Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Aquamax Online

Do any of you have a suggested place to order Aquamax from online? I cannot find anywhere locally to get it. There are plenty of Purina dealers, but they only carry animal feeds. The only fish food I can get is 32% catfish food from the local farm store.

I was just hoping someone had some experience with this same problem.

Jake

Shipping might be costly. I'm headed out to Arkansas now, but I'll PM you when I get back. I'm sure there's gotta be someone local.

Jakeroo, did you see if one of the Purina dealers could order it in for you?

I will check if they can order it. I was mainly trying to just price things out and get a plan going forward. My knowledge about the dealers is just what I have found from the Purina website. Most of them are local elevators, but there is one store that might be able to do it.

I just called the local farm store. They have to go through their corporate office to see if they can order it.

If you do not find the product then maybe some one here in Admin. could get you in touch with Bob Lusk, he has connections and helped me find it. Esshup will probably get it done for you, but Bob may be able to help as well. Good luck and a good product as best I can research.

See this - I see several who may have it

http://aquamax.purinamills.com/

The farm store carries the Game Chow, but not any of the other types. They are checking to see if they can order it. The rest are elevators in surrounding communities. The ones that are close by that I called did not have it either. I am hoping the farm store comes through. If not I may have to pick some up in Springfield or St. Louis when I go through town.

You probably will have better luck with the smaller "mom & pop" feed stores than a larger "corporate" store.

I have to check on a shipping price when I get back to the office for a guy who didn't read the paragraph that said "for a shipping quote call, or it can be delivered with a fish delivery". He's about 140 miles away and ordered one bag. There's no way that I can ship it for what I'm selling it for.

I found small quantities at Shelby Fish Farm http://www.shelbyfishfarm.com. I wanted to try some largemouth food but didn't want 50 lbs. The per pound prices are kinda high. They also have other varieties, i.e. AM500, AM600, etc.

Jakeroo, I have one Co-op that has no interest in helping because it's not a big enough monthly order to which he can't make enough money off of me (as told to me by the feed manager), and another one that didn't know people fed the fish in their pond (yet stocks parrot food that he can't get rid of). My local farm stores have to go through corporate and won't special order Aquamax.

Another other Co-op's feed manager is only interested in getting me what I need, ordering enough to have on hand when I need it, and stays on Purina about getting the order placed and shipped! I found my guy (although we'll have a discussion about the 16 month old food I just picked up)

Going directly to the feed manager has made all the difference for me through the 4 Co-ops I've dealt with in the past year, and you'll discover which one's want to help.

Good luck!

Lovinlivin, this may be self-evident in that fresher is better, but how old is too old for fish feed?

Having recently decided to give AquaMax a try, I called the local Purina dealer and was told that they stock AM 2000 ($25.50) and AM 4000 ($28.50), but that it was a slow mover. The AM2000 seems to be geared toward CC because of the size (5/16") versus the smaller pellets (3/16") of AM4000 (which would be better for my BG and RES). The protein level of the AM2000 is the same as my current feed (around $20/50#), but its size prevents the smaller BG and RES from eating as much. AM is definitely more expensive...but is worth it?

Mobilus, there's been much discussion in previous threads regarding the value of AM vs other brands e.g., grain based vs fish-meal based but I'm certainly not the one to ask.

I just remember a shelf-life of approximately 1 year, which can depend on the climate in which it's kept (cool, dry, etc.).

Hopefully others can provide more answers for you regarding the quality of AM vs other brands.

djs, I get my AM 500 from Shelby Fish Farm in Anna Ohio that you mentioned.Smaller amounts are pricey per lb but find very few places will sell less than 50 lb. Shipping eats a lot of that cost. Steve Heitman is great to do business with.I ordered 2 more bags to finish up just last night. Water temp 64 in the top 2 ft with about 12 ppm DO so fish very happy and feeding well twice per day. One item I found interesting with AM Grower is that it only has 1.15 actual P and the pellets that end up in the rock apron on windy days do not seem to set any algae growth off like I have had happen with other feeds. This is only my second year with AM but I wont use anything else.

Ted, in the 9 ponds that I visited today, the temps were pretty consistent between 62°F in the early morning to 64°F at 5:00 p.m. Maybe a variance of 35 miles North to South, but about 65 miles East to West.

I have an update on this... Apparently I finally found the right guy to talk to. The local farm store said they can order it. $45 dollars for a 50lb bag.