Pond Boss
Posted By: Drago New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/04/21 05:28 PM
I tried to gather as much information as I could before building my 1/3 acre pond. I really appreciate the insight and knowledge of people on this forum.

Anyway, stocked my pond about 3 weeks ago. Since last Thursday when we got almost 3 inches of rain I have been finding 2-3 floaters a day. When I net the dead fish they look healthy. Well, other than being dead. The water has been muddy since I stocked primarily due to runoff from unseeded dirt. We have also had some wild temperature swings in Ohio. I have tested the PH, ammonia, nitrite and phosphate levels. PH seems to jump around a lot but others are normal. I do have an aeration system running.

The hatchery says some of the "weak" fish will die and not to worry. I was just wondering if if anyone experienced this with a new pond stocking. Thanks.
Posted By: Bobbss Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/04/21 05:53 PM
What did you stock and how many?
Posted By: Theo Gallus Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/04/21 06:16 PM
Because a small % of new stockers dying is probably not a big deal.
Posted By: anthropic Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/05/21 12:27 AM
I wouldn't worry too much unless it persists & worsens in the weeks ahead.
Posted By: Drago Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/05/21 11:50 AM
Thanks for the feedback everyone. On the stocking question from Bob: 25 LMB, 50 blue gill, 25 hybrid blue gill, 25 shell cracker, 25 perch and 250 minnows.
I think I would up the number of bluegills ASAP. Bass will clobber them in a hurry and they will be the food base for the bass. Only bluegills can spawn enough to feed bass and only bass can control the spawn of bluegills. I like to start with 10 times as many bluegills as bass.

Minnows don’t last long since everything eats them. But, they jump start the feeding process until spawning starts. BTW, what kind of minnows? If Fatheads, they spawn on the underside of structure and are used to jump start the other fish. So, you will need to provide structure.

I agree that some fish will die but most sink, not float.
Posted By: esshup Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/05/21 03:01 PM
Ditto what Dave said, and you can go up to 30 times as many bluegill as bass without any worries if your goal is to grow larger bass.
Posted By: CityDad Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/05/21 03:56 PM
you do not have enough food....
Posted By: Drago Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/05/21 05:19 PM
OK, thanks again for the feedback. They were fathead minnows Dave and I have a lot of structure out there for them. I'll look at getting some more bluegills as soon as possible.
Posted By: Sunil Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/06/21 12:23 PM
What size were the LMB, BG, and Perch?
Posted By: Drago Re: New pond owner, new stock fish dying - 05/06/21 02:27 PM
All in the 2-4" range.
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