Adding 5,000 Prawns to Our New Pond!
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging video, the host shares an update on the Crimson Oak Pond, where they are restocking 5,000 freshwater prawns, known as jumbo shrimp, to provide a high-protein snack for bass. The prawns, which have significantly contributed to the bass's growth, are introduced to a new Wetland filter, a predator-free sanctuary. The video also covers the installation of a volcano pump for aeration and improved water quality, the benefits of which include preventing fish kills, reducing algae growth, and minimizing mosquito breeding. Additionally, the host discusses the use of Sunday lawn care products, the construction of a squirrel house for wildlife observation, and the tracking of bass activity using antennas. The video concludes with a look at the pond's wildlife, including eagles, toads, and an invasive grass issue, and ends with a fishing session, highlighting the catch and release of a fish named Lily.
Takeaways
- 🦐 The pond is being stocked with 5,000 freshwater prawns, known as jumbo shrimp, which serve as a high-protein snack for bass and contribute to their growth from 2 to 5 lbs in about 18 months.
- 🌡️ Prawn larvae are sensitive to water temperature and require it to stay above the mid-50s to survive, hence they are initially placed in a controlled environment.
- 🌳 A wetland filter is created as a sanctuary for the prawns, providing a predator-free environment rich in nutrients and algae for feeding.
- 🏡 A new squirrel house is being installed in the Big Oak Tree to observe and possibly attract fox squirrels, known as Foxy, to the area.
- 🌟 A volcano pump is installed to provide aeration for the pond, which is crucial for maintaining water quality, reducing algae growth, and preventing fish kills due to low oxygen levels.
- 💡 The volcano pump features LED lights that can display different color patterns for various holidays, adding an aesthetic touch to the pond environment.
- 🌿 The use of a product called Sunday is mentioned for improving the lawn around the backyard pond and the farm, which is a subscription service that provides customized fertilizer based on soil and climate conditions.
- 📈 Data from tracking antennas is being collected to analyze the activity patterns of bass, particularly their feeding times, which can offer insights to improve fishing strategies.
- 🍲 The video also discusses a crawfish cooking event for around 70 to 100 people, highlighting a preferred seasoning mix of Swamp Fire and Louisiana seasoning for a successful crawfish boil.
- 🌱 An invasive grass species, Coan grass, is identified on the farm, which is a concern due to its difficulty to eradicate and the potential impact on the pond ecosystem.
- 🎣 The video concludes with a fishing session where fish are caught, weighed, and released, showcasing the health and size of the bass in the pond.
Q & A
What is the main purpose of stocking jumbo shrimp, also known as freshwater prawns, into the pond?
-The main purpose of stocking jumbo shrimp into the pond is to provide a high-protein snack for the bass, which has led to an increase in their size from 2 to 5 lbs in about 18 months.
Why can't crawfish be added to the pond?
-Crawfish cannot be added to the pond because they could burrow a hole through the clay liner, which would compromise the pond's structure.
What is the average size of an adult prawn in the pond and how long does it take to reach that size?
-The average size of an adult prawn in the pond is not explicitly mentioned, but it is stated that they can reach adult size in about 5 months when fed a heavy protein diet.
What is the issue with the water temperature for raising prawns?
-The issue with raising prawns is ensuring that their water temperature does not get too low, as they cannot survive in temperatures below the mid-50s.
How does the wetland filter benefit the prawns?
-The wetland filter benefits the prawns by providing a sanctuary with no predators and a rich environment full of nutrients and algae for them to feed on.
What is the name of the baby Tiger Bass that was caught and released into the wetland filter?
-The baby Tiger Bass that was caught and released into the wetland filter was named Truman.
What are the benefits of installing a volcano pump in the pond?
-The benefits of installing a volcano pump include increased aeration, prevention of fish kills due to rapid vegetation or plankton die-off, improved water quality, reduction in algae growth, decrease in mosquitoes, and reduced accumulation of bottom sediment.
How does the Sunday product help improve the lawn around the backyard pond?
