Look into what happens in many of the CA lakes. Mild water temps ( temps stay in growth range for much of the year), stocked RT as a bonus. Also, maintenance is not a static figure. You have to account for energy used to catch food. In the CA lakes the RT are like pelleted fish food - easy to catch without much energy used. First the LMB know that when the stocking truck arrives it is time for them to corral the unhabituated RT at the stocking point and feast. Soon thereafter the remaining RT find themselves trapped in a small vertical area where the surface water temps are too high for them to be comfortable, and the thermocline is a bottom barrier. The LMB can go below the RT and above them and a feeding frenzy occurs. Easy picking for the LMB.

See California lakes link

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=22664&page=1

Last edited by ewest; 11/27/23 03:49 PM.