Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Three bluegill--three different feeds

I can't guess all three, but I'd say Aquamax 300 or 600 had either of the top two results.

EDIT: Bruce has been feeding his largest BG Aquamax Largemouth, hasn't he?

I think #3 has been eating the top secret feed Bruce has been beta testing for Mark Griffin.

Do we have to wait untill Christmas?

I suspect human sacrifice in that bottom fish. Hey, if that's what it takes...

"I suspect human sacrifice in that bottom fish. Hey, if that's what it takes..."

Apocalypto Condello-Style?

Is there any way we can ban Bruce?

Was there any difference in anything other than feed? Were all three fish representative of the population in that pond? In other words, what else may have been different?

I don't think so, but I understand the sentiment. Most of us probably would have been happy with BG #1.

This thread makes me lose sleep at night! Soon my work will start to suffer.

This post is like forcing a fat kid to sit and watch while you eat a big piece of cake!

Maybe Bruce sang to the top fish, hummed to the middle one, and did nothing to the bottom one.

Don't matter to me. I have some as big as the bottom one anyway. They're like 7 years old, but so what?

I think there should be a law against sadistic people being allowed to practice Dentistry, But it's normal for pondaholics.

Since we haven't been given an answer yet, I noticed when I switched from PGFC to Aquamax that the it took awhile for the bluegill to really start eating it. They don't seem to be eating as much either which wasn't a big concern for me since the protein content of the Aquamax is almost 50% higher. Maybe how it tastes has more to do with growth than the protein content. It would kinda make sense...if given the choice of eating whey protein or big macs, I'd gain more on big macs because I'd eat more even though the whey protein shakes have higher protein concentration.

Ryan, I have noticed when switching feed at the end of the year (and trying to finish off whatever I have left) that my fish don't like going from GFC to Aquamax OR from Aquamax to GFC.

Can fish have heart attacks? If not I migh try that big mac thing. it's probably cheaper than GFC

You would think BG would go by the mantra "beggars can't be choosers" but apparently they didn't get the memo...

Nope.

Uh uh. Sorry.

Yep, same here.

Disagree.

No, NO, NOOO!!!!

Negatory there, Big Ben.

Same three fish, overhead view.



One fish doesn't like his feed when the water gets too cool. To be honest, he eats it, and then spits it out a lot.

The next fish likes his food a lot, but it sometimes gives him the runz, and lots of algae grows in his tank. He grows rapidly, but if you look at his innards upon dissection, some of his organs don't look quite right. He'll still outgrow any of his cousins who don't have feed by about two to one.

The biggest fish eats his food when it gets cold out, and seems to come to floating pellets better than the other two fish. He also doesn't appear to have any sorts of internal issues.

Believe it or not, by percentile, vs. the fish that weren't given any feed at all the fish ranked as follows:

Smallest fish, about 60th percentile
Middle fish, about 97th percentile
Biggest fish, they don't make a percentile high enough for him

Bruce,
Pardon me for missing the point, but is the difference in size a function of the feeding behaviors of each individual fish in response to temperature (as implied in your last post) or the use of different types of pellets (as suggested in your original post).

A combination of both?

Great question.

I'm not sure.

I think that a particular food may have "cues" that tell a fish to stop eating.

I also think that how much a fish "likes" a particular feed may dictate whether it will come to the surface in borderline temperatures--like in the 50-55 F degree range. Most of this is speculation, but when fish that start out all the same, and are grown in identical tanks with identical water and identical temperatures, and you've got fish in one tank hammering pellets off the top in 52 degree water, and fish in the other tank just barely blipping the pellets, maybe you're on to something.

If I could just get into their teeny-tiny minds maybe I could know for sure.

One thing I do know is that high quality feeds make bluegill grow a lot, even in really cool water.

Sounds like you need to selectively breed BG for what kinda feed you're going to feed them. Aquamax strain BG, Purina strain BG, etc... Some BG like one feed over another, so if you selectively breed ones that like the certain feed you are going to feed your fish, then you're on your way???