Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain IN-Land Silversides

Actualy found a place to order these (in-land silverside) if any one else was interested in them as a forage fish.....They well and reproduce in fresh water or brackish. Also seem to have a good tempature range.

http://mblaquaculture.com/content/organisms/menidia_beryllina.php

They are a primary forage fish in Lake Texoma.

Bobby,

How are the silver sides working out for you? I was thinking about adding some to my new pond (60,000 gals) instead of FHM, which would eat all the frog spawn. I see they are native to my area (tidewater VA), although probably they live in the rivers, not ponds.

Anadyr, I don't think inland silversides could survive the winter in your pond. In rivers, they migrate out to the ocean where they can find warmer waters. Being in a pond the are trapped... Where about in the Tidewater area are you, some beautiful areas there!

I never put any in.. I put a cooler full of Atlantic silversides in July. Never saw them again. If I can get some free I'll add them. I think buying them now is just like buying fish food. Stocking wild ones free and hope they stick is my best bet. I have not been able to catch any yet though...

"I think buying them now is just like buying fish food." True that, Bobby.

Yeah, pity about that migrating business. I did read that some silverside populations had become landlocked. But Nature's experiments are a whole difference scale than ours.

Pond is 8' deep and aerated but silversides like to swim around, not bury themselves in the bottom. In the dozen years I've been at this site, I haven't seen more than 2-3" of ice in standing water. I'm in King George on a ridge with the Potomac 2 miles to the north and the Rappahannock 2 miles to the south, and down the road from a Bald Eagle Santuary. IMHO this is as good as it gets.

Loretta talked me into getting some FHM. Any idea how many I should get (60,000 gal or 0.045A) - the fish truck sells them by the lb. The PondBoss says 5lb of FHM/A but I don't know if this holds for small ponds. I don't think the truck will sell them by the quarter pound.

Did I say FHM? I'm pretty sure I just said minnows. I prefer Bluntnose or Spot-Fin Shinners for minnows, they seem to persist longer.

You could get a couple dozen minnows, let them multiply and establish first without predation and then add your sunfish or you can add as many lbs. as you want with your sunfish. A few pounds of minnows even in a small pond won't seem like many once they are released.

Sorry Loretta,

You did say minnows only. Thanks for the stocking recommendation!

I probably drive right by your pond on the way to my father's house on the Northern Neck. Lots of ponds constructed in that area when they dug for sand and other mining. Neat area...

Loads of inland silversides along the sandy beches on the river right now. Problem is they die very quickly, Ill have to get a team together to assist so I can handle them more gently and try to get them to survive the trip to the pond.

Any one tried to catch them and relocate them before?

EDIT:
After further research I have determined they are Bay anchovy and not in-land silversides. seems from reading they will certainly tolerate fresh water but not sure about reproduction.
IF I could get them to not die in the "live" well
http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Anchoa_mitchilli.htm

Bay anchovies need some salinity to successfully reproduce. I have found the only way to handle them is to not take them out of water. Tough to do when trying move fish in bulk... They are some of the most delicate fish around.

Inland silversides are also very sensitive, but not quite as bad as bay anchovies.