Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Forage pond to support 3 1/2 acres

Can I get some advice as to what size (surface area and depth) it would take to support a 3 1/2 ac pond stocked with SMB,HSB,YP and RES? Id like to raise FHM,GSH,crayfish and maybe RES to supplement my larger pond... Is this a feasible combo? I could do some feeding, but not sure yet on aerating. Aeration will depend on location and that will depend strongly on size pond needed..

How much will it take approximately in pounds to do the job? I was thinking a 100# FHM and maybe 50# GSH?

Two things to keep in mind when building a forage pond are:

1) Plan for plenty or reproduction cover and habitat for the forage fish.

2) Plan on figuring a way to make the cover/habitat easily removable so that seining the pond to remove the forage is feasible.

There is no point in making a forage pond to supply another pond if you cannot easily get out the amount of forage that you need.


Now for another way of thinking.......

If it takes 10# of forage fish to put one pound on one predator, and it takes less than 4 pounds of feed (as little as 1.2 pounds) to add one pound of weight to one fish, depending on species. How many pounds of forage would it take to be removed and transferred per year to meet your growth goals for the 3.5 acre pond?

So, if you figure in 2 Texas Hunter Feeders (figure on the high side at $1,000.00 each), and food at $1.00 per pound, what is more cost effective and more reliable?

Esshup, thanks for responding. I agree 100% on the feeding route being superior, but my predators are not hitting the pellets at all... Only the YP and GSH are showing up at feeding time. Therefore I'm looking at either buying forage or raising my own. As of now I seem to be doing okay so far, but if and when my SMB start recruiting heavily Im sure they will put a lot of pressure on the natural forage in the pond.

Or call Dan Laggis for some feed trained SMB this Fall!