Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New pond volume question

Be leary, be very leary of believing that catfish will bottom feed and ensure the pond is sealed. I would be suspect of anything that person tells you in the past and future. Bentonite will work well to seal the pond ESPECIALLY if the bottom was compacted after the bentonite was worked into the pond basin.

This pond could with proper mgmt produce quite a few catfish with regular pellet feedings, possibly up to 50-60 lbs which equates to 2000lb/ac.

The average size of bluegill in this real small pond will be much greater if you use the male only technique. A few LMB could help control any catfish reproduction which could cause overpopulation, over crowding water quality issues and slow growth even with pellet feeding. Even if you do not provide catfish spawning habitat such as cylindrical containers, this does not mean the the catfish will not "create" a small cave or den in the side of the pond bank for spawning purposes. Initially a few predators such as LMB (4-8) could help control any offspring catfish.