Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Aquamax issues?

Back when we were showing rabbits we had some issues with Purina on quality to the point of killing bunnies, went round and round with them to no avail, finall we were told that they just don't care what we thought- if ya don't like it go buy somewhere else! We did just that. I'm still to this day not to happy with them or their products. I use cargill feed and am totally pleased with results so far. IMHO



Pat

Purina has a website to locate dealers in your area. I lost the bookmark when my computer died but it is easy to find. You should call the dealer before you go to make sure carry the fish food because all dealers do not carry all of the Purina products.

Feeding time tonight, warmer water, hungry fish streaming towards me as I walked up, empty handed.

Then, when no feed came, began the accusatory stares....silent mouthing of threats...vulgar name-calling....obscene fin gesturing.

This is going to get ugly.

I feel sorry for the folks that have stocked their ponds dependent on pellet feeding with insufficient natural forage to at least sustain what's in there.

IMHO Welcome to corporate America. Folks have loyalty to products but big companies have no loyalty to the folks and only see the bottom line.

Edit: Dry cat food as a temp. substitute till AquaMax is back?

OK pond experts,while we're talking about fish pellets, what's the difference between Aquamax, Nutri Source, and Game Fish Chow all made by Purina?

I was told the perch I purchased today were shipped from out of state to my supplier in SW Michigan. I didn't buy many, around 100, just enough to get started and see how they acclimate to my pond. Apparently they were 'trained' on Aquamax pellets.

I don't intend to feed daily as my goal isn't trophy perch. I'd rather see how the pond can sustain them naturally. I've spent about 18 months trying to build a variety of forage and I'm curious to see how the balance of life is in my pond before interfering too much. I'm afraid my crayfish might get ahead of themselves without some hungry fish in there to take care of them.

I also know that there are lots of snails, hopefully the perch will go for those too.

The perch looked great, all looked quite lively and all made it the one hour ride back home with no mortalities as of tonight. The larger perch, maybe roughly 1/3 were full of eggs and I was told if i wanted young perch to hurry up and put some branches in the pond as they may even lay eggs as soon as today.

So I asked the nice people at the fish farm what they fed their perch. I asked if I could buy some from them. I figured I'd try to keep them trained by doing some hand feeding from time to time when I had a chance. Mostly to keep them pellet trained and perhaps if they learned to come to the same place around the same time, my kids could learn to do it and watch them eat every day after school.

I was told that although it was 'very expensive' this was the best floating pellet to use. I was kind of surprised at the label but accepted it, said thank you very much for being kind to honor my tiny little order and taking care of a new customer.

This is what they told me to find and use in the future:




It is part of my job to be up on the difference between Vitamin D2 and D3. D2 is made by plants and animals as a result of sun (UV) action on them. For example trout caught from the wild are a reasonable source of Vit D2, I'm told farm raised trout are not. D2 you purchase in the store is made by taking big trays of fungus and exposing them to UV radiation.

D3 is made by UV action on the skin of humans. Most over the counter supplements, even if they do not specify, are D3. This is simply reverse engineering of the D3 molecule in a lab and then packaged into a capsule or tablet for human consumption. Far better to get it this way then to expose trays of humans to radiation.

I found it interesting that this bag of fish chow also includes added HUMAN vitamin D. Perhaps the reasoning is simply to try to achieve the same levels of D3 in large fish farms of the trout to keep them 'on par' with their free range cousins.

IMHO The ingredients and the target species. For example, for CC the food of choice is grain based and much lower protein than a pellet like AquaMax targeted at fish such as HBG.

Or maybe my supplier prefers Aquamax but is settling on the skretting product because he cannot get what he prefers? I know they sell other types of fish including HBG and I would think they would want the best they could get. On the other hand, maybe they were shooting for the middle and trying to find the one pellet that could service all their fish to keep the ordering simple.

My fish farm feeds Skretting.

All anyone around here carries is 32% floating catfish food. Coop has some 32% sinking.

We have a local Purena dealer (caries the Purena floating cat fish food)and I ordered some Aquamax 500 from him about a month ago now. He apologizes profusely, but so far no Aquamax.

I need to check with Tractor Supply. At one time they had Game Fish Chow. Sometimes 32% Purena and sometimes 36% Cargill, depending on the store.

Sure would like to buy some better fish food, but it seems to be a rather difficult task.

I've wondered about feeding or supplemental feeding (pellets), and I've always come back to "no". First was the issue of installing feeders. Then it was maintaining the feeders and hoping no trespassers would monkey with the feeders. Then it was thinking about am I running a factory pond or a natural pond. Then I thought what if I am feeding and the feeders break, the food runs out, etc.

This topic has brought that one concern to a very real light. I don't want to rely on man-made products for my fish. At least at this time. I hope y'all find the feed bags you need. If anyone is in metro Atlanta area there are a couple of shops that had plenty of feed couple of weeks back.

I was going to order 6 bags of feed from Skretting. Then when I got to check out the shipping via UPS was $150. Don't think so.

Too bad. Would have liked to try it.

