Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Little bit of sticker shock - Aquamax

I went in this morning to place my order for the first AQ500 of the season, and was informed that the price had gone up $10 per bag over last year. That should put it up around $47 per 50 lbs now.

Wow.

I picked up two bags of 500 and two of 600 last week. The total bill was $126.00 which included tax. That averages $31.50 per bag. BTW the owner was not there but his daughter was. It is possible she used last year's price without knowing it. This was likely their first Aquamax sale of the year.

I paid $32.50 for a bag of 5D06 today and it was brought right to my door. I convinced my supplier to drop it off here, as he comes by here anyway after picking it up at his distributor.

I was worried it would take longer but they came through! I need to get some hydrated feed in my female perch for egg development and my trout have been hitting air bubbles they are so hungry!

Tony,

There is a feed mill and new company cranking up in Indiana if it hasn't already that may be competitive. I'll do some checking and see what I can find out.

Glad a brought a couple of bags from Nate last fall that should get me thought for a while. In fact my fish including trout haven't started feeding yet. Been hand tossing on the warmer days and no takers.

Yeah I just paid 33 bucks for the AM600 a bag. 47 dollars is a bit on the high side! That's what I pay at the local TSP company but farm coop's should be cheeper I would think. At least they are around here.

RC

Maybe I should check around. I do my best to support local businesses, being one myself, but if there's that much difference in price...

Dropped by the co-op in Bloomington- not too far for ya. They quoted me $44.60- have to order it as they don't stock. Said some guy gets a pallet every Weds.

They do stock GFC. Think it was $37.

I was buying 100 lb of grass seed though.

Thanks DNickolaus. I used to get my AQ there at the co-op in B-town, before my local dealer set up shop. Not a whole lot of difference in price between them and my guys, so I'll stick close to home for now.

I greatly appreciate the info!

Placed my first order of the year this morning for 2 bags of AM500. $37 a bag + tax. Believe I paid $34 a bag last year.

Bill have you bought from or checked in with the mill in Napoleon yet this yr?

My local feed store has not raised their price for their current stock of Aquamax - $38.00/bag.

Hmmm.....wonder where the price increase is coming from. The next closest place to my location that can get AQ is roughly the same price as my local facility, so I don't think the price increase is strictly at the dealer, but must be somewhere in the supply chain from plant to dealer.

Ingredients cost more.. Price will continue to go up until either demand stops or alternatives are found..

Fuel has went up and so does everything than

I realize that fuel is expensive, and I'm sure the ingredients needed to produce AQ haven't gone down in price either. However, why is there such a difference in price for the very same product, geographically speaking?

Bill....$38
Water Fowl....$37
RC51....$33
Cecil....$32.5
Bing....$31.5
Cisco...$35.80
Me....$47

Really?

At one time AQ was produced right here in Indiana, is this still the case? Bill is right next door in Ohio, WF and Bing are on the other side in Illinois, and Cecil lives in state like I do. What am I missing here?

Has to have something to shipping and possibly price breaks facilities get for quantity they buy..

Remember that chainsaw you fixed for the feed store owner?

It threw a rod.

Ha! That must be it!

I picked up a bag of AM500 and AM600 yesterday. The 500 was $35.47 and the 600 was $35.80 a sack. hasn't gone up much in my area. YET!

Sparkplug and others who are paying more for Aquamax. I think the first think to consider when looking at AQ prices is whether you are buying it directly from a Purina dealer or someone else. If from a Purina dealer then transportation costs and dealer markup should be the primary differences.

If you are not buying directly from a Purina dealer then you may be buying from someone who is buying from a Purina dealer and reselling it to you. Something like buying a tube of toothpaste from Walmart vs. buying from a convenience store on the Interstate where everything costs more.

Relative to me being on the other side of Illinois (a state and a half away from Richmond IN) where AQ is made, the Purina dealer I buy mine from is located in Vandalia IL and is about 1 mile from a Purina distribution center. The transit to Illinois on a semi is likely less of a cost than a dealer who is 50 or miles away from a distribution center.

Sparkplug, what you're missing is good ol greed.

Did a little more digging into this myself. The prices up in NE IN are tempting as I have a daughter in Muncie/BSU and could maybe do a side-trip for feed.
My data points for AQ500 are:
Bloomington Co-op: $44.60
Bedford: $37
Mooresville: $40

All are order ahead and pickup later Purina dealers. They have no sales volume in fish feed. The Bedford guy was extremely helpful (a small ma&pa place). He admitted their cost has gone up ~$7 this year. And their markup is not that much.. thus they were the best price in our part of the state. My pond is only 12 mi from Bedford, so that seems the way to go for me as long as the creeks aren't over the road again. Plus he has some AQ4000 on hand he'll sell at cost that my forage fish should love.