-The Sunday product helps improve the lawn by providing a subscription service that analyzes soil samples and sends back the exact mix of fertilizer needed for the yard, making it easy to use and maintain a great looking lawn.
What is the challenge in installing the squirrel house in the Big Oak Tree?
-The challenge in installing the squirrel house in the Big Oak Tree is figuring out how to get power and ethernet down to the location, as it is 1,500 ft away from the closest power source.
What is the name of the fish that the bald eagles are seen feeding on?
-The bald eagles are seen feeding on small fish, but the specific species of the fish is not mentioned in the script.
How does the presence of toads and their tadpoles benefit the pond?
-The presence of toads and their tadpoles benefits the pond by eating the algae off the rocks, which helps clean the pond, and once the tadpoles grow larger, they become an easy meal for the bluegills.
Outlines
🦐 Introducing Freshwater Prawns and Pond Upgrades
The video begins with the host welcoming viewers back to the Crimson Oak Pond, where they are set to stock 5,000 freshwater prawns, also known as jumbo shrimp. The host explains that prawns were chosen over crawfish to avoid damage to the pond's clay liner. The prawns serve as a protein source for bass, which have seen significant growth as a result. The pond has been upgraded, and the prawns will be raised in three separate bodies of water. The host discusses the new shipment of post-larva prawns and the importance of maintaining their water temperature above 50s to ensure their survival. They also highlight the installation of a volcano pump to benefit the fish and a new squirrel house in the Big Oak Tree.
🌱 Wetland Filter and Aeration with the Volcano Pump
The host talks about stocking prawns in the wetland filter, a predator-free sanctuary with abundant nutrients and algae. They mention a young Tiger Bass named Truman living in the wetland filter. The host then transitions to discussing the installation of a powerful volcano pump with LED lights, emphasizing its role in aeration and preventing fish kills due to rapid vegetation or plankton die-off. The pump also supports the increasing fish population by providing necessary dissolved oxygen, improves water quality, reduces algae growth, and decreases mosquito larvae and bottom sediment accumulation. The host also covers the use of Sunday lawn care products to improve the yard around the pond and the construction of a squirrel house for a fox squirrel named Foxy.
🔌 Installing Power and Ethernet for the Squirrel House Cam
The host describes the challenges of installing power and ethernet 1,500 ft away from the power source to a new location for a squirrel house. They introduce a product called the Power Box by Dakota lithium, which is a lithium battery with a built-in waterproof inverter and storage, ideal for the remote location. The host also addresses the need to extend Wi-Fi signal to the tree-mounted squirrel house camera to enable live streaming. They proceed to set up the squirrel house with a mahogany front door, wood floor, and various rooms, including a kitchen, living room, and bedroom. The house is equipped with a camera for viewers to watch the squirrels' activities.
🎣 Fish Interactions and Tracking Data Analysis
The host shares their enjoyment of the fish, particularly Johnny and June, the bass, and the bluegills that have become accustomed to human presence. They discuss the pond's design, which includes shallow shelves for bait fish to hide from predators. The host talks about hand-feeding the bass and their progress in getting the fish to eat from their hand. They also mention the use of antennas to track fish activity, with data suggesting that the fish are most active between 4 and 7 p.m., and less so at daylight. The host presents graphs showing fish activity around different areas of the pond and invites viewers to suggest what data to track next.
🌧️ Weathering the Storm and Pond Management
The host talks about the recent extreme weather, mentioning that their area has experienced flooding rather than tornadoes. They show how the heavy rains have affected the clarity of Cedar Falls pond. The host also discusses the presence of invasive Cogon grass on the farm and seeks advice on how to eliminate it without harming the pond ecosystem. They then go fishing and catch several fish, including a rainbow trout and a large bass named Lily. The host debates whether to move a tiger bass named Moby to a different pond and asks for viewer input. The video concludes with a reminder to subscribe for updates on the pond and its inhabitants.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Freshwater Prawn
💡Volcano Pump
💡Wetland Filter
💡Post Larva Prawns
💡Surface Aerator
💡Diffusers
💡LED Lights
💡Squirrel House
💡Prawn Pond
💡Bass Growth
💡Toad and Tadpole
Highlights
Stocking 5,000 jumbo freshwater prawns into the pond to provide a protein source for bass and avoid the issue of crawfish burrowing through the clay liner.
