I am a new member and excited to be here! I recently inherited a 1/10 acre pond on a 6 acre property I purchased. The previous homeowner indicated that the deepest part of the pond is 12-feet, however, I haven't yet verified it myself. The pond is currently fed year-round with 2 miners inches of irrigation water in the summer and half an inch in the winter. Currently the only inhabitants of the pond are 6-8 red-eared sliders, frogs/tadpoles, and some occasional mallards. I would like to stock my pond with fish so that I can teach my daughter to fish there and occasionally fish there myself. I know that 1/10 acre is not that big so I think I have scaled my goals accordingly. I would like to stock fathead minnows in the pond now, add pond structure for spawning and habitat, and add a diffuser for aeration. My plans are to initially stock the pond now with 500 fathead minnows, in the fall add maybe 20 bluegill fingerlings, and next spring add 2-3 largemouth bass fingerlings. Would this be an acceptable stocking rate? I would also like to add two Rouen ducks in the pond area.
Buying fish and having them shipped is a slippery slope. That may not be the correct terminology, but for instance in some states buying "X" fish for an aquarium is legal while buying the same fish to stock in a pond is illegal. Look at Illinois. It's illegal to stock tilapia in a pond there. It's legal to buy tilapia to put in an aquarium. Illinois requires tilapia that are brought into the state from Indiana to be health tested, even if the fish are going to an oriental fish market for human consumption as live fish.
Canyoncreek, they talked a lot about the health testing that was done, but nothing about the species testing. Blue Tilapia will survive water temps in the upper 40's Mozzies will die in water temps warmer than that. If using Tilapia for algae control, you want them to live as long as possible because algae will grow in all liquid water temperatures.
I have to be very picky when I buy fish. If I am not, then my customers don't get what they want, and it's up to me to make it right, which costs both extra time and money.
For instance, I bought "Blue" Tilapia for stocking this past Spring. They were stocked in water temp of 65°F. We had a cold snap where the water temp dropped to 58°F. Some customers called and said that they were seeing dead Tilapia. This was well past the time that the customer could have said the tilapia died from poor transportation practices. I could have said "Sorry, I don't know why they died, you will need to buy replacements." But instead I called the supplier and questioned them. Turns out that their "Pure Blue Tilapia" weren't as pure as they thought and I ended up replacing the fish that died. No particular rhyme or reason why they died EXCEPT for water temperature. Blues won't die at that temp, so they couldn't have been pure blues......
Here in Indiana, we have to adhere to different rules than other suppliers that aren't in a state that touches one of the Great Lakes. Here we have to get fish health certified before they can be moved out of state, providing they touch Indiana water, even if it is just well water. For instance, if I buy Channel Cats in Missouri, and deliver them to Illinois (or Michigan), then no further testing is needed. If I do a water change in the tanks here in Indiana before bringing them to Michigan or Illinois, then they need to be tested again and have a clean bill of health before being delivered, even if they never left the hauling tank (which is impossible to do).
Michigan is a whole 'nother world when it comes to stocking ponds as you know. That's why there are very few companies that will stock Michigan ponds if they are from out of state. You as a pond owner have to get permission from the DNR to stock your pond if you have a water inflow or outflow device in your pond, even if the water outflow dumps onto a pasture. We as the fish supplier have to have a copy of that permit in the truck before we can cross the state line or we can get in just much trouble as you the property owner for stocking fish into waters of the state without a permit. THEN add the 3 continuous years of clean bills of health and that adds a whole additional layer of difficulty in stocking there.
