Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose RES Question?

1/8 acre pond new build. 5 or 6 feet deep at most. I already have app. 20 huge BG one 3lb LMB several small BG and several small LMB. I have 100 RES and 50 BG and 25 LMB bass coming along with 3 lbs of FHM. My question is for the RES will they do ok In this pond not familiar with what they eat.

What they eat that nothing else will eat: snails.
What they won't eat: fish food pellets (unless they're trained)
What they will most likely eat: the same small invertebrates and very small fish that BG do.

I'm starting to believe the biggest limiting factor to RES eating pellets, is the location of the pellet itself....... on the surface of the water. I need a little more work with this, but I believe they will train to sinking pellets rather well. But yeah, as Theo said, they are difficult to get to take typical floating pellets.

Hopefully some of the 100 RES survive the 3# LMB. It may make snacks of them unless they are of advanced sizes. New small fingerling fish that may have never been exposed to predators put in an unfamiliar surrounding in water they are not used to are pretty vulnerable. Some should make it though.

When I had only RES and FHM in my forage pond, I noticed when I fed the FHM at least some of the RES came to the shore line where I was feeding. The way I knew is I discovered I would have much greater success at catching them with my cast net if I fed the FHM a few minutes before I threw it. Since the FHM could not swallow the larger pellets I was feeding, they would peck away at them till they softened up enough for some of them no doubt sank to the bottom before the FHM got them completely consumed.

So I am with NEDOC in that I think once they were accustomed to eating fish food pellets, perhaps pre-soaking them so they would sink they might be fed that way.

The problem in my ponds is that the BG are just voracious and most of the time I don't feed nearly as much feed as they would consume if I fed to satiation. So the BG (and hybrids) are going to get the feed way before it ever hits the bottom.

A little bit of additional information on RES RES info and links to old threads

If using small stocker fish then read up on habituation.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthrea...st&topic=0&Search=true#Post22246

I stocked the FHM first they seem to be the same as what we call chub minnows here or creek chubs. Later I stocked the other fish in hopes the FHM would keep the LMB occupied. I have an abundance of slugs here could I catch them and put them in the pond for the RES?