Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New guy here.

Hey fellow pond enthusiasts. My name shall be Brier here. We can get on a first name basis as needed. I am a fish freak. A pond is somewhat secondary. I am a Member of NANFA. http://forum.nanfa.org/ Many of you guys might find it interesting. We are all about native American fish. If you want an ID on a fish, post it up on this forum, It will be IDed. I have kept most US fish fish in aquariums, so I am familiar with their habits. Last year I finally put in a quarter acre pond on my property, which is managed as a food fish pond. We strive for self sufficiency, and raise all of our own meats, and most of our veggies. A pond has filled a missing link. I am an Aquaculture license holder, and if any one is interested, I can ship small quantities of various fish for stocking. I have tons of Gambusia right now. I am experienced in shipping, and can get fish to your door alive, at a reasonable cost. I also have a hatchery nearby that I can get most gamefish from, and ship to others, who might not have a hatchery nearby. As an aquaculture license holder, I can also acquire many wild caught midwest minnows that might interest fellow members in stocking. I am not interested in making a real business in this, rather, offering my resources to others. On the NANFA forum, we swap fishes quite often, and you would be surprised at how easily I could get you a starter culture of Gambusia, or Bluntnose minnows. Maybe others could pick this up and swap some fish. I sure would like a bag of grass shrimp. I could lend some help on shipping, and even provide some Kordon breather bags to individuals who wanted to ship small quantities of fish.
I have learned a lot here already, and hit this forum everyday after I get home. I am in the infant stages of managing my pond, and may ask for help as thing progress. I have stocked Gambusia, FHM, GSH, Black crappie, YP, BG, HBG, CC, RES. No top predator as of yet. I intend that to be me and my two boys. If things go south as far as overpopulation, and stunting, I shall introduce HSB, LMB, and possibly a flathead catfish or two. I have hogs, and chickens, and intend to seine a large amount of fish to use as feed, so it will help control any chance of over population. I am currently feeding daily, and will continue for at least the first full year. I also have several tubs with daphnia cultures, that I feed to the pond. Anyone interested in daphnia? I have Daphnia Magna, which get close to a quarter inch. Sunfish love them, and I think they would be a good addition to any pond. I reckon that is all I can say about myself. I feel odd talking about myself so much, a bit self centered, but I guess that is the point of an introduction. I am looking forward to learning from you all, and hope that I can help out with my knowledge,experience, and resources.

Welcome to the site brier. Also a buckeye!!!! I don't think there is any such thing as a fish freak on this site. Anyway, sounds like you know what you're talking about. You're going to be in good company here... Again, WELCOME HOME!!!

Hi Brier. Welcome to our little family. Look forward to getting to know you better.

Thanks guys, I originally replied to a thread about removing unwanted grass carp, and have to say that of any forum I have ever been on, this seems to be the warmest welcome ever. What a great bunch of folks!

Welcome Brier... From a fellow NANFA member and fish nut. There is always a need for weird fish ID on here. Enjoy the ride!

Hey Brier -- great introduction. Welcome. We do try real hard to make people feel welcome, and we try real hard to provide accurate advice. Your background should be a real asset, so keep coming back.

And, as you may have noticed, we don't always give advice. Sometimes we just have fun. If you've been reading the forum for a while, you may have seen that we are sending a box of lures all over the world for forum members to fish with in their ponds (Fellowship of the Traveling Lures) before sending it to another Pond Boss member. Well, now it will be my turn. A good Pond Boss friend, Todd3138, is driving about 3 hours over the mountain to deliver them. We'll fish a few ponds and maybe have a fish fry.

I guess what I'm trying to say with lots of words is that this is a good place to make great friends who love fish and ponds.

Again, welcome!

Ken

Welcome to PB. Glad to have new posters. Interesting set of fish in your pond.

Welcome! Maybe I can learn more stuff from you, too!

I'm a member of the WAG and DumbLuck Pond Management Association of Athens, GA.

Seriously, I know very little and almost all of it was learned from this site and the magazine but I'm never shy about asking questions.
Nice to see another knowledgeable person here to take some of the pressure off the other smart folks here who put up with my questions - and always with good humor and friendliness!

Al

Hey Brier - I admire the NANFA forum too - welcome aboard! I just read your post on zooplankton and your efforts to raise them. Sounds very cool - could you PM me some details?

Thanks and good to have you here.