Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Help! Catfish dying in new pond

I've run into fish sellers that only want to sell fish, and have only their bottom line $$ as a goal. Not all are that way.

I needed some FHM once, and couldn't wait until I had a large shipment coming. APS was coming to a local feed store in a few days so I purchased 10# of FHM from them. When I weighed the fish, it was only 7#. They didn't weigh the fish as they were put into the bags. It might have been a one time oops, but if I have to buy FHM from them again I will insist that they are weighed. If not, no sale.

If your goal is to have a more balanced pond, at least up here, stocking rates are more inline with 10 BG for every LMB stocked. IF your goal is to grow large BG, then the stocking rate that you have is close, but feeding a good quality fish food and removing any LMB over 14" is also part of the plan.

Without aerating and feeding, a pond can hold around 300# of fish per surface acre. With aeration, it can hold 100 to 200 more pounds. That's total fish weight, not just one species. So, that's where Dave is coming from. It takes approximately 10# of fish eaten to put 1# of weight on one fish. So if you run the numbers, you can see where feeding and aerating are important now in your pond.

Feeding a good quality food is key. Just like feeding lower quality food to your dog. Lower quality food = more poop to pick up from the dog. Same with fish. Feeding a better quality food will help keep water quality issues to a minimum.