Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait N. Redbelly dace

Anyone have experience with N. Redbelly dace as pond forage.
I would like to add a different species of minnow to the pond, not that I need to but just for diversity. They are in some nearby wild ponds and are a beautiful little minnow.
They might not hold up well from trout predation but it might be worth a try,.... any thoughts.

I had a redbelly dance in a northern strip club one night, but I am not allowed to talk about it anymore.

Oh, redbelly dace, sorry I have no experience with. Please allow that I have had a few Kettle One Vodkas tonight.

Leband lang, und prosper,
the stick

NO, NOT THIS ONE....THE FISH!!!!

So you were that guy in the front row!

Sorry AP, no personal experience with northern redbelly dace. I have kept its cousin species the southern and mountain redbelly dace in aquariums though. They are beautiful fish that is for sure and were fairly easy to care for in the aquarium setting... So I would imagine their close cousin the northern redbelly would be similar in its hardiness. They prefer soft acidic waters which would fit your pond perfectly... They only reach a maximum size of about 3", so they wouldn't get too big. They also spawn over FA without the need of running water, so they should pull off a healthy spawn in your pond as well. I see no reason to not attempt to stock some in your pond. Try to make sure the fish you get are healthy and if you are really concerned, consider treating them with different medications before releasing them into your pond. I'd try to stock them in early to mid spring before they spawn to give them a better chance at taking hold...

Yeah CJ, the redbellys are a beautiful minnow and can tolerate acidic water but their red color would probably add to tough survival with trout in the pond.
When the snow & ice is gone I'm gonna hike the 2 miles back into the remote pond that has them, maybe I should take my wife, she can carry the buckets out.
I've read that they can lay up to 5000 eggs per season, that's not too shabby. If I get some I'll put pics up.

You'd be surprised, that red color may seem like it would cause them to stick out like a sore thumb, but under the water is actually helps them blend in.

hmmmm, the "Fireline" of fish. I guess maybe there is something to using red mono then?

Shhhhhh!

Hopefully I can get some this year. If so, I may have some pretty good info to pass on in the future.

Also want to play with the Finescale Dace and Creek Chub.

If you can get creek chubs to spawn in your pond, myself and Bill Cody would love to hear about it. If you have a stream feeding it, it would be very possible then.

Finscale daces are closely related to N. redbelly daces, so much so they often hybridize where found together. They are very similar to them in spawning requirements and habitat preferences.

Travis, do you know the desired spawning habitat for creek chub? I can certainly try to imitate it in my pond since I have a ton of them in the creek a short walk away.

Omaha, we have plenty of creek chubs here but I guess you do need flowing water over gravel, here's some info from ohio DNR.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/creekchub/tabid/6599/Default.aspx

I wonder if the trout spawning box would work for creek chubs, it was in the Sept,-Oct. 2006 Pond Boss.

That link is an excellent description of creek chub spawning needs and behavior. Not going to be found in a pond...

Thanks AP. I'll have to check out that back issue.

Yes it is.

I was going to attempt in an artificial environment. I have two 10 foot long troughs that are 2 feet wide and 12" deep. Plus I believe I have maybe 8 or 9 sheets available so I could fab up more and connect them together or make larger troughs.

I grew out Creek Chubs in grey pvc tanks for about eight months back in the day before I had to pull the plug. No spawning, but I know they will thrive in tanks.

One thing, is that reflections in a tank really spook bait fish. I blasted the insides with crushed glass to dull them up and that was a big help.

I wish I had my daily log note book I kept, but I haven't seen that since I moved eight years ago.

I use to get teased by certain family and friends for my activities with bait fish. But because of VHS, the rules have all changed.

I have had creek chubs successfully spawn in an artificial stream I built. I used koi/goldfish pond liner and dug out a trough. I lined the trough with the pond liner. The trough basically made an artificial stream bed. The stream ran into a lined pond. I made the trough deeper in some spots and shallow in other areas to form riffles and pools. I used a pretty powerful pump to get a good "stream flow" from the pond up to the beginning of the stream and so on. I was able to get several different species of fish to spawn in that creek. It was very educational.

Nice! We have to get you to Nebraska sometime and do this. Bigger scale though!

CJ didn't tell you he had to use this pump.

Well, forget it then. That's bigger than my pond!

Million gallons per minute? HAHA

Any idea on the stream/creek velocity required? I suppose I could visit a known Creek Chub stream and do some measurements.

1-2 feet per second...

If you're dying to know more about creek chubs, here's a HSI Study on them.

Thanks.

CJ you've probably mentioned it before, but what would be the best field guide for identifying minnows and larger fish?