i would like some advice on rebuilding my minnow(fathead) population in my one acre tank lost a large amount due to flooding , i have an emergeny spillway i ft higher than my discharge pipe , due to large amounts of rain in short time spans many small fish and minnows washed away, i can rebuy, but would also create some way for the remaining minnows to hatch thanks dlee
Welcome, d lee, lots of expert fatheads here, I mean fathead experts, and I'm sure they'll chime in soon. Typically, fatheads reproduce so quickly that the population should replenish itself very fast, even if you did lose a significant proportion over your spillway, which is not likely. What kind of predators do you have in the pond?
N.B. to JHAP--now that's the way to pad your post count, my friend!
Typically, not over 10% of the fish will go over the dam. I doubt that you have a problem. Fatheads, like Yolk says, are reproducing machines.
How many FHM had you stocked/when did they go in?
FHM spawn on the bottoms of solid surfaces - pallets, boards, pipes, milk cartons, etc. placed in fairly shallow water, roughly horizontal, will assist FHM spawning.
Has anyone ever induced FHM to spawn in a tank in the off season if you keep the water warm and give them 16 hours or so of light?
Bullhead asks: "Has anyone ever induced FHM to spawn in a tank in the off season if you keep the water warm and give them 16 hours or so of light?"
Yes, this is done all the time in places that sell FHM for water quality testing. In standard water quality toxicity tests FHM at about 1" long are one of the species used for testing. To have a constant supply of this size of healthy fish, they usually should be a certain age. This means having eggs available all year long and young fish always in the pipeline. Suppliers spawn/grow the FHM under controlled conditions of day length and temperature that simulate breeding conditions.