Posted by Jason B. on August 17, 2006 at 10:53:19:
Pond Pals, I have a question... My pond is shaped like a number 8, with a waterfall and a 22 foot stream, and measures 16 x 22 at the widest angles. We figure it is between 3300 - 4200 gallons of water.
That being said, I have 10 4-5" goldfish, maybe 6 of their fry which are now 1-2", and mosquito fish galore. The problem is, the original 6 mosquito fish now number around a hundred I assume. Most of the mosquito fish are smaller than an inch.
The question is, using that rule of an inch of fish per square foot of pond surface, am I now overstocked? Do the tiny mosquito fish fry count?
The pond is new, has good amount of plants, and I only feed the fish on the weekend, once a day. The water quality is good, but the clarity is only a few inches beneath the surface before it turns green. The fish are not gasping for air, but every weekend, I scoop out more decaying oak leaves from the bottom.
I think it's time to thin the mosquito fish population. What do you think?