Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Mixing feeds

Does anyone mix feeds together? Or feed a couple or several different brands in conjunction? I know most people believe there are a few top brands. Let’s just say Optimal, Aquamax, SKretting and Cargill Triton, the reason I’m asking is because I mix a couple together from time to time and I am wondering if certain individual bluegill prefer one over another. Am I crazy or is my thinking here make any sense that you could get your bluegill to potentially eat and actually consume more feed by mixing in some variety? This may be splitting hairs but …

Billy, I mix all sorts together. I have tried to feed both ends of a grow out (BG) with primarily Optimal BG and Purina AM 500 and I can't say I can visually see anything different but I have seen them spit a pellet back out if used to having something else.
Lusk swears by the Purina growing giant BG but I've got some good ones feeding on optimal bass pellets and they don't want anything smaller.

I mix sizes and brands depending on my goals, including everything from fish food dust to 1" pellets, and I currently stock Triton, Purina, and Optimal.

Mix.

I mix Optimal BG and Bass in the main pond. In the holding tanks I will mix feed sizes and brands depending on the size of the fish in the tanks.

I did for the first time this year when I was changing brands to acclimate them to the new feed.

My pond is new but I have found that Purina Aquamaxx starter and Optimal Jr. have worked well mixed for me. FHM and some of my CMBG love it. My larger RES and CBNG, seem to really like the Optimal. I plan to swap to Optimal Jr and Optimal BG, when I run out of Aquamaxx. FHM really cannot quite get the Optimal Jr, it is just to big. I like feeding them because my redear really get after them when they feed.

Mix and have for years. Mix what works and fits the specific goal.

Once daily I'm throwing a quart of Optimal BG, a quart of Optimal Bass, and two quarts of Optimal Hand Throw.
I send the Hand Throw out first, which occupies the HSB and SMB for a bit, then I send the Bass, which is mostly
being eaten by large BG and RES, then when that's mostly gone I toss the BG pellets.

That seems to be working fairly well to provide feeding opportunities for all of the different size classes of fish in the pond.

Yeah good deal everyone. I have fed these feeds in the past ….Aquamax 300,400,500,600 and MVP. Optimal starter #4 , Optimal BG jr.and regular BG. I have also tried a bag each of Cargill floating catfish and Cargill sport fish . Fish didn’t not go after those two like the others, plus was just an experiment.


I’m feeding primarily northern strain BG, however I have a few Coppernose mixed in and my redear are feed trained. I have a shallow 5 acre pond in Southern MD. I’m feeding by hand and with 1 -70lb TH feeder. I’m feeding 4 times a day right now with my feeder and once a day by hand, with my biggest feeding is about 1/2 hour before dark. I’m in my second full season of being serious about feeding.

Right now I fill my TH feeder with Optimal BG Jr, mixed with some starter #4 and , Aquamax MVP. My hand feeding, which is primarily done by hydrating the feed 15-20 mins in farm feed pans, consists of the Aquamax 600 and Reg Optimal BG. I’m really starting to see some great results doing this. Oh, I also will hand feed dry Optimal starter #4 as my bigger pellets are soaking, I have found this gets my fish pretty rowdy for when the sinking hydrated bigger feed is introduced, which they absolutely love by the way.

There's something to be said about hydrating the feed, although I don't know exactly what should be stated.

I think with an automated feeder, you can't have hydrated feed???

That may be why some folks are using conveyor belt feeding systems...so the feed can be hydrated.

Yeah I see no way that would work in a regular automated feeder. I have concluded with hand feeding hydrated feed, my mostly Northern BG take it way better. They can be somewhat finicky compared to copper nose top water feeding on dry pellet. They get more aggressive with the feed as it hits about 8” in depth or so

I have a hell of a time with hydrated feed on my belt feeders Sunil, but maybe what you are talking about is a big feeding system?

The only way that it may work (minimize the problems) is to have a thin wire placed barely off the belt as it makes the turn over the end to start the return trip under the feeder. Like a cheese cutter. It would help dislodge the moist feed from the belt.