Pond beginning!

[Broncosfan]

What about stocking your pond with freshwater shrimp? Are they available in your area? Those panfish will grow to gargantuan size with a diet of those. We have a lake out here that is chock full of shrimp. The trout have huge bodies and small heads and are really hard to catch, Rainbows and Cutthroats and some Browns. Those shrimp are the reason why they get so big.

To answer that I have no idea. I know the fish have slowed down eating as its cooling off. Also I'm still seeing spawning activity so it might not be the weather keeping them from eating. The fish have been in for right at 7 months. We have seen growth in all. Plus we're seeing lost of smaller fish so reproducing is going well also.

[Broncosfan]

Just some update photos. We're still down some but adding weekly. As you can see from the pics the windmill is working. You can see there isn't ice above where the air diffusers are.

[Broncosfan]

So here is a updated photo since the rain. We are a little over 12" to full pond. Its added a little more since this pic. More rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow

[Slippy]

So here is a updated photo since the rain. We are a little over 12" to full pond. Its added a little more since this pic. More rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow

I think I (and others) have said it before but it deserves saying again, great job on the pond build! That is quite an achievement. Slippy Approved!

[Broncosfan]

We had some crazy warm weather here lately. We decided to see if the fish were ready to eat tonight. I was really surprised how many we seen. The bass seem to added the most size. Its a little hard to tell when you only get a split second to see them. Everything looks good. We're preparing to add some pond sealer soon just in case we actually have a leak. I'm not 100% that we do but better to be safe than sorry at this point. Too much invested. When we get the fishing poles out I will make sure I take some pictures and post them. I really want an underwater drone just to be able to see how things are but I'm not sure on what I actually want. Maybe after tax time I will pull the trigger.

[1skrewsloose]

Your own renewable food supply. never needs refridgeration, freeze drying, or dehydration. Dude, you're set for life!!!

[Broncosfan]

Quick update. Over the past month we've added a new minnow habitat, a few Red Ear Sunfish, 2 sterile grass carp and 10 lbs of fathead minnows. We done that during our spring tease temperature spikes.

The pond has been basically full for weeks. We've had a lot of wind so I believe that is helping the depth fluctuation a bit. We got over 2" of rain so far this week. This is the highest the pond has ever been. The overflow is running well. This is todays pic that show it over the bank a bit on the right side. I wasn't able to show the left bank enough to see where it at on that side. Its also frog mating season in Ohio now. I've seen a lot of frogs!

[shootbrownelk]

Quick update. Over the past month we've added a new minnow habitat, a few Red Ear Sunfish, 2 sterile grass carp and 10 lbs of fathead minnows. We done that during our spring tease temperature spikes.

The pond has been basically full for weeks. We've had a lot of wind so I believe that is helping the depth fluctuation a bit. We got over 2" of rain so far this week. This is the highest the pond has ever been. The overflow is running well. This is todays pic that show it over the bank a bit on the right side. I wasn't able to show the left bank enough to see where it at on that side. Its also frog mating season in Ohio now. I've seen a lot of frogs!

Frogs in your pond is a good sign. They require clean, pollution free water. They are also considered a tasty treat by most bass.

[Broncosfan]

Frogs in your pond is a good sign. They require clean, pollution free water. They are also considered a tasty treat by most bass.

The bass definitely consume a lot of food. The frogs are a great addition for sure. We were a bit surprised last year when we seen eggs fairly early. They looked like frog eggs but our local hatchery said it was a bit early and thought they were toad eggs. I'm still not positive but I still think they were frog eggs.

[Broncosfan]

So we're really suffering from lack of rain here. The pond is down 3' plus. We're actually now at the water level we had on Oct 2, 2023. So we're not in good shape. We need lots of rain. July is one of Ohio's wettest months but not this year. So I actually purchased a electric aerator to make sure the fish are getting enough oxygen. The windmill does a good job but when its so hot there isn't any wind blowing so its not helping when I need it the most. We've lost less than a dozen fish and I figure it just the weather. We got the aerator up and running Sunday. It was putting a lot of oxygen in the pond. I checked later and it seemed to me stirring up the bottom to much and making the pond muddy. So I plan to install a value to be able to adjust in down so its not so turbulent.