Bill my goal would be similar to Theos'. I just want a few maybe (3) quirky fish that are fun to observe without disrupting things too much. In all fairness to the fish, I would like to avoid stocking them if they will not thrive naturally in my 3 acre pond. I have a lot of runoff so my algae bloom is typically strong from late spring to fall. my LMB are still small enough so I was thinking this would be a ideal time to introduce a bonus type fish if it made sense. Do you think they are dying earlier because of low Oxygen levels or other causes? I also wonder how if Heron or other birds are a threat to the paddle fish or if they spend most of their time down deeper?