If what he said about dealer cost is true, those selling a $32 bag almost have to be selling last year's / pre-cost-jump bags.

To all those following this topic. The bags of Aquamax, prior to introducing the new style of bag last year, had the production or manufacture date stamped on the bottom of the bag. I cannot find any production date marked anywhere on the new bags. Look over your bag of AM fish food large pellet size (600) and see if you can find anything that indicates when the food was made.

I wonder how many distribution centers there are serving the dealers in Indiana? In other words, are all the registered Purina dealers getting their feed from the same place? From Mooresville, to Spencer, to Bloomington, to Bedford is a distance of probably 75-80 miles. All state highway, with the majority of that being a divided 4 lane highway. Easy running.

I think all the Aquamax is made in Richmond IN. We should have a contact information for Purina for when we have questions about the fish food.

The bags are stamped in black ink by the tape you open it with. Not on the tape itself but on the bag by the tape.My 600 is marked 5D06 APR03141 0305 the AQ500 is marked similar except the date(I think) says APR02143. I think this is the date stamp Bill but it could be something else. I tried to get a picture but it's pretty overcast here today and the black ink doesn't show up on the blue bag. I'll get a picture later when I get to the farm and post it.

Cisco, is it under the tape so it's visible once the tape is removed (to open the bag)?

If anybody is going by Culver, Indiana try giving Bar MM Feed a call. They usually stock 500 and 600. 574-842-3374 Connie or her mom usually answers the phone.

Cisco - How tall are the letters? The numbers you are seeing are dates of manufacture. I have another new unopened bag of AM600. I will look again and closely.

Cisco, I looked at the bag in the sun, and I found the date code. It's partially worn off on my bag, and you are right, they ARE hard to see. I don't know if they'll show up in a picture or not.

Date code is also on my bag black letters on dark blue plastic and almost all rubbed off my bag. Letters are about 3/8" tall.

My supplier has not been able to get me any 600 for 3 weeks now. Is something going on with production?

No issue getting it here a week and a half ago.

Finally came in today! I think my fish were getting tired of working so hard for the 500.

Went ahead and stocked up this time. Took forever that round for some reason. Now they are having problems getting 500 for another person. I'm paying $36.99 a 50 pound. Guess I can't complain much.

Sorry guys, I didn't see the quetions until now but I see they've been answered. My internet at the farm is slow at very best so I'm not on much on the weekends. Again, sorry I missed it!

What do you guys like better? The 500 or 600?

I like the 600 better. I get 500 when they are out. I guess it depends on what your feeding. You can see what I'm feeding in my signature line.

AM600 for me as well and AM LMB for the LMB and HSB.

John, you ARE stocked up! Do you use a feeder or feeding by hand, and how often?

I Just picked up a bag of AM600 for $38.95 and I find prices vary at the different Co-op's

Yep I'm stocked up for awhile. I feed by hand every evening. The only reason I haven't switched to a feeder is I've noticed some nights they eat more than others. Sometimes won't feed at all. I feel I can better gauge the amount this way. Right now I still have them trout gorging on AM. Having a crawfish boil/ trout catching party on Earth Day next week. A few friends are coming up to help get those trout out. Running out of time. The pond is less than a hundred yards from house. Prob closer to 75. Can't wait.

My lovely wife picked up my order this evening, since their delivery hadn't arrived yet when I was there earlier in the day. (thanks babe!)

I was told to expect a $10 per bag price increase over last year when I ordered....

$38.50 per bag, including tax. (AQ500) Right on par with last year's prices.

I may ask my wife to pick up the feed from now on.

So your wife is a looker? Good for you.

Yeah, I would have to chuckle if Tony goes back and they charge him 10.00 more than his wife!!

It might go back to that chainsaw theory.

Tony better not chance it and just have wife pick up the feed everytime. He is a busy man anyway.

Just picked my order up and it was $36 a bag, so the same as Tony at $38.50 a bag with tax..

I don't pay sales tax on mine. And when I asked why they say it doesn't apply. Any ideas?

Do you have a tax exempt number on file with your supplier, Cecil?

Pay with cash?

No.

Usually by check. I thinking it's my state and something to do with agriculture.

In my state taxidermists don't charge sales tax unless they sell something retail. In many other states they do.

3 bags each of 500,600, LMB and averaged $38/ea last week. Not sure what I paid last year...I don't pay attention typically unless it's a noticeable increase or decrease. I guess I'm ok as long as pricing remains below $40

$38.99 + tax last week for 600. I think it's that same price as last year here.

My dad found some Game Fish Chow in NE Oklahoma for just under $29 a bag, I remember when I paid $17.

