ok, my brother had asked me to help him with his new pond he wants to build, he wants fish he could eat after they reach maturity(preferably after a years groth). also, he wanted to know what he would need for a system. i said, maybe a few heaters, a really good filter/pump, and, i don't know if you need, like aquariums, gravel??




so, the things i need to know would be,

1~ what kind of fish could you keep in a pond with air temp of 120 max. (the ponds wont be in the full sun view, meaning, it will be under a tree, or and shade of some sort.) and the fish would have to be ones he could eat, as i mentioned above.

2~ what type of a system would you need for a pond, with a two teir water fall, and i think about 200-300 gallon pond.

3~ he wanted to have some sorce of protection for the fish, what is the best type? artificial (i.e a shade cloth over the water) or, biological, as in plants.





:lol: , thanks in advanced.



Tyler

Where is your bro located dude?

Probably in AZ.

FBG are you looking for a sustainable ecosystem or just somthing he can stock one year and harvest the next? In other words are you looking to have the fish breed?
How soon after startup does he want to start harvesting?

What kind of fish does he like to eat?
If he likes panfish(sunnies, blue gill etc) you don't need a lot of water movement but if he wants Rainbow Trout you need fast flowing cold water.

Depending on the shape of the pond it might be tricky to keep the temp low enough for the O2 level to stay up where the fish need it.

Rainbow won't live in those temps. I'm thinking catfish bass or panfish as the best bet. Catfish are the easiest from everything I have read, but 300 gallons isn't much.

I'm thinking maybe catfish with a serious bubbler, drape netting over it maybe and feed em fish meal based commercial food. I would google it there are plenty of wildlife/fish and game sites with info.

I know, but it made a good example of the range of required environments. :laugh:

I would say triple the volume and make it deep so the fish can get down into cooler water which will have a higher O2 level.

You might want to check and see what the local native species are and their natural conditions then decide if you can mimic them.

ok, i will have to tell him that.

he is looking for a once stock, and have the fish breed, and maybe harvest after the second year. i told him about the fact it is kinda small, he said he would be willing to have it bigger if i was the labor.........LOL and yeah, it is in AZ.

i don't know exactly know what he wanted, or likes, he wasn't spasific on what he liked to eat.

but, what would be the smallest he could get away with? ( he is on a budget, but can at least buy what he needs unlike me, but that is another story. :laugh: )

oh, i am also making a pond, and i was wondering if you need gravel, dirt, bigger rock, soil (that you would but for nonaquatic plants) because i would like to have some carpet plants, and i didn't know what to attach them to ( i mean like dwarf hair grassi have been told it likes to be in a pond rather than an aquarium)

is there some thing else i need to answer?


sorrt it took a wile to answer.

Tyler

Most of the stuff I saw dealt with 1 arce and up. They said you should easily do 500+ pounds of catfish every 6 months.

when you say one arce, do you mean, that is the size of the pond?? :?:

Thanks