Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fish ID assistance

Other than visibility being quite poor, my mini-pond is doing fairly well. I've noticed in the last week or so there is one fish (I'm assuming it's the same fish) that behaves quite differently than all the rest.

Last year, I stocked RES, CNBG, FHM/RR. I added 4 TP for algae this spring and a single albino CC for fun. That's the only predator I intentionally placed in the pond.

This one fish, unlike all the others, hunts the banks for minnows. It will actually drive them up on the bank and come a 1/3 out of the water on the shoreline to devour its prey. I don't know enough about identifying fish to tell what it is, but based on it's aggressive feeding behavior, I'm guessing the birds stocked it.

Can any of you take a peek and let me know what you think I have here?

I took three short video clips this morning. You can probably get the best looks at it in the second video.

Thanks!!
/clayton

Looks like a RES sunfish to me, you can see a redish orange margin on the eartab toward the end of the 2nd video.

Thanks!

I appreciate the help. It’s cerainly fun to watch how different it is from the bluegill.

/c

I over wintered a few RES in my aquarium a few years ago, they loved eating FHM but did most of their hunting after the lights went out. I had five RES in the tank and they ate 15 to 20 FHM a day.

I watched a few of my RES eat pellets today in my RES/SMB pond. Compared to BG feeding they are very selective and particular. Of course part of that could be difference in competition. In my main pond there are lots of BG and intense competition to get a pellet. In my RES/SMB pond there is much less competition and with pellets floating on the surface they have more time to be choosy. But the RES definitely have different mannerisms than BG.

I also kept a few in an aquarium for a while. When I was trying to get them pellet trained they would be interested in the sinking starter feed as long as it was sinking or in some way moving, but would quickly loose interest once the pellet hit bottom. It seemed like they wanted movement before they considered it a food item. I put tiny live snails in and as a snail would move the small RES would race towards it, stop, and stare at it. If the snail moved again they would eat it. It is like it had to be moving before they wanted it.

In my RES/SMB pond I only see a few of the RES have gotten used to pellets and eat them (at least while I am observing - others may eat them after they sink or when I leave). A lot higher portion of the SMB seem to go after the pellets but even they are more active right when the pellets hit the surface.

RES information and links to other RES threads