8 replies to this topic

[johnnymax]

I have a pond I dug about 10 years ago. Most of what fish are in the pond are fish I added.

 

Fish I added:

Ghost shrimp

Mosquito fish.

Bluegill perch

Channel Catfish

Crappie (the crappie did not survive)

 

Fish Added by Nature & Birds:

Large mouth Bass

Bowfin (I have not caught a bowfin in a while, but I am sure they are still there and I do not want them.)

Crawfish

Red ear Slider Turtles

 

Things I plan to add:

Scuds (arthropods) I read that when you add scuds to a pond it increases the fish population all the way up the food chain.

Japanese Trapdoor Snails (they sell for over a dollar each online)

Sailfin Molly

Tilapia adding in the spring (I am breeding them in aquariums. They will reduce the plant life and give predator fish more to eat, They will not survive winter, so this is a maintenance thing.)

 

Things I am considering but afraid to add:

Clams (but I heard they can filter too many nutrients out of the water hurting population all the way up the food chain)

Salamander  (but not sure where to get some. I have never seen any in the wild.)

 

Question: What other species would be cool to add? I am located in SE Texas

I consider my pond to be a big aquarium.

Here is a picture of my pond with 3 of my grand-monsters catching minnows.

I just started to build our home on the north side of the pond.

 Pond Monsters.jpg   227.2KB   0 downloads

Edited by johnnymax, 03 December 2020 - 10:36 AM.

[Michael Wolfe]

This looks great to me (I have neither a pond nor grand-monsters at this point).

 

A few questions/comments"

• You say they are catching minnows, but you don't show any minnows in your stocking list.  That was going to be one of my comments is that you need some minnows in the mix.
• Too bad about the bass... other than that you have nice fish. Bullheads would have been better than channels in my opinion too.
• I wouldn't add invasive snails (or tilapia, but maybe I am being too much of a purist). There are native snails.
• I dont have any experience with keeping mollys so I will stay out of that one.
• I wonder if you could add pickerel... I always wanted a pond like this and get a group of pickerel established... they would be fun to see and fun to catch.

[Robert Lamb]

You could try and establish some golden or blackstripe topminnows.

[lilyea]

One point about true wild sailfin mollies is that they have an amazing blue in their breeding colors so it is neat to see (even from above) when they are flashing their potential mate.

[UncleWillie]

I must warn here.  All species of Tilapia are prohibited to posses in Texas.  Unless a permitted aquaculture facility through TPWD, Tilapia cannot be possessed, transported, or stocked.  Tilapia can survive the winter in that Beaumont area and are already an issue in Texas.  You stated that you consider your pond to be a large aquarium.  Aquariums are controlled environments and the owner can choose what goes in or out, but in the case your pond, you've already named species that have entered the pond by itself.  If species can come in, species can come out, and I cannot recommend the stocking of Asian snails or Tilapia.  The grid of roadside ditches could provide the avenue to unwanted introductions.

 

Now that I've got that out of the way, I second adding some fish that you would actually see from the surface and enjoy.  So sailfin mollies could be a good choice, as well Hecklad's recommendation of Fundulus topminnows.  You have several native Fundulids in your area (Lower Sabine watershed) to choose from.  I would be interested to see what type of minnows you already have in there.  If a secondary goal is recreational fishing, I'd stay away from bullheads, and only restock channel cats as you harvest them.  I won't go into healthy bluegill / bass ratios unless a balanced trophy or recreational fishery is a goal.

[johnnymax]

 

This looks great to me (I have neither a pond nor grand-monsters at this point).

 

A few questions/comments"

• You say they are catching minnows, but you don't show any minnows in your stocking list.  That was going to be one of my comments is that you need some minnows in the mix.
• Too bad about the bass... other than that you have nice fish. Bullheads would have been better than channels in my opinion too.
• I wouldn't add invasive snails (or tilapia, but maybe I am being too much of a purist). There are native snails.
• I dont have any experience with keeping mollys so I will stay out of that one.
• I wonder if you could add pickerel... I always wanted a pond like this and get a group of pickerel established... they would be fun to see and fun to catch.

The minnows they were catching were mosquito fish. 

Oh, the birds added bullhead catfish also, forgot to mention that.

I am wanting to add pickerel, but I have never caught one and have no source.

[johnnymax]

I must warn here.  All species of Tilapia are prohibited to posses in Texas.  Unless a permitted aquaculture facility through TPWD, Tilapia cannot be possessed, transported, or stocked.  Tilapia can survive the winter in that Beaumont area and are already an issue in Texas....

 

I purchased the tilapia from a TPWD approved source in Longview. I keep them in an aquarium and breed them.

I have introduced them in the pond in the past and they made it two mild winters, but the first cold winter killed them all.

They are Mozambique Tilapia which are the only tilapia you can put in Texas ponds.

Stocking "Mozambique Tilapia" in a Texas pond "does not require a permit."

https://fisheries.ta...mitted in Texas.

[johnnymax]

You could try and establish some golden or blackstripe topminnows.

 

Sound good

[gzeiger]

Salamanders will make their own way in. They tend to maintain low population densities and hide a lot, so they may be there for years without seeing one. I have a hard time believing there aren't already scuds there too, but they should be easy to introduce. Just get a mass of floating weeds from any roadside ditch and dump it in. Snails are easy to find the same way.