10 foot deep pond?

[Loves severums]

Minnows or guppies would actually work fine. I had a smaller pond that I put Greensunfish and Bluegill in. I dumped a bunch of guppies in it for them to eat and some guppies survived and reproduced and lasted for years. I could hear the sunfish splashing around at night eating them but they never wiped the guppies out. One time I went out and didnt see any guppies and I thought they were finally all gone. Then a month later I would see them all over. It was kinda funny. 13-15 sunfish in that pond and they couldnt wipe out all the guppies, they just reproduce so fast. I really enjoyed that pond, we bought a new house last year, I really need to build another, much bigger of course.

ok cool thanks

 

[Wiggles92]

Minnows or guppies would actually work fine. I had a smaller pond that I put Greensunfish and Bluegill in. I dumped a bunch of guppies in it for them to eat and some guppies survived and reproduced and lasted for years. I could hear the sunfish splashing around at night eating them but they never wiped the guppies out. One time I went out and didnt see any guppies and I thought they were finally all gone. Then a month later I would see them all over. It was kinda funny. 13-15 sunfish in that pond and they couldnt wipe out all the guppies, they just reproduce so fast. I really enjoyed that pond, we bought a new house last year, I really need to build another, much bigger of course.

Minnows and guppies will work, but are not cost effective nor conducive to getting the best growth out of the other fish. It seems to me that the goal is to turn this pond into a fishing pond with large predators, and minnows and guppies will not be sufficient forage for them to grow large without regular feedings.

 

[Loves severums]

Minnows and guppies will work, but are not cost effective nor conducive to getting the best growth out of the other fish. It seems to me that the goal is to turn this pond into a fishing pond with large predators, and minnows and guppies will not be sufficient forage for them to grow large without regular feedings.

ok well there are all ready minnows in the and tadpoles....

 

[fishkeeper4244]

wow thats huge i would put some cool red tail or something depending on the temp. maybe an arowana... some fish thats cooler than a koi even though koi are really cool too

 

[Loves severums]

wow thats huge i would put some cool red tail or something depending on the temp. maybe an arowana... some fish thats cooler than a koi even though koi are really cool too

thanks

 

[Wiggles92]

ok well there are all ready minnows in the and tadpoles....

Ah, okay. They might not last too long once you start introducing a bunch of the larger predatory fish such as pike. The goal should be to stock the pond in order to maintain a reasonably balanced food web to avoid stunting and some fish getting completely wiped out.

 

[Loves severums]

Ah, okay. They might not last too long once you start introducing a bunch of the larger predatory fish such as pike. The goal should be to stock the pond in order to maintain a reasonably balanced food web to avoid stunting and some fish getting completely wiped out.

ok thanks

 

[socalman]

put in a big blue catfish

 

[Muske]

While stocking tons of minnows and/or mosquitofish may seem like a good idea in theory or in a zoo, it doesn't work quite as well in reality in a pond unless there are areas where the smaller forage fish can find shelter from the larger predatory fish. Even with these sheltered areas, the minnows and mosquitofish will most likely get completely wiped out.

Instead, be sure to mainly stock sunfish, preferably bluegill. They'll serve as the main forage base for the bigger predatory fish such as bass, catfish, and walleye. The greater the sunfish to predatory fish ratio is, the bigger your predatory fish will be. You should expect to see many small sunfish and a few really nice-sized predatory fish if you go this route for stocking. If you choose to stock more predatory fish and less sunfish than this, then expect to see larger sunfish and smaller predatory fish.

Just my two cents from experience while preparing to stock my own large pond and then watching how the fish subsequently grew and multiplied.

+1.

Minnows (fatheads or Shinners) will breed on any surface in the water throughout the summer provided the right conditions exsist. That means any structure in the form of old X-mas trees, aquatic plants, artificial cribs, rocks, and stumps/branches will allow for breeding surfaces and protection. The main focus should be on starting a forage base for the preds. A LMB would much rather eat 1-2 4" Golden shinners or bluegill per day than chasing down a dozen Fatheads.
Both fatheads, shinners and a panfish of some sort should be stocked before to many more preds are added. Fatheads will feed the bluegills which in turn will feed the bass. Golden Shinners are more expensive than fatheads, but will be the food of choice for the big preds. They readily breed in June under any vegitation and can eventually sustain a population that may only need to be stocked once or twice. Fatheads spawn all spring and summer, again provided with a little structure to lay eggs.
Try to avoid any Crappie in the first few years. Females can lay 60,000 eggs and they really only eat live foods (minnows) which makes Bluegills and Sunnies a better choice. They too are prolific breeders, but bass love them. If your friend is worried about to many gills, Hybrid Bluegills are a great small pond fish. The eat a variety of foods, 80% are males, and if they start to over-populate, they can be culled and fried. They also can get decent size that they put up a good fight on an Ultralight.
Channel Cats are a better pick over Bullheads. Channels rarely breed in small ponds since they need muddy banks with holes/caves to spawn. Bullheads on the other hand will spawn anywhere and once they get to be 4" or so, the bass stop eating them. They can be controlled with Northerns, but the Northern will also dominate the smaller bass. They slide right down there throut much easier than a spinny bullhead.
All this info. may sound confussing or discouraging, but fear not. Just a few tips on starting a pond off right. The preds will grow plenty fast as long as they have a steady food supply.
In closing, focus on getting some plants and structure in place so the little ones have spawn sites and can populate the pond. Once the forage in place, he can stock just about anything he wants.

 

[Loves severums]

+1.

Minnows (fatheads or Shinners) will breed on any surface in the water throughout the summer provided the right conditions exsist. That means any structure in the form of old X-mas trees, aquatic plants, artificial cribs, rocks, and stumps/branches will allow for breeding surfaces and protection. The main focus should be on starting a forage base for the preds. A LMB would much rather eat 1-2 4" Golden shinners or bluegill per day than chasing down a dozen Fatheads.
Both fatheads, shinners and a panfish of some sort should be stocked before to many more preds are added. Fatheads will feed the bluegills which in turn will feed the bass. Golden Shinners are more expensive than fatheads, but will be the food of choice for the big preds. They readily breed in June under any vegitation and can eventually sustain a population that may only need to be stocked once or twice. Fatheads spawn all spring and summer, again provided with a little structure to lay eggs.
Try to avoid any Crappie in the first few years. Females can lay 60,000 eggs and they really only eat live foods (minnows) which makes Bluegills and Sunnies a better choice. They too are prolific breeders, but bass love them. If your friend is worried about to many gills, Hybrid Bluegills are a great small pond fish. The eat a variety of foods, 80% are males, and if they start to over-populate, they can be culled and fried. They also can get decent size that they put up a good fight on an Ultralight.
Channel Cats are a better pick over Bullheads. Channels rarely breed in small ponds since they need muddy banks with holes/caves to spawn. Bullheads on the other hand will spawn anywhere and once they get to be 4" or so, the bass stop eating them. They can be controlled with Northerns, but the Northern will also dominate the smaller bass. They slide right down there throut much easier than a spinny bullhead.
All this info. may sound confussing or discouraging, but fear not. Just a few tips on starting a pond off right. The preds will grow plenty fast as long as they have a steady food supply.
In closing, focus on getting some plants and structure in place so the little ones have spawn sites and can populate the pond. Once the forage in place, he can stock just about anything he wants.

yeah well he just put then in there and lets them do there thing sometime a bird will come and eat some of the flatheads....