Installing a volcano pump to benefit fish by aerating the pond and preventing potential fish kills due to rapid vegetation or plankton die-off.
Building a new squirrel house in the Big Oak Tree to increase the habitat for local wildlife, particularly fox squirrels.
The prawns are raised in a controlled environment before being released into the pond, ensuring they are acclimated and can survive in the pond's conditions.
Using a wetland filter as a sanctuary for prawns, providing a predator-free environment rich in nutrients and hiding spots.
The introduction of a Tiger Bass named Truman into the wetland filter, which is expected to grow rapidly due to the abundance of prawns.
Overstocking shallow areas of the pond with prawns to ensure a survival rate that can impact the bass population, even with predation from bluegills.
The volcano pump not only aerates the pond but also features LED lights for nighttime illumination and aesthetic appeal.
The installation of the volcano pump is facilitated by Southeastern Pond, showcasing their expertise in pond management.
Using Sunday lawn care products to improve the lawn around the backyard pond and farm, with a subscription service tailored to soil and climate conditions.
Nate makes builds a detailed squirrel house with amenities like a front lawn, kitchen, living room, and even a fireplace to attract squirrels.
The use of a Dakota lithium power box, nicknamed the 'juice box,' to provide power and internet connectivity to the squirrel house camera system.
Observing the behavior of bass and bluegills in Cedar Falls, noting that the fish are not scared of people and actively approach when fed.
Tracking fish activity with antennas to gather data on the most active feeding times, which can benefit fishermen's understanding of bass behavior.
The discovery of a mystery fish in the pond, believed to be an invasive species, which was found dead after choking on another fish.
The annual crawfish cooking event, sharing a recipe for a successful crawfish boil using swamp fire and Louisiana seasoning.
The impact of heavy rains and flooding on Cedar Falls, highlighting the importance of the pond's drainage system in managing water flow.
The sighting of various wildlife around the pond, including a friendly duck that returned despite the presence of eagles, and an owl named Hooter.
The challenge of dealing with invasive Coan grass on the farm, seeking advice on safe methods to eradicate it without harming the pond ecosystem.
The decision to move a tiger bass named Mr. Tiger to a new location, considering whether to place him in a 5-acre pond or Cedar Falls for closer monitoring.
Transcripts
Folks at home welcome back to the
Crimson Oak Pond and today we're going
to be stocking 5,000 of these jumbo
shrimp known as freshwater prawns into
our pond we're also going to be
installing a volcano pump that'll
benefit all of the fish in the pond as
well as installing a new Squirrel House
in the Big Oak Tree so one of our most
successful projects last year was
building this prawn Pond and the reason
we decided to add prawns into the 5 acre
Pond is because we can't add crawfish
because they could burrow a hole through
our clay liner and as you can see these
jumbo prawns are a huge protein snack
for the bass and also another reason
that the bass went from 2 in to 5 lb in
about 18 months so what you see here is
the average size adult prawn that we
grew and it took about 5 months and we
would release some of them right here on
the Pond's Edge but a lot of them got
put in at night and were an easy meal
for the bass under the green lights so
it's time to restock the prawns this
year we have one slight problem the
prawn Pond got a big upgrade and now
looks like this so this year going to be
raising them in three different bodies
of water and our shipment just came in
of 5,000 post larva prongs and you can
see these are juveniles and when they're
first born they're about an eighth of an
inch long but we feed them a heavy
protein diet and they'll reach adult
size in only 4 months so the first thing
we're going to do is start out by
putting them in a holding tank so we can
control the temperature the only
difficulty with Raisin prawns is making
sure their water temperature doesn't get
too low because they can't survive in
anything below the mid-50s so we're
releasing the first bag pch in here and
just like last year they immediately go
to the side of the containers and start
feeding on any type of algae that's in
the tank and now let's talk about the
second body of water we're going to be
adding the prawns to if you guys recall
when we were building this Pond right at
the top of the waterfalls we dug out a
wetland filter all right beautiful
afternoon out here with the sun setting
