Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain New pond stocking

You don't "have to have" BG and LMB. If you have BG, you pretty much need LMB to control the BG numbers. If you are going to have YP, the presence of LMB will likely require restocking the perch as they are a preferred prey due to their fusiform shape.

The YP, RES and (if you can get them and provide spawning beds) SMB combo is always an option. IF you can't get SMB, you could stock the RES and YP and see how things go (Cody successfully manages ponds with just YP in them). BG and/or LMB are cheap to add later on if needed or desired.