What types of fish feed do yall use? It seems the Purina game fish Chow absolutly works the BEST for me. I have used southern states and sometimes other PURE catfish food, and the fish don't even touch the stuff. This has been the case with both the cats (both species) and bream alike...What has been yalls experianced?

I'm using Purina game fish Chow for now.

Purina GFC & Aquamax 600 - the Aquamax for special projects and a 4:1 (currently) mix of GFC:AQ600 in the pond.

Do you all think that bg,bc, and perch would like the game chow?

Gamefish Chow as a supplemental feed, Aquamax if that is just about all they get. Aquamax is more of a balanced diet and is what those serious about growing fish would use.

I found where I could find the purina gamefish chow and the aquamax 600 in my area, I was wondering how much it would cost per bag? Also how should I mix the two? Would a 4:1 mixture like Theo uses be good for my pond pfc:aqu600? My pond is 1/2 acre stocked with bc,bg,perch,lmb.The pond is 16' deep and aereated 24-7. Any advise would be apreciated.

Any Purina dealer (Feedmill, Farm Co-op) will be able to order them if they don't carry them. Our local mill carries GFC, but I have to order Aquamax. Prices here are roughly $16/50 lbs for GFC, IIRC $26/50 lbs for Aquamax.

Like Cecil says, if pellets are all or most of the food the fish are getting, higher % protein like AQ is much better. IMHO 32% GFC is AOK for CC & BG in a pond with a full food chain present (the GC and GSH that steal pellets from me don't deserve better feed ). For feeding predator species like LMB and HSB, AQ is much better. If my HSB fingerlings start eating noticeably, I will crank up the AQ fraction of the mix and try to target it's placement to where they are eating.

One side note is that feeding higher protein feed results in providing more nutrition to your fish with less waste product. This may be very important in situations where there is not much water flowing through the pond to flush excess fertilizer out.

Thanks Theo, I've always got water comeing in from springs at one end of the pond and water always going out at the other end of the pond. When I throw the pellets out they always end up at the end going out of the pond and end up in the road ditch which is nice. I haven't been able to get the fish to eat pellets this year and I don't know if it's because I was trying to use up the ones from last year which I had in my garage stored in a plastic tote? I think they were blue seal pellets for trout? Not realy sure but, I am going to try the GFC and the Aquamax and will let you know how I made out.

GFC and AQ mixed much like Theo. The good thing about GFC is its mixed sizes of pellets. That covers the entire spectrum of fish sizes.

This thread has made me wonder what you guys are paying for your Purina feed. I live in the Dallas area and pay anywhere from $29.00 to 35.00 per 50# bag of aqua max 400. The most readily available source for me is a "Purina Farm Store". This price includes shipping, but they still have to order it. I know Theo lives near a mill, but I was just wondering if these stores are gouging me on this special order product.
Thanks

We feed Aquamax 500 (YP) and 600 (Trout)
About $28 / 50# at the local Purina feed store.

I have heard a lot of good things about “Silvercup” (Utah), but my understanding is they only deal in bulk orders.

Try Southern States fish food. My fish liked it very well.

Have any of you used the silvercup brand fish food? Its 45% protein and about five to ten dollars cheaper than the purina. I started buying it from the bass farm last year and they swear by it. However, the only place I can get it around me is at the tru value hardware in Gainesville Texas. After saying this though the most fun fish food for me has been the purina largemouth bass just because of its huge size. The bass and hsb really blow up on it when they are feeding. I have found a cheap catfish feed if anyone is interested for 13 dollars a bag that is 32% protein that is a commercial fish food.

I've been feeding my CC (that I'm trying to reduce/eliminate)a generic food I got from TSC. I'm thrilled that the BG and RES I stocked this spring are starting to join in the feeding, but I have two concerns - Is the low protein food going to harm the BG/RES? The CC are 30 inches long and the BG 6 inches. Aren't they risking their lives to feed with the big cats? Should I work to establish two different feeding areas or just let nature take its course?

IME large CC (up to about 26" or so in my pond) don't go after BG at feeding time, they concentrate on the feed (unlike LMB, which can often be seen going after feeding BG). The shear SIZE of them may be somewhat of a deterrent to BG; I spread the feed out over a large area to give the BG plenty of CC-free water to eat in.

BG seem to do OK on lower protein feed when it is a supplement to a natural diet. If it was all that they had to eat, I'd want it to be the best feed I could get, but as a supplement, stuff in the 28-32% protein range is probably OK.

Last year I fed three dozen BG in a tank 32% Purina Game Fish Chow (with a small weekly bonus of worms) for over 2 months without any apparent problems.

Schroeder,
Where in central IN. do you live? I think that I have been buying the same generic feed from TSC as you. Mine is called "Farm Pond Diet" by Nutri-Source containing 36% protein. My TSC is in Noblesville. I question the quality as well as I have never seen anybody mention it on this forum. If you are near Noblesville, drop me a line. Maybe we could share some experience.

I'm outside Richmond, IN and I've used both the 32% from Rural King and the stuff from TSC. I've haven't seen any difference in eating patterns. Most of the big fish that come to eat are eating the pellets not so much the other fish. Fish are growing fine but of course I had a population explosion of forage fish (I put two types) so maybe that's why i don't notice any now. We stocked 5-6" BG in September last year and with the feeding program, we are pulling 9 and 10" fish. Georgia Giants we put in December last year that were like one inch to inch and a half are running the size of the BGs. Bass we put in last September were 5-7" long and they are running 10" to 12". Still waiting to catch a few CC to really determine their increase. They were five inches when we put them in, we've caught a couple of small ones 7-9" so I'm not sure yet. I plan to keep feeding as long as they come to the dock and eat what it and I throw out. I'd be curious to see what others say about the feed as I've had some concerns and thinking of going to a higher protein (Ken's).

Blaine Tops Home Center in Elwood sells Purina Game Fish Chow if you want to give it a try. I've started going to a store on the south side of Indy to get Aqua Max.

Thanks for the tip Tom. Elwood is just 5 miles North of my pond and house currently under construction. Is the South side the closest that you have found the Aqua Max? How is your pond doing? Haven't talked with you in a while. When are we gonna check out each others ponds? Sorry for beating you out of Cecil's LMB :rolleyes:

From the description of your ponds location I knew it had to be close to Elwood. I looked very where for Aqua Max with no luck. Finally called where it's made in Richmond and they gave me the name of the place in Indy that will order it for me. The pond sure could use some rain. Let me know when you are going to be at your pond and directions I will come over. I'm only about 15 miles from Elwood. I'm around here most all the time.

Tom, How about one week from this coming Saturday? I will be working on the installation of my new Vertex Air2 and I would welcome the opportunity to show you around and meet you. You can call me on my cell (317)432-3595.