Heck basslover, feeding my fish is half the fun of having them. Talked about getting a feeder with my wife, but she was against it. She said I had too much fun feeding them by hand, and that a feeder would reduce my enjoyment.

They are like puppy dogs following me around the pond. An unnatural pond is quite ok by me. If it was natural it would be pasture (or native prairie) instead of a pond.

$150 ! Ouch. Would like to try it too, but not for that much scratch.

I suspect is is shipped via UPS one bag at a time. But wow! $25 a bag. That seems high even for UPS.

You can go in to the on line ordering and put what you want into the shopping cart. Go to check out and there it will tell you what the shipping will be. Don't have to actually order to find out.

Just a thought, I would ask Skretting if they have any customers in your area that you can get pellets from. I can buy them at Keystone in Richmond, Il. They also ship. Freight charges from there might be less.

Edit: Just went to Keystone website to see what shipping would be to Indiana. UPS $25/bag.

I think most of us have probably wrestled with the " feed or no feed" question at one time or another. This most recent development with my feed supplier does nothing to change my opinion on the matter, as I have seen the positive results my feeding program has produced. And while I am attempting to locate a substitute feed, I am not worried that my fish will perish during the interim. It's not their survival that I'm concerned about, I simply want to continue furthering the advanced growth rate I have observed thus far, due in no small part to supplemental feeding.

We have two ponds here that we do not feed, and they have done very well for themselves over the last few decades. So it's quite apparent that feeding pellets is not a requirement, rather it's a choice.

Adding biological forage is a cornerstone of pond management. And many feel that this is a more natural choice, and I would not argue that opinion. I would however, point out that adding additional forage is, from my point of view anyway, a form of un-natural management in itself. We've all seen those giant RES coming out of Havasu, and biologists believe their tremendous growth is due in no small part to the arrival of invasive Quagga mussels, introduced by man. Tampering with the natural eco-system? I think so.

I don't feel that our decision to feed pellets has tied my hands, or restricted my options at all. There are no mechanical feeders here, as in our situation they are entirely unnecessary. Biological forage swims and breathes....using up valuable space within the allocated carrying capacity of a BOW. Pellets may contribute to water quality issues, or weed growth... Adding biological forage carries the risk of introducing an undesirable species into the BOW, and can be tough to implement successfully into an established ecosystem. Pellets can be added anytime.

+1 Sparkie. I also use supplemental feeding to improve growth of whatever fish in the pond want to eat some. I think it is a great tool. I hand throw the pellets cause I just get a kick out of watching them feed!

I have been on the forum several months now and have seen several stocking recommendations like " You can stock a 100 of them , but if you stock pellet trained fish, you can put in 300." What does the guy that stocked at a capacity based on pellet feeding do when the pellet supply is suddenly shut off? Will his fish continue to survive?

I think this is why it's best to diversify your pond's portfolio. If our ponds' were propped up solely by a daily infusion of AQ, then I would worry. We talk often of the difference between feeding supplementally, vs. feeding to satiation, and maybe this illustrates that point.

I am of the opinion that ANYTHING that is constantly run on the ragged edge at maximum rpm is subject to problems. Maybe that's just a simplistic view from the guy who has to scrub his fingernails clean every night, but that's just the way I see it. When you're pushing something that hard, a hiccup somewhere may spell disaster.

I would hope that those who truly rely on feeding AQ have a supply on hand to hold them over. The problem for me, is the timing....I don't like to carry feed over during the cold water period when I'm not using it, so I tend to order heavy when spring arrives. But I may need to rethink that strategy.

That stuff has a short shelf life to maintain it's integrity and potency

I think 90 days, but that question would be for the experts to confirm, that way we all can check the dates on the bags before we buy

I found myself running short on Cargils due to miss communication's. So I talked to my seed and feed supplier who handles Purina to see if I could find some of the Purina feed. He told me he would have to order it and would have it in 2 to 3 days, but after seeing this, I wonder ? But in my discussion with Walt @ Overtons we discussed a larger order of Cargils and he was not concerned with me storing for longer time periods as long as I can keep the mice away. So I am having Cargils delivered and I hope it will arrive this week. I feed to increase the size of my CNBG for increasing the size of my upcoming CBLMB and my plan's are also to feed my upcoming HSB. Plans might change but today this is my plan

Tracy

Larry, Game fish chow is plant based and AMAX is menhaden based. No idea about the other product.

A little math, as food for thought:

Price I paid last year for AQ500 (don't have this year's price yet) $.76 per pound, local pickup.

Price for comparable Skretting product, $1.60 per pound, price
includes shipping from Utah.

Price for comparable Skretting product, $1.84 per pound, price includes shipping from northern Illinois. (Keystone)

Trying to find a local supplier for Skretting or Cargill, not looking very promising.

FWIW Any fish farm/hatchery within driving distance from you that would sell you feed to get you by?

Thanks Mike. I have time. I'm headed down to Mt. Vernon to a pond seminar to talk about feeding that is partially sponsored by Purina and I'll bring some home if they have any.....