My parents have about a 1/4 acre pond on their property in Oregon. They had put 2 or 3 catfish from a fishing trip in the pond several months ago. Well.......about 5 weeks ago we saw what was first thought to be polywogs BUT....as it turns out...we have a few hundred CATFISH.

We have been putting fish food from the feed store in the pond and the fish have definitely grown to the point they actually look like catfish now rather than polywogs with wiskers. hehe

What should one do to help the fish live or......not....

City people learning to live in the boon docks. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Deb

 

Where I live, catfish farms are a big business. they also seem to be a lot of work and there are dangers (expensive ones) that happen. I would say that many of the new ones will be eaten by predators (including the larger catfish). You may want to check out "Catfish farms" online to see what is done. OR if you have a water pond store near you, ask them. All the farms here have big powered aerators. There are also bacteria that attack the ponds and I have seen large ponds drained and "cleaned" to get rid of the problem. Good luck.

 

Thank you for your suggestions.

Deb

 

The pond can only support so much fish so you have three choices:

1: You can just let the pond go. The strong will survive and the pond will naturally establish it's own balance. That means no feeding.

2: Consult your local agricultural extension office for advice about adding predatory fish such as bass to help control the catfish population and establish a balance. Do not just dump in some fish you caught at the lake. Your pond is small and only certain species can survive and be healthy long term.

3: Keep feeding the catfish and buy a large aeration system to keep all the catfish alive that you are raising. Welcome to aquaculture. Feeding is not natural so you set up a situation where the fish/pond needs you for food, aeration and eventually taking fish out of the pond.

 

Thank you for your reply.

We do have an aeration pump, however, I believe that we need a 2nd pump due to the size of our pond. Since we put the catfish in the pond (long before the babies), we have been feeding them food from the local feed store.

Again, thanks for the information.
Deb

 

I hate to say this being the pond owner and a saltware fish own but YUMMY!!!!

I say you let the pond stablize as previouslt stated and then ... go fish'n !! Cat is some good eat'n if you figure out how to cook it ....lol

Good Luck !