now we're about to stock some prawns and
we're going to put some in the Wetland
filter and down there in the main Pond
but the prawns down there may get eaten
by the Blu gills or Bass But the perfect
thing about having this Wetland filter
is you got this nice little Sanctuary so
this entire area has no predators in it
plus it's a wetland filter so it's full
of nutrients you can see algae down
there on the bottom well I have to take
that last statement back I said there
wasn't any predators in there but if you
recall last week's video The Tiger Bass
spawned and I made an attempt to catch
some of those baby bass fry and I was
only successful in Catching one of them
but this little guy now lives in the
Wetland filter that's going to get
stocked full of prawns he may grow at a
record rate and by the way I asked you
all to help me name him and by far the
most popular name was Truman so
congratulations Richard you are the
winner so we're at that time a year
where we shouldn't have any more cold
nights so we're going to go ahead and
put some right here in the Wetland
filter and this top layer is only about
a foot and a half deep but the gravel
goes down 6 ft deep so while these
prawns are at the post larva stage they
could get down there in that gravel and
we couldn't see them for weeks or maybe
even up to a month until they get big
enough for their Force to come out and
there's the perch right there that the
Eagle's been landing on there's a cool
shot of them hanging out all right so
now these guys have acclimated to the
holding tank which we filled with pond
water out of Cedar Falls so we're going
to transport some of them into the
Wetland filter and the prawn should
Thrive here fresh water
algae and plenty of places to
hide all right there's two things the
prawns need in their holding tank one is
warm water so we got this thermometer
set to about 80° to offset any nighttime
temperatures out here the second thing
they need is a lot of oxygen so we're
going to drop some of these pucks down
to the bottom there now second
one so I've been feeding these guys a
heavy dose of protein pellets and it is
amazing to see how quickly they grow
each day I come out here they're
noticeably bigger now it's time to move
some to the 5 acre Pond all right we're
in the shallow corner pocket of Bonnie's
Bayou and we're going to release some
prawns right here in this area you can
see this is extremely shallow right here
and and there's a lot of algae for the
prawns to feed off of you can see it's a
perfect safe haven for all those fish
that just hatched and if there's any of
you out there that want to stock prawns
but don't have a good setup like a
holding tank or a prawn Pond the best
thing to do is just Overstock the
shallow areas of your pond especially
the areas that have the vegetation
because While most of them will get
eaten up by the bluegills and other
small fish still roughly 10% of them are
going to make it to that adult size and
if you stock enough numbers in the
beginning that 10% could be enough to
have an impact on your bass so now it's
time to install the volcano pump into
the pond and there's several benefits to
this that we're going to be talking
about here in just a moment but its
basic job is to act as a huge airation
pump it's 5 1/2 horsepower but the other
cool feature about this model is it has
these big canister LED lights so you can
pretty much put on a light show at night
and we're using some 5 gallon buckets
filled with cement as anchor points and
we've got 200 ft of power and lighting
cable that are going to connect back to
our control panel and it floats which is
a good
thing we got the control box mounted
some conduit leading down into the
water and I had the guys from
Southeastern Pond come out to help me
install this these guys are very
knowledgeable and made it look like an
easy job so we wanted to get it out in
at least that 6ft depth range so we
chose right out to the left of Alcatraz
Island out in the center of the pond and
once the guys got everything anchored
down there's only one thing left to do
and that's power it
on and I'll have to say guys this video
does not do it justice the volume of
water this thing moves is incredible
people install Pond airators or
fountains for the Aesthetics look but
the volcano style is completely opposite
it has one major job and that surface
Iration and a lot of L of people call
surface aerators an insurance policy for
your fish so anytime you have a lot of
vegetation or in our case Plank and
Bloom from the fertilizer and you get
these real hot summer days sometimes
either a thunderstorm can trigger it by
dumping a lot of cold rain water in the
pond or even those very hot temperatures
can cause that Plankton Bloom to die off
rapidly and when