Stock pond suggestions

[gteets]

Hello,
Not sure if anyone has experience with stock ponds should I thought I'd see. We just recently bought a property with a stock pond on it. It is horse shoe shipped about 100 x 40 ft and approximately 10 ft deep. We don't think there is any fish in it. It's a runoff area with clay base and holds the water well through the texas summers but the water isn't very clear and I'm afraid to add fish before clearing the water. The runoff for the horse shoe shipped pond runs in to like a wetlands area under a Grove of trees approximately an acre square it varies from 1 to 8 inches deep in some areas and is quite clear water. I'm just not sure what to use to clear the water? What to stock the pond with? And what to plant around it?

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[FWFishTanks]

In a pond that size, bluegills and some largemouth bass, or you could throw some koi in there and let them breed. Another option would be a pond with hybrid bluegills ( verocious appetite and rarely breed), and channel cats. Both cats and hybrid gills will take to bait quickly and can both be caught on good ole fashioned nightcrawlers. You coukd throw in some lily pads for shade for the fish and cover. The channel cats should not breed in there, but if there is any structure (tires, large pipes, etc) that the cats can fit into, they would likely breed and outcompete the hybrid gills. If that happens, regular harvest of the catfish would help control the population. Comet or common goldfish would work too (goldfish stocked by themselves or with koi, not with the fishing pond options)

 

[gteets]

The biggest issue is I'm not really sure what to put in the water to get it cleared up from that hazey green cloudy mess. It doesn't seem like algae and there's nothing stirring up the pond aside from runoff from the rain. I think another problem is there is not much vegetation around the edge of the pond maybe allowing the clay soil to run in when it rains hard?

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[ScotJudd]

It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks more like suspended dirt or clay, rather than algae. Have you put some in a glass jar and held it up to the light, it's sometimes easier to see the difference. A microscope would be helpful, if you have one knocking around.
Water clarity in pond is vastly helped but heavy planting both in the water and at the waters edge. Surface leaves, such as lilies also help a lot.
I envy your project though. So many options.


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[andresdeo]

Following, hope to have the oportunity to do this one day! Let us know how it goes, small boat available??


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[gteets]

It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks more like suspended dirt or clay, rather than algae. Have you put some in a glass jar and held it up to the light, it's sometimes easier to see the difference. A microscope would be helpful, if you have one knocking around.
Water clarity in pond is vastly helped but heavy planting both in the water and at the waters edge. Surface leaves, such as lilies also help a lot.
I envy your project though. So many options.


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i've tried filling a bottle with pond water and letting it sit undisturbed but there wasn't much sediment after 3 days. at first i thought it was tannin making the the water but its more cloudy now after the rains which has been making me think it may be the clay. i need to plant something around the pond on the banks even if its just some sort of grass...maybe cat tails along the bank or elephant ears. we live in the north houston texas area so we can grow alot of different things and dont have snow to worry about.

 

[Fishobsessed7]

I would put in mosquito fish or rosy red minnows and have just them for a year. After a year, they should have a nice population, and then you could put in something like goldfish, koi, or sunfish. The larger fish could feed off the population of small fish.

But are you looking for fish that you watch and see pretty fish, or are you wanting fish that you can catch and eat?


Fishobsessed7

Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Fish Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing

 

[FWFishTanks]

I would put in mosquito fish or rosy red minnows and have just them for a year. After a year, they should have a nice population, and then you could put in something like goldfish, koi, or sunfish. The larger fish could feed off the population of small fish.

But are you looking for fish that you watch and see pretty fish, or are you wanting fish that you can catch and eat?


Fishobsessed7

Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Fish Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing

Fathead minnows (rosy reds) will not last long, even with a year of prior spawning. Fatheads simply don't breed effectively enough to be the only forage base in a pond. With some cover in the shallow misquitofish will survive, but once again will not be enough for a base forage. If you do not want to have large predators like bass, I wouldnt recommend a pond with sunfish, as they breed like rabbits. If you only want sunfish and no predators, I would recommend hybrid bluegills, they are 90% male, and will populate slowly, and natrual causes of death wikl keep them in managable numbers. The best forage base for ponds is sunfish like bluegills, but at is for largeredatory fish. There isnt really any minnow sized forage for pond that will last. You could add threadfin shad, but they get to be 7" or so and would once again need a large predatory species, bass in particular love shad. If you are doing koi or goldfish, I would just stick to a feeding program.

 

[Brookster123]

Throw a bunch of gardneri killis in there. They'd love the mess

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[FWFishTanks]

Throw a bunch of gardneri killis in there. They'd love the mess

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Considering this pond is in Texas, they may be able to survive in there lol.

 

[gteets]

I think I would like to have something edible. I have a current back yard pond I built with some fancy goldfish and kois. But I don't think they would survive well in the wild lol

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[Brookster123]

Tilapia

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[FWFishTanks]

Tilapias, bluegills, or channel catfish, 3 great tasting fish. You could also do hybrid striped bass, they are pricey but I have heard they taste great

 

[Exigenn]

crappies are one of my personal favorites. Bluegills/sunfish are a lot of work for very little return unless they are pretty large IME.

Either way with whatever you put in their they will taste like mud unless the water is either cleaned somehow or the fillets are cleaned very well.

 

[FWFishTanks]

If you get crappies do not get white crappie they populate like crazy and will end up stunting themselves due to a lack of food and too many fish. If you get crappies get either blacks or hybrid crappie because they breed slower. In general crappies can be tough to manage in ponds due to their sunfish like size and shape and large mouth. They would have to have a large base of predators like LMB to keep them under somewhat control

 

[Exigenn]

Well OP said they are looking for something to eat so they may want fast spawning. But yes white crappies do spawn much faster. As someone said though it might be worth while stocking it with some sort of fast breeding food type fish and letting them populate for a year before truly stocking it.

 

[joeyjoelyjoepro]

My number 1 choise would be a large or smallmouth bass

 

[FWFishTanks]

My number 1 choise would be a large or smallmouth bass

If you end up doing largemouth bass, add bluegills. If you do smallmouth, I would stock lightly and add crayfish a year or so in advance

 

[CowMoo]

Aripima

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[CowMoo]

And a wells cat. Then you could feed it random things that died around your house XD

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