Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding When to restart feeding, and when to stock forage?

BJNick, But looking back a previous member mentions:


I think this stands on it's one and I agree with it. One piece, however, it neglects is that GSH and the FHM (for that matter) can feed lower on the food chain and help to create more forage than without them (feed inputs and natural mobilizations of nutrients being the same). GSH are not going compete well for feed provided the feed is larger than their gape and in sufficient quantity for the predators only. Even so, it may still cost more to add the forage and than to just feed your predators and perhaps it probably will. The value of the food chain is that it lowers the need for additional feed which has the value of slowing the accumulation of nutrients. Forage fish that fill niches not utilized by other forage fish improve nutrient recycling and can have other benefits. So the added cost may have value to you. From my place, all I wanted to do was provide suggestions I thought would be helpful assuming you were going to make the forage additions. Of all the people who have made minnow forage introductions in ponds with existing fish and reported to the forum ... Sunil particularly ... had what I considered good results. He has had success with GSH by stocking the boxed fry and in his neighbor friend's pond he stocked a not so insignificant weight of FHM which proliferated for a time sustaining a population for a year or so before being fully consumed. I don't recall what the stock rate was in (lbs/acre). While I have not stocked FHM into a pond with existing fish, I have studied extensively grow-outs with minnows in the virtual space under the laws of aquaculture. The key to getting acceptable results is large numbers of offspring. The biomass of minnows must keep up with the consumption of the minnow biomass by the predators. Eventually, the predators grow to sizes where they consume more biomass than the minnows can produce. This tend to extirpate the minnows. Long story short, there is a minimum biomass of minnows that must be established relative to the predator biomass. If you are going to stock FHM, I'd get with Sunil to share his thoughts and the recipe he followed ... plus any additional thoughts (e.g. was he satisfied with the results, etc.)

As for the brush. My thoughts were focused on FHM should you add them. They need overhead substrate for spawning and would be vulnerable to predation when stocked. Structure that provides overhead spawning habitat and tends to exclude predators would be a benefit for them. As for tannins, AFIK, that's not going to be a problem but I'll defer. I have placed cedar brush, lots of it, to attract crappie. I followed the advice of an old man who lived next to me. He said to dry it out first and then set it on fire. The dried leaves would burn quickly and leave the branches pretty much unharmed. His advice sums up my experience in doing it. I'd put the brush out during winter and by late winter crappie would be in the middle of it. Some here put cedars out green. I have never done that but I cannot recall anyone describing ill effects from it. There are other ways to provide substrate that also give protection to brooding FHM.