Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - New CNBG pond

While the lake was low this summer, I had a small pond added to the top end of my lake. This pond is going to used for raising CNB for forage for the big lake.

So here's my questions. One, the water is obviously muddy from the runoff, and is void of any structure/grass/etc. Should I wait til Spring to stock it, hoping the water settles, and the temp is warm enough to feed the CNB?

Also, should I add any minnows or structure, just to keep a "mini food chain" going? I will fertilize the pond and move a feeder to it, and am not sure if there's an advantage to having just a grow and net pond, or creating a mini lake with grass and minnows.

I do have room for spawning pallets for the minnows, and had a bank sloped for CNB spawning.

Any other thoughts are appreciated.

Trained cormorants from Japan could probably knock that out in 2 days!

(FishinRod ducks head!)

I push the smallest fry harder than any other class size when raising CNBG. Having successful spawns are only worthwhile if the fry survive the first 30-45 days, so feeding them as early as possible makes a huge difference in the final numbers. Or at least it did for me in the past.

Pecking at surface fish food powder by fry that are just developing digestive systems gets them a really good start, and they quickly transition to small pellets. I'm currently hand feeding my CNBG 3 1/2 cups of food a day, and slowly upping it 1/2 cup a week. They could eat more, but because of the heat and lack of rain, I'm trying to keep the water as clean as possible. I've already done one 8 hour 3" pump flush from the big pond, just to give them a little fresh water.

Just a reminder, I'm doing nothing but passing on what I do, and had success with.

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This may just relate to warmer southern waters, so take that into consideration. Of course, a lot of the northern states also got hit hard this year by very high temps.

If you're raising forage, and have a target size in mind, then don't overlook the pull out date. I haven't done a surface temperature test because I know it's already 90+, and that means these CNBG won't be safely pulled out for another 3-4 months. If you're leaving the forage pond active, and just taking out a certain percentage annually, then I wouldn't think size consideration would be an issue at all.

Since my original stockers are almost at my 5" target length, I've cut back their 1/8" pellets from 3 cups to 3/4 of a cup a day, and I'm now focusing on the 1" to 3" CNBG at the upper end of the pond. I'm feeding these 2.2mm pellets, and increasing the numbers weekly. I hope the vast majority of the first and second spawns in my hatchery pond will be 4" to 5" by October. If not, then I can safely pull those out in November or early December.

In short, consider the gape size and length of the predator fish you're wanting to provide forage for, and don't blow by those numbers when raising forage specifically for them. If you're raising forage to survive those predators, and hopefully survive to spawn when they're moved to the primary pond, then by all means continue to feed them at proper amounts to get them to a larger size.

I'm actually excited to be back in the game. I'll have the pond at full pool tomorrow, then start getting the water ready to go.

Since we're talking water...

Big pond is adjacent to the hatchery pond, so refills are easy to do. Water is bathtub clear right now.



If moving water, always put a tarp under the hose outlet. It keeps turbidity in check, and dilutes the muddy water from the rain last night. Another 2', and I'll float the outlet. Also, if moving water from an older pond, use a Pentair mesh filter over the outlet to prevent weeds from entering the receiving pond.

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It's been 3 weeks since the construction was finished, and I spent the first 2 weeks getting the water ready for stocking. That meant testing nitrate/nitrogen, alkalinity, hardness, and PH levels. 400# of gypsum was added, and it not only helped clear the water, it added the hardness I needed for the CNBG. 50# of pool salt was also added. Rainwater runoff from the pasture was right at 6, so 400# of ag lime was added. The PH didn't come up to the numbers I wanted, so I thought it was smart to add hydrated lime to speed things up. It did, but the ph hit 9 PDQ. I let the pond settle overnight, then "carefully" added aluminum sulfate until the numbers came back down to 7.5 a day or two later. The aluminum sulfate also helped clear the water. After letting everything settle, the pond now has a clarity of approximately 12", and has a nice olive color. By having everything I needed on site, the pond had plenty of time to settle before the fish were added.



We picked up 1,000 1-3" CNBG at Overtons last week, tempered their water, and released them in the pond. As is usual, I had decided they were all dead since none were coming to food for 4-5 days. I knew exactly where they should be, but there was no activity. Finally, they started feeding 5-6 days ago, but the numbers were extremely limited. Now, they're feeding in numbers that mean I'll start weighing food to get a feel for their growth, and actual numbers. I started with a tea spoon, then a table spoon, then 2 tablespoons, now weight by grams. I'm currently feeding a 1/8" and 2.2mm mix, so nobody's left out.

One of the best things I did when redoing the pond, was to leave one bank alone, and not regrade it. That was done specifically for the fish, and that meant reeds, emergent water primrose, etc. was left as cover for the CNBG, and that's exactly where they're at. Instead of trying to get the fish to come to food, I'm feeding them where they want to be. Because of that, a specific feeding schedule isn't needed. If I feed them at 7:30 in the morning, or 3 in the afternoon, they're always there and ready to eat.

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There otter be a law against it!

Thanks Scott, they do have some good deals. Mine's 10X60, and it's still too small. I'm feeding near the dock, so most of the CNBG should be in that area. That'll help a lot.

It seems as though we've had our first spawn. I'm seeing dozens of 1/2 to 3/4" fry swimming in algae at the top end of the pond. I started feeding them fish food dust this morning. A few did come to it, so hopefully they'll train the others.

If she tells me to close the door, I'm letting out bought air one more time, I'll use her pasta strainer too.

I think it's smart to use your wife's utensils for this important work.

I'm not cheap, but maybe frugal?

I always seem to have powder at the bottom of fish food bags. I save it, and use it for freshly spawned fry. It's protein/lipid numbers are 48/18 which is right in the wheel house of starter food. I sieve out the powder with my wife's favorite strainer. I figure if it's good enough for her, it will do just fine with dead fish parts. The leftover 1/4" pellets are ground up with my fish food Ninja, not my wife's, and I strain it also. The bigger chucks get added to the 1/8" pellets I'm feeding the stocked CNBG.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Fry are approaching 1", and are migrating to the larger CNBG.

Here's my "food factory".



Result used for fry.

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