Hey fellow pond enthusiasts. My name shall be Brier here. We can get on a first name basis as needed. I am a fish freak. A pond is somewhat secondary. I am a Member of NANFA.
http://forum.nanfa.org/ Many of you guys might find it interesting. We are all about native American fish. If you want an ID on a fish, post it up on this forum, It will be IDed. I have kept most US fish fish in aquariums, so I am familiar with their habits. Last year I finally put in a quarter acre pond on my property, which is managed as a food fish pond. We strive for self sufficiency, and raise all of our own meats, and most of our veggies. A pond has filled a missing link. I am an Aquaculture license holder, and if any one is interested, I can ship small quantities of various fish for stocking. I have tons of Gambusia right now. I am experienced in shipping, and can get fish to your door alive, at a reasonable cost. I also have a hatchery nearby that I can get most gamefish from, and ship to others, who might not have a hatchery nearby. As an aquaculture license holder, I can also acquire many wild caught midwest minnows that might interest fellow members in stocking. I am not interested in making a real business in this, rather, offering my resources to others. On the NANFA forum, we swap fishes quite often, and you would be surprised at how easily I could get you a starter culture of Gambusia, or Bluntnose minnows. Maybe others could pick this up and swap some fish. I sure would like a bag of grass shrimp. I could lend some help on shipping, and even provide some Kordon breather bags to individuals who wanted to ship small quantities of fish.
I have learned a lot here already, and hit this forum everyday after I get home. I am in the infant stages of managing my pond, and may ask for help as thing progress. I have stocked Gambusia, FHM, GSH, Black crappie, YP, BG, HBG, CC, RES. No top predator as of yet. I intend that to be me and my two boys. If things go south as far as overpopulation, and stunting, I shall introduce HSB, LMB, and possibly a flathead catfish or two. I have hogs, and chickens, and intend to seine a large amount of fish to use as feed, so it will help control any chance of over population. I am currently feeding daily, and will continue for at least the first full year. I also have several tubs with daphnia cultures, that I feed to the pond. Anyone interested in daphnia? I have Daphnia Magna, which get close to a quarter inch. Sunfish love them, and I think they would be a good addition to any pond. I reckon that is all I can say about myself. I feel odd talking about myself so much, a bit self centered, but I guess that is the point of an introduction. I am looking forward to learning from you all, and hope that I can help out with my knowledge,experience, and resources.