This seems high for this but maybe not, he did not say if they stocked AM or not and I did not get a chance for him to ask how much it would be to order it, if they even can.

Has anyone else here in Oklahoma purchased and GFC or AM lately? Just wondering what it is going for here.

Picked up more AQ500 this morning, paid $36 per bag not including tax. So I've gone from being told to expect a $10 per bag price increase in the beginning, to paying $38.50 a bag on my initial order, and now $36.

I think I'll quit trying to apply any sense of logic to Purina's pricing structure, and simply enjoy the feed at a cheaper price.

Thanks Purina! My fish and I appreciate your efforts.

Amen!

From two different Co-op's which have now merged:
AM 600 on 7-23-13 was $35.68 inc tax
AM 600 on 9-10-13 was $48.00 inc tax
AM 600 on 10-04-13 was $41.54 inc tax
AM 600 on 4-17-14 was $38.95 inc tax

AM LMB on 4-24 was 53.95 inc tax. That one was a shock!
More records at home to see what I paid last year for the AM LMB food.

At these rates my feeding program will have to stop.

OK, I looked up Purina dealers around here and made a couple calls today. The closest farm feed store that I have done business with many times said "whats Aquamax 500 never heard of it". So the nice lady went and checked and came back and said we have an old bag of Big strike that's busted open and I could have it for $10. But they would look up AM 500 and call back.

So I called the next Purina dealer listed, and the very nice young lady said "whats that?" Anyhow, they said they would look it up and call me back.

Then I called the 3rd place and they said, is that some kind of catfish food?

Anyhow I got a return call from one already and they said they can order me a 50 lb bag of Aquamax 500, It will cost around $65.

Not too many feeders around here.

Anyone ever make their own food? I couldnt find a recipe anywhere. I heard that GBH are great sources of protein.

I just purchase 3 bags of 500 for $35.66 per bag at the Grand Prairie Feed Store. Best that I can recall last year was in $34 range.

I bought 2 bags of Game fish Chow at $24.50 per bag. I also got a punch card for buy 12 get one free or something like that. The guy at the feed store even loaded it for me. He was probably 10+ yrs my senior, much smaller build, and he slung one over each shoulder and carried out of the warehouse to my tailgate.

I read all the comments about GFC being preferred. I'm trying to cull the LMB population a bit so I haven't even checked water temp yet, but I'd guess it must be getting pretty close. Haven't seen any of the 5-7" YP that the stork brought in fall yet either.

GFC works well for fish that aren't carnivores. AquaMax Grower works best for carnivores (LMB, YP, HSB, RBT). It works even better than GFC on BG.

Got a return call yesterday from another feed store, they said they could order me a 50 lb bag of Aquamax 500 for 35.99. I told him sold.

And I don't even have a feeder.

New young guy at the Co-op today was ringing up my AM600 ($39.50) and AM LMB ($50.50) totaling $94.95 with tax when he said "do you realize how much this stuff costs? That's crazy, leave me your phone number and since you're the only one buying this stuff I'm going to see if we can get you a better deal". I thanked him and said no one else has been able to.

Called me back in 20 minutes and got the AM600 to $34.50 and the AM LMB to $45.35 with the only stipulation that I continue buying it.

The extra $10 off from now on is great but I was more impressed with the kid that took the initiative to help. It was kinda comical how he got pi$$ed at how much the stuff costs and wanted to do something about it.

Don't see that very much any more!

I have a new friend

Hey Guys, I buy Purina Game Fish Chow for $13.25 a bag all day long at Tractor Supply in Danville, Ky. All of my fish can't get too us fast enough when we go out to feed! I might note that I blend chicken livers and a small bit of sardines with chicken broth in a blender and then mix half the amount of feed with the blend , let it sit for about 15 minutes, stir it in with the remaining dry feed and everything in the pond races to get there first. We have channel cat, hybrid stripers, red ears, Large mouth bass, Black Crappies, creek chubs, Gold shiners, mummichog , fatheads, glass shrimp, etc , and they all get in on the action it is a sight to see. We have artificial Christmas trees concreted into chimney blocks under our dock and throw feed into them and you can watch all the forage species and y.o.y. spawn come out into view to eat the feed!

I don't use one but have one in storage. i will probably bring it out this year for one of the ponds if I ever want to go on vacation!

Just finished reading this thread as I was just quoted $57 for AM 600 and $39 for AM 2000. I understand the lower price for the 2000 due to the lower protein content, but that $57 stings.

Also - I was told the taxation issue has to do with whether you are eating the fish or just sport fishing for them. If you are eating them I was told you do not have to pay tax on the product. Of course, that was in the United Republic of Maryland.