover and dive into cover and hide when anything comes close. They can hide in just the leaves and detritus of the bottom. In a pond I'm sure they could survive the bass, if you stocked enough.