Very few fish farms hatch their own catfish and practically all buy their fish from one or two sources in the US. Your description of what has and is happening is a pretty typical case of poor handling of the stocker fish.
Different species have different susceptibility to various and numerous stresses of life on a fish farm. Some species tolerate stress better than others. Also water temperature plays a big role in delivering healthy fish. Tempering fish technique from the hauling tank to the pond is important. Not all fish are held in tanks at the farm the same length of time before being sold. There are numerous variables for stresses for different species of fish from a fish farm.
Keep track of all the dead fish numbers that you see. Likely there will be numerous dead fish you don't or will not see float 'up'. When you get the water test back with good results to verify your "case", the fish farm should give you a refund or new fish, if they are reputable and traditionally stand behind the health of their fish. Some fish farms are a lot better than others for reliably delivering healthy fish. Generally the warmer the weather and warmer the water the harder it is to deliver healthy fish. Remember that.
A fairly fish will normally live weeks or even a couple months before it actually starves to death. Pondowners try this, take a healthy fish and put it in a container or cage with constant good water quality and see how long it takes to starve to death. You might be surprised.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 10/06/15 10:26 AM.
