Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations catfood

I was wondering if any of you could tell me what to feed my catfish that is cheep but good for them.Some people tell me to feed them dog food. Is dogfood healthy for them? Or should i get some kind of fish food. Thanks

Lots of posts on "catfood", just search (search in) Feeding
Here's one: http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=000007

And another: http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=000077

So Aquamax is the best feed to use what is the differance between the 500 and the 600? Why would I use the 600 over the 500 or vice versa??

I called the feed store for a bag of this Aquamax feed and it is a whopping $23.00 a bag?? they also carry something called Southern states feed which is 36% protien which is $12.75 per bag...Is it really worth the extra $10.00 per bag??? If it is I WILL SWITCH TO THIS AQUAMAX 500 or 600!!

I have fed mine whatever Tractor Supply sells and they have been fat and happy for 4 plus years.

Bob

Big Pond, you can also buy Purina Game Fish Chow which sells around here for about $11 per bag, not much different than dog food. I think it is about 32% protein and thus is formulated more for those who supplement the natural food their fish get. I've tried it and it made my fish fat and happy. The Aquamax is what fish farmers use since it can be the only food your fish get. I've heard it will grow them a little faster but I've used both and can't tell a difference.

Floating fish food Catfish Diet Tractor Supply $11.38 / 50#

Spring for the Purina Fish Chow!

No need to feed the catfish Aquamax. They can handle lower protein and higher carbs found in the lower grade cheaper feeds. Catfish are omnivores.

I'm trying a mix of 2 to 1 of Purina Fish Chow and Aquamax. My Stren hold 75lb so 50lb and 25lb works good.

Yeah that all depends on how well you want the cats to grow....At the end of the day I think shad is the BEST food for cats...especially blue cat....which is what I have..

Everything I've read and heard has said that food pellets are the most cost effective way to grow big fish the fastest.

But don't you think fish grow bigger from eating protien?? from their NATURAL enviroment??

Lusk once posted that you shouldn't feed 7 days per week. They need some natural food.

OK so is it true that the BEST feed out there is the Aquamax 600, what is the Aquamax 500?? They both cost the same..

The difference between the Aquamax's is pellet size.

info

I use about 50/50 of the 2.5mm Zeigler pellets and the larger TSC catfish feed; everybody gets some that way.

Has anyone used the insect traps or lights that drop or knock the bugs into the water? I'm trying to find out how they work and if it's possible to make one from the solar powered lights I saw at the builders' supply.

Chip, yes I do use what I call a bug whacker. It is a combination light and weed whip type affair that attracts bugs at night then wacks them so they fall into the water. I was out last night about 10:00 watching my two units work. The bugs are hitting the water at an amazing rate and the fish are schooled under it scooping them up as fast as they can. It really works. I made them myself mostly from common parts available at local stores for about $50 each. I could provide the plans if desired.

bz,
Would you post the plans?

Sure would if I knew how to do that. What I have is a CAD drawing showing an exploded view of the unit with all the parts labeled. I can provide the drawing in several picture type formats including I think JPG. I'll look into that if someone can help me figure out how to post a picture on this forum. Otherwise I could email. The unit is made from a large stainless steel kitchen bowl, a standard kitchen flouescent light fixture with the two circular bulbs, and a small AD motor that I bought at Grainger Industrial Supply. You just got to know how to put it together and add some heavy weed trimmer line. Pretty easy to make.

Feeding 2 times daily . With 32% floating feed .

C-Cats are in the 5 to 7 pound range .

Can someone tell me why some have yellow flesh , and red flesh on the skin side when fillayed .

I don't like this on my fish , and trim it off wasting a lot of meat . Harvey

harvey,
I would put your question in a post of it's own such as "What determines color of flesh in fish"

I know Cecil has some knowledge on the subject but may not read your post here.

bz,

I'd like to see what you have. Please post or PM me with what you have. Any format will be OK. CAD is OK if that's easiest for you.

Thanks,

Chip

Chip and Ric, I emailed some plans and picture of my bug whacker to Chip. I'll try to do the same for Ric. I'll let Chip comment on whether he thinks the thing is worth making. I was just out again tonight watching the bugs drop and the fish eat. I notice a big drop in how much food my fish will eat during the day when I've got two of these running over my 1/2 acre pond. Almost free food. The motor is very small and the flourescent lights only draw about 40 watts.

biz,

Thanks for the e-mail and photo. That's pretty much what I had in mind but since I was going with solar power I wanted to use low draw components like LEDS for the lighting and a DC fan similar to the one on a PC, but a small motor with the string trimmer is very innovative since you are whacking the bugs as they travel to the light source rather than using a fan to draw them out.Anyone that's noticed a bug clinging to their windshield wipers can tell you how well they can hang on sometimes.

Good work,

Chip

Chip, I've tried the fan idea and another problem is that the bugs hit the water but most of them just take off and fly away again. I came to the conclusion that you need to knock them down. Even with this design if they don't get hit too hard they still hit the water and fly away. My design does have a fan to cool the motor. The fan blows downward which does tend to blow bugs down into the pond even if they don't get hit by the whacker. They mostly just fly away again. I checked on the parts I bought and the motor is only 1/40 hp. So it doesn't take much power but this is the smallest motor I found that will swing a trimmer line of any length. Another idea I've tried is to make the fan unit that you talk about but have the bugs blown into a mesh bag. You can run this all night and then the next day just dump the bugs into the pond as feed. I would sometimes catch 10 lbs of bugs a night. By the time they sat packed in the bag all night most were dead but the fish still eat 'em and they don't fly away.