Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Cross breeding RES & CNBG in a tank

Been awhile since I posted, but gearing up for a spring project and wanted to see if I could get some tips on setup. I have already found some great information in past threads. It looks like Jim Wetzel would be the ultimate contact on this topic, but he has not posted here in several years. Regardless, here is a summary of my project:

Goal: Produce RES/CNBG hybrid for stocking my own ponds

Setup: 275 gallon IBC tote/tank. Combo pond pump filter that has mechanical filter, bio filter, uv filter built in, advertised as 660 gph.

General game plan is to catch parent stock from my ponds, and stock 1 male CNBG with 1 Female RES. I actually caught some parents this weekend with my castnet but need to further verify sex. They are sitting in a temporary tank while I give the IBC tote time to stabilize. I should have several months for them to acclimate before breeding temps arrive. I know I am going to have a bazillion questions but will just post a few for now.

Can anyone confirm male BG and female RES is the right combination?

Should I have more than one female?

Will I need to be prepared to try to move eggs/larvae/fry or is parent rearing pretty safe in this setup?

I am hoping the uv filter will keep the water clear for observation of prespawn but should I plan on disabling UV to allow blooms for young feeding?

Is a recirculating pump/filter going to kill larvae/fry? Should I plan to switch to aeration only?

Will post pics of setup and parent stock as I get them.

Keep in mind that the fry will require natural food for a few days (they won't eat fry food right off the bat). So, you don't want crystal clear water. Also don't need high water turnover rate. Using a small pond with natural water and some RES of one sex and CNBG of the other sex will work. Good luck and keep us posted on results.

Hello.

Here is what I use for my Yellow-perch larvae.


A+

The aquamax fry powder came in today.. This is a picture for reference. The smallest mark on the ruler is 1/64 inch, or approx 400 microns. Its hard to see in the picture but there is lots of powder sized particles that I estimate are 200 microns or smaller.

I think it will work well, but I may try to get an 80 mesh sieve to remove the particles larger than 200 microns. I think the feed would work just the way it is but no since in letting the larger particles go uneaten the first few weeks when they will be needed as they grow.

Oh yea, goal is to have only the breeder pair by mid march. Just wanted to see if they sped up the acclimation process for larger fish which they seem to be doing. It's also kind of nice to have a clean up crew for feed leftovers.

I had a break through with the RES yesterday. I was still struggling to get them to consistently eat pellet feed. Worms, meal worms, crickets were no problem....but only the sporadic Aquamax pellet. As an experiment, I softened a few pellets and rolled them into meal worm shape, then let them air dry. I only had a few but the large RES inhaled them as soon as they started sinking. I guess the old fishing wisdom about matching the hatch is accurate! So I went about trying to find a way to efficiently making more "worm pellets". Now don't laugh at me, but my daughter's playdough extruder was just the ticket! . I extruder 3 plates worth and then oven dried them at 200 degrees for about 1 hour. I am hoping they will allow a transition to normal pellets soon. They usually stay on the surface for about 10 seconds and then start a slow wobbly sink. The larger RES has already taken a few from the surface and she ate 6 or 8 pellets in a row this morning.

One additional benefit of the extruder is if I need pellets in heart or star shapes, no problem!

Nice report. Please keep us apprised of the matchmaking.

The next few days could prove to be interesting as the male bluegill has begun the most aggressive nest building that I have seen. I should probably start a recap of what has happened since my last post.

The challenge of feeding has become a distant memory. The "worm pellets" I made were effective for transitioning the redear to pellet feed. All 3 now readily eat pellets from the surface. In fact, the smaller redear will hit pellets so aggressively that 2/3 of her body comes out of the water!

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I decided to put a divider in the tank to separate the bluegill from the redear. He was harassing them to the point of pectoral fins getting ragged so I decided to give them a break. I removed the divider a week or two ago and at the same time I removed the larger RES. I did this because the smaller one is visibly bloated with eggs and the larger one is not. I did not want to risk having a male RES around for the spawn.

So now I have a hopeful pair. The RES is still being harassed by the male BG to the point of hiding behind objects in the tank, so I am not sure if they consider themselves a pair or not.🤣.

I will try to get some pics of the nesting tomorrow. At some point I guess I will have to decide if manual intervention is needed(egg/sperm stripping). And if it comes to that, I will be flying blind as I have not found a definitive guide on that process!

Rod, I expect they might have had some liquid refreshment prior to the dance.

I'm not contributing much of anything, but RES are much more aggressive and may require 1) A larger spawning area. 2) A more attractive CNBG to mate with. 3) Turbid/Cloudy water. (kind of like a girl/guy in a bar after a few drinks...and do it under a full moon!)

Yes, I learned that 300 gallon totes that had mulch dye in them are NOT worth the trouble no matter how cheap they are!😂
It is unfortunate that you only get a single shot at RES spawn each year, or at least that is my understanding.

HCG is the most common hormone given. It forces sexual maturity (same as Ovaprim) but doesn't force them to breed.
HCG has a neuro-blocker that that fools the pituitary, Ovaprim does not.
HCG requires a script to get, most VETS will want to see/be a part of the process, they won't just hand it out but still doesn't make them breed, only mature.
There's so much more to this and if you want to fertilize eggs there is a way but most eggs are ruined and cannot be fertilized at extraction without first understanding what opens pores in egg and activates sperm once in contact with the egg-it's a window of about 15 seconds total that both are open and active.