Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Kill off Pond to ready for bait fish next season

I have a 1/4 acre pond I'm going to use for raising Tilapia next year - I recently pumped it down and seined as many blue gill out as I could. I still have about a 20' x 60' area that has about 3' water in it. I still see some signs of blue gill. What is the best way to finish killing the pond now. It will fill back up over the winter and then i'll be ready to stock and feed tilapia next spring

Add about 400-800 pounds of HYDRATED Lime till the water turns gin clear. Use your trash pump to pump water into a barrel or stock tank to circulate, dissolve and spread the hydrated lime quickly.

This will raise your pH to 12 or higher, very rapidly, shocking and killing the fish. residual high pH will burn the gills of any fish not killed right away, even mud dwelling fish if there are any...

In about 2 weeks, the pH will drop back to a safe stocking level, as the H lime action is short lived. You will also be left with residual calcium that will benefit future fish growth.

Why not pump it down more to closer to 6"-8" deep then use less hydrated lime?.

That's what I do when I drain my hatchery ponds every year. Actually I drain them down to almost nothing and shovel in lime.

As Bill mentioned, the less water, the less Hydrated Lime needed. Also, as Cecil said, shoveling it in will work also, though it will not raise the pH as rapidly throughout the water left.

If there is ANY chance you have common Carp or Bullhead Catfish in the current pond, broadcast spread some Hydrated lime on all wet areas too.

Liquid Pool Shock from the pool supply store works too.
But has its down sides too.

Be careful of adding chlorine based products to the pond because they will create trihalomethane by-productss which are bioaccumulative and do not rapidly decompose in the environment.