Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction 1/3 acre pond in Tampa

Hi!

My name is Mike Sweet and I have a 1/3 acre pond in Tampa, Florida. It goes up and down about 4-6 feet during the year, low in the spring and high in the summer. The deep end is about 5 feet deep during the low season and the pond reduces in size about 20%. It is filled with native water lilies. It is an old cattle pond and has a thick layer (several feet) of detritus on the bottom. It is the level of ground water and has little surface water flowing into it. The water is clear in winter and I do not have algae problems. It has a lot of mosquito fish and frogs and tadpoles.

I have not been able to keep bigger fish in it. I stocked with tilapia I netted from a local lake several years ago. The next year a few spawned and I saw small fish. Two years later a cold winter killed them off. The local farm extension recommends against tilapia so I have not tried them again. Some people have recommended against changing anything as many local ponds are algae filled stink holes and mine looks good, it just does not have big fish in it.

Two years ago I stocked with about 30 mature blue gill and I have put in a variety of sunfish (around 30 at a time) that I catch in other lakes, but I cannot get a bite when I test fish. I have not fed the pond regularly. I have a lot of birds, including cormorants (after I stock), and we have otters in this area.

I would like to have something I can catch and eat occasionally. What should I do to get some fish to take? Would catfish be a better bet? Do I have to feed the pond? Do I need to try to control the predators? Could predators eat every BG in the pond?

Is there anything I can do to reduce the detritus build up without draining or scraping the the pond? I wondered if crayfish might eat some of it and then I could trap the crayfish. Would plecostomus (common in local ponds and rivers) reduce the detritus or do they cause problems in ponds?

Can you swim in a pond like mine? I have waded in deep and got small bites from something. The lilies and detritus make swimming difficult. My dog likes the pond.

I have just started to look around your site. There are a lot of interesting posts.

Thank you for your help.

Tilapia generally will help clear a pond of detritus, You might consider adding more. I believe they are leagal in your county, If you lost them to cold in the Tampa area it must have been a few years ago when FL had one of the coldest winters in history. You probably would not have lost them if you had a little more water depth, I bet they are all alive and well in pond you got them originally.

You might just have sludge at the bottom built up after many years, that is usually best sucked out or dug out.

Predators can sure put a big dent in fish population on a small clear pond. A lot of Florida ponds are actually kind of sterile or oligotrophic which makes them clear and not real productive.

Mine was gin clear and not very productive; I added shiners and started feeding. The fish load is now giving a slight green tint to the water now and the fish are getting healthier looking.

Aeration might help some with the sediment...

Lots of neat fish options with you being in Tampa area due to your typical warm winter climate.

Does the pond have Shiners of other minnows other than the mosquito fish?
I’m sure the experts can help a lot more...


Real experts will be able to help more soon

B.Rice is from your region and he is doing neat things with his FL pond so he will have good local advice - heed it. The shallow depth of the pond is aiding the predators catch the larger fish. Clear water also helps predators catch your fish. The deeper the pond is toward 8-10ft the better the fish community will be long term. Aeration benefits all ponds, consider that as an option in the near future. Aeration is useful and not wasted money if you deepen the pond. Feeding the fish may just fatten them up for the predators until you can figure out what is happening to the fish after they are stocked. I would seriously consider adding structure/ cover/habitat when you reintroduce tilapia. Do you live at the pond to keep a good eye on what is happening daily?

Agreed, I like pallet triangles. They provide the fish a place to get under and around to avoid predation from above and under the water.

Thanks for the advice.

I live at the pond but it is about 100 yards from the house and I do not check it every day.

The lily plants have long tubers that I thought would provide cover for the fish. The tubers are several feet deep in the deeper parts of the pond. I will try adding some pallets to see if that helps the next time I stock the pond. I will give tilapia another try. They were killed in our cold winter.

I would try feeding the Blue Gill, even if its just the cheap pellets from your local feed store. Also , if you intend to have predators stocking forage fish will help. Golden Shiners should work in a pond like yours. You might consider trying to get a good population started before predators are added.

Do you fish in the bay or coastal areas? if so Large Mouth Bass are not your only options for predators.

Cormorants are terrible, I would do what ever it takes to get them gone from your pond. SSS

Bobby,

What predator fish from the bay could be added to my pond?

I will restock 100 small bluegill and 100 small blue tilapia in the spring. I will start feeding when I restock and see if that makes much difference. I will add a bunch of big oak trimmings for cover. Hopefully, if I feed the fish they will keep up with the predation. If I can get the bluegill and tilapia to take I will look at predator fish.

What can I do to keep the commorants away? I am not around enough to chase them off.

Is it worth adding some channel catfish with my BG (since I plan to feed)or should I wait until the bluegill are established?

Thanks for the advice, I feel a lot better about trying to get some fish in this pond.

I know you mentioned not dredging the pond, but a regular TLB (tractor, loader, backhoe) can do quite a bit around the edge of a small pond. You could dig out one side with the backhoe to give some more deep water on one side without renovating the entire pond, and maybe with only a half days backhoe expense.

Don't take this as advice though because I do not know your soils or pond for your area. If you had a liner or something that would ruin the pond, it would be a bad deal. Make sure someone locally knows about that stuff before trying it. We can do it in our soils normally without problem.

I would not do all the way around it as it stirs up a lot of silt and will stress fish for a few days. But one side so the fish had the choice of water to stay in would likely be ok.

Just another option, to give your big fish some deeper water. A regular TLB can reach down quite a ways and one with extend-a-hoe even farther.

Welcome to the forum, SDFJ!

Bobby - key in our new Florida friend on some salty species that would be suitable additions to his fishery.
[Unintentional alliteration]

SweetDream,
If you are sourcing wild fish any way you might consider tossing a cast net in some local ponds or parks you might be able to get some larger adult tilpia that will avoid being eaten and start spawning right away. Also if you fish for larger adult BG the same would apply. I had good luck tossing it at night because they could not see me as well.

Golden Shiners might be e good option to try to get established as well.

Managing Bass in a small pond can be difficult so as an alternative you could add snook, mangrove snapper, tarpon, jack crevelle, southern flounder, and Atlantic spade fish. Keep in mind some of these fish have angling guidelines to be able to keep them so just be aware as fishing for them is really the only way to get them. However I have accedentally gotten them in my cast net tossing for baitfish in the canals and marshes.

I would think a snook or two and a school of mangrove snapper would be easy for your pond to handle and be able to keep fed.

Bobby,

Thank you for your advice. I am going to wait for warmer weather and try your suggestions. It would be amazing if I could get a snook to live in my pond!

I saw a commorant at the pond today so I think there must still be some of the fish I have stocked in the past. I am going to start feeding in the evening and see if anything starts to come up to the food. Once I see some bluegill regularly I will go with the predators.

Bobby even has a video of flounder taking BG in one of his ponds. Check it out!!

any progess on your pond?