I completed the first round of stocking for my little pond today. It's about 1/10th acre and I hope to get a few meals of perch out of it every year. I've put in spotfin shiners, FHM and YP. If anyone remembers my goldfish posts, they're all dead.
First the spotfins on May 16th. Ordered 20 from Jonah's Aquarium, I think 23 shipped. All arrived in great condition and he even gave me a discount to the price listed on his site. No morts that I've seen to date.
And today was 2 lbs of FHM and 30 YP from Fingerlakes Aquaculture. This one didn't go quite as smoothly. I let him put everything in the same bag and in retrospect, it was too much. After a two hour trip home and a bit more than an hour of acclimation, I think the oxygen levels were getting quite low. I lost one FHM, one YP and most of the perch were pretty lethargic. I'm fairly certain a few of the "FHM" were actually shiners, maybe emeralds??? Sorry, didn't think to get pics. He did give me a few extra YP and a few extra ounces of forage.
My palm is 3.75" straight across so I figure this one was about 4.75". As near as I can guess, most were 4-5" but a few approached 6". I didn't take the time to measure any but the dead one.
I hung out for more than an hour after the YP went in and I didn't see any floaters so I'm optimistic. To be clear, the supplier did ask if I wanted separate bags. We both should've known better considering the distance. Even if I lose a couple more, I'll consider it a cheap lesson.
Weird how it's a little depressing when that last fish swims out of sight and you're done. All in all, a good day.