Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Random fish in my order, is this normal?

So this is the second time I have used this fish farm. The first time was great with no issues however this second time I wasn't as impressed. The owner was not present this time and the guy running things admitted to being new. I ended up getting at least 12 of whatever these fish are mixed in with my 200 small CNBGs. Essentially 5% of the fish I purchased weren't the species that I was asking for. Any idea what they are? My fear is that they are baby carp because they seem really large to be a minnow. I know this guy buys fish from an actual fish producer and is just a reseller so potentially the product he is getting may be the issue. My large CNBGs were pretty beat up, 4-5 didn't make the short trip back to the tank and then I had multiple that had bent spines. Still alive and swimming but their spines were crooked. Several others I noticed wounds on. Around 20% of my large CNBG seemed to be in bad shape. This is out of only 100 fish. The fish were bagged with oxygen, I put them in a large yeti cooler where the bags were tight enough together that they were stationary and I took care in making sure that there weren't fish trapped in the corners of the bags. Anyways I was wondering if this is worth complaining about or bringing to the owners attention? Is it normal to get a few random fish in your order and what percentage is acceptable for being in bad shape?

I would be upset. I would probably change sources. My assumption is that the hired hand got the fish out of a common container that had mixed species. The owner should expect problems.

I think those are big old fathead minnows. Some in the pictures have tubercules on the snout - male breeding feature.

Each fish specie purchased should be individuals of only that specie. Mixed species in a one specie order does happen all too often with some careless fish farms. This is why I have learned to always hand sort my purchsed fish if getting single species is important for the developing and final fishery community. I do not want junk mixed in with my fishery plans and goals. Having a differernt specie mixed in, is careless fish management and it sets a pattern and IMO not a good pattern. Those fish could have been a problematic species that would be breeding in the pond and causing unwanted LONG TERM problems.

Could they be creek chubs?

Fish in those pics are too bulky anteriorly for creek chubs. Creek chubs at that length are a more sleder bodied fish. I am pretty sure those are big versions of old male FHM in their last stages of life. This type of FHM is not usually seen because some bass has eaten them long before they get that old and big.

Those are all male FHM. A guy could be upset but a FHM is not a species I would consider to be upset about.

What I would be upset about is the shape the BG were in. Bent spines is a defect I’m pretty sure.

The other responses are far more knowledgeable than I, but I would be at least a little ticked. One suggestion: before changing sources, at the very least let the owner know the issues you encountered; give him a chance to make good, and also to straighten out / educate / properly train his help to avoid such issues in the future.

I haven't been able to access the forums for a while which is why I haven't responded. I ended up not saying anything at the moment. If I purchase from them again then I will bring it up and will probably only go back when I know the owner is going to be present. Because of this though, I will likely not be purchasing my bass from them. This fish dealer is only an hour away from me and his fish prices are frankly the best that are within driving distance. So from a cost perspective it's still a lot cheaper.

Glad to hear that the unknown minnow was likely just a fathead. I'm pretty sure one did jump out of my net and into my pond. I will also say, the condition of all the other fish were fine, it was just the large blue gills that seemed really beat up. Not sure if that would have changed if the owner was present.