Hello All,

I�m new to the forum and looking for a little guidance to help my new aquatic residents thrive the best they can. I purchased a few pounds of fathead Minnows, shiners, coppernose bluegill, Bass and catfish and just today added them to our 1 acre pond that didn�t have any fish and only frogs, snakes and turtles. I bought a Texas Hunter 70 lb feeder and looks like the consensus is to feed optimal fish food, but it�s pretty expensive. Any other suggestions and can they eat this feed being they are so small now? They are all fingerlings.

Thank you!

They should nibble at it as it softens. I also feed Optimal and like it. However, I know others that feed Purina Optimax, Skretting, etc. We all raise good fish on good feed. Expensive? My observation is that playing this game is about like having Corvettes, beauty contest winners, and gun collections.

I'd go very slow with feed amounts at this point. Excess feed can be bad for your fingerlings in the pond...can lead to harmful plant growth from excess nutrients and disease in fish. Feed in very small amounts until you see they are able to consume it. Hand feeding is the best way to observe how much they are actually eating. Experience has shown me that too much feed is far worse than NO feed at all.

Expensive? $800 for a feeder seems expensive to me...but spending an extra couple of bucks on a bag of quality feed seems like common sense. If you're going to feed, then feed a quality product.

I appreciate the reponses. I�m only able to go out to the ranch once a week, so my feeding will need to be on a timer. If I lived there it�d be easier. I could just hand feed and get a better idea of how much if any they are able to consume at one time. I think I�ll just throw out a very small amount at the start. And point taken about the $800 feeder. I�m all about paying for better quality so your responses help me justify it.