Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Finally, I have fish in my pond

So after beginning this pond project 3 years ago I finally have added fish. Put in 1,000 BG (1 inch) yesterday with minimal (aprox 20) dead loss. I am down in SE GA so I am hoping they will start feeding before it gets too cold. I throw out half a cup of dog food (been saving my optimal BG Jr until my fish arrived) every evening and the FHM attack it.

I checked the water temp this morning and it is 69'. I hope to establish a feeding pattern to jump start these little guys since my pond is a magnet for Coots and Herons.

Optimal BG Jr is a relatively large pellet for 1" BG. Three good options as I see it. 1. Build yourself some sort of floating feeding ring to contain the pellets while they soften and before the pellets float to shore where much of it decomposes and grows nuisance FA algae. Plus this will help train the fish for the location of the feeding station. 2. Spend some time crushing or grinding the Optimal Jr into smaller size crumbles so the 1" BG can grasp and swallow the food. 3. Try softening some of the food 1-2hrs prior to feeding the fish. The soften food will will allow the BG and minnows to more quickly pull off bits of pellet they can easily consume.

When I started mine I did as Mr. Cody is saying. I bought a cheap 9 dollar blender at Wal Mart. Would hit it a few times and crush it. I put enough to fill the large coffee can about 2/3 full. Then put three 1/3 cups in it and shook it. I would leave it in the fridge. I could feed out of that for a few days...although I didn't have 1000 fish either. Worked very well. I also used the feed ring. Took a week or so...but they found the ring and were ALWAYS there waiting! Its fun...congrats on finally getting them in there!

Thanks Mr Bill, I will get a cheap blender today for that. I wondered if that's why the FHM seemed to get the dog food faster. Maybe it softens easier.

Great work! Do your herons leave the area and go south in the winter? I'm in MI and saw a great blue heron at the pond last week and one flying overhead this week. We have no ice yet but I thought those voracious predators would at least have had the sense to fly south by December...

I am not sure on the herons, I do know that I usually pick up a few teal and plenty of coots as it gets cold.

I just crushed up some BG JR in a plastic bag and then soaked it for a bit. I threw it out where I saw a few BG sitting in the shallows and they are attacking it.

C270 congrats on the new fish. Exciting time!

FWIW My limited experience feeding BG JR late this summer is exactly in line with Bill C's post above. The little 1 inch BG really struggled with all but the smallest pellets. They mostly ate the fragments. The 2 inch could handle even the largest pellets. It was pretty funny to watch a 2 inch guy grab one of the biggest pellets and then run with it to get away from the competition. As I kept watching, they would then reposition the pellet in their mouth until it was lengthwise before they gulped it down.

Many Congrats for having fish in your pond, great work. Keep updating us about your pond fish activites. Thanks

The BG must be growing fast, when I throw the feed out the whole side of the pond starts moving. I am sure some of the FHM I put in this summer are helping. I have decided to go with HSB, I figure if I don't like them I can always catch them and add LMB. But if I start with LMB it will be a lot more time consuming keeping the ratios right and correcting it.

SMB and YP could be options as alternates to LMB to pair up with the HSB.