A great group of posts. I love the pictures guys.
Next saturday (week from today) I am getting my 20 F-1's 1 lb+ and 75 CNBG 6"+.
With proper feeding how large do you think the CNBG's should get by this time next year, and what expectations should I have for their offsprings size?
I will be feeding by hand and Todd Overton said I should feed until January. I assume I should start back up sometime in February? Most years here we get the first nice early spring days around the middle of February.
I will be hand feeding. And probably will only be able to do it once a day, somedays I may have to skip. When I do should have put out extra feed when I resume and give them more time to eat it?
Also I have really large cc. A lot of smaller fish feed with them now but I wonder if it just the real small ones and FHM's that to stupid to know otherwise. Should I feed at two different locations? I have a place with real thick brush that make it harder for the very large cc to get into. Think I could get the CNBG to feed at that place. Another thought is I want to feed the CNBG a more expensive higher protien food than the cc. Or do you think the cc won't scare away 6'+ CNBG's and just feed in one spot all the same thing? If I feed the BG with the cc should I feed longer than 15 mins to give the smaller fish a chance to eat a little longer? Is 15 mins about the right time to clean up the food in the first place?
One last question. Last weekend I spread out about 40 gallons of pea gravel for BG and bass spawning beds. I was so proud of myself until I came in and was looking at a post of Theo's showing all the beds he had laid out. Then I thought, man I need to do better than I have, but still won't be close to Theo. I have some pea gravel left but I went out and got some limestone gravel. I thought that since my water tends to be acid having some limestone in it would be a good idea. But then I got to thinking limestone is the only rock that will fizz when you put vinegar on it. It won't hurt eggs or be something the fish won't nest in will it? This gravel is a little coarser than pea gravel. How large can the crevious' be or the roughness of the rocks be before fish can won't use it. I could always use it as the base and put in some sand or pea gravel on top to smooth it out. I'm going to try and post some pictures today or tomorrow of my pond and other stuff. Just hope someday I will be able to post pictures of some BG like the ones in this post.
And Theo thanks for before the water posts, it was helpful to see examples and an inspiration to do better. I don't know if I need that much protective gear, but I know how it goes. I have a john boat and I use it most for a barge to carry things with in the pond, i.e. cement block to tie to logs and brush I sink and lime, fertilizer. Sometimes I even fish out of it but mostly work, lol. Oh baby grandkid rides too.
I appreciation any comments or suggestions offered.
