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Joined: May 2026
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Joined: May 2026
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I would like to put in a small minnow pond, small enough for two people to seine it easily. I was thinking four feet wide and ten feet long four feet deep, is that big enough? I would put in a few pallets for the eggs a pound of FH and a pound of GSH, as far as feeding them I have no idea. Any suggestions will be happily excepted.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,914 Likes: 1002
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,914 Likes: 1002 |
Welcome to Pond Boss!
This type of project has been discussed many times. The general consensus is to shape your forage pond similar to a paint roller tray. (You should probably learn how to use the search function and read some old threads.) Obviously, other shapes still work depending on space limitations, your wife's view from the deck, etc.
Do you have excess water available? If so, you could slowly drain the pond over the course of a few hours (so none of the fish get hung up in your cover) and then seine them after they are all concentrated in the deepest part. Leave some minnows in as brooder stock, and then re-fill the pond and start the cycle over again. You will have to refill slowly if there is a large temperature difference between your pond water and your supplemental water.
Forage fish like cover. Some members have added removable cover, like small cedar trees on ropes. Just pull them on the bank before you seine the pond, and throw them back in when you are done.
Some minnows also depend on the periphyton that develops on submerged materials as their food source in certain stages. You might get more production adding some high surface area materials to your pond.
You may also need some protection from fish-eating birds. They are very good at noticing the silver flash of a minnow and then coming to eat their fill. Some cables or ropes stretched low across the pond can deter cormorants. Some (nearly invisible) fishing line strung around the banks can confuse herons and other wading birds.
Four feet deep should be deep enough for your purposes, except for two circumstances. First, that will probably NOT be deep enough for your minnows to survive the winter at your location. Second, it may not be deep enough to survive hot, windless conditions in July and August without some aeration. Will this pond be near some source of AC electricity on your property? If so, then you can easily install some affordable aeration. If not, then you probably need some oxygen-creating plants in the water. Perhaps a border of emergent plants so you can still seine the pond?
Finally, your minnow production will be strongly dependent upon the surface area of your pond. If you list the species you want to raise, and the numbers you wish to produce, then some of our experts can calculate your production from a pond that size. Your overall annual production will definitely be greater if you periodically remove adult fish to make more "space" within your pond.
Good luck on your new forage pond project!
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