Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Redear disappeared?

Poor condition and stunting are not necessarily the same. I would not even hazard a guess on why "fish truck" fish look like they do. Over sized eyes can be a condition of poor nutrition especially with young fish (crowded into a hatchery pond with not enough food). Big eyes can also be an indication of stunting (overcrowding in a natural water body). This can happen when the food supply for a certain size class of young fish crashes and they don't get enough food. This can occur for example when cold weather kills off the plankton bloom at just the wrong time in spring after the fish hatch. Another example is when there is an event that substantially reduces the predators of young fish leaving to many for the existing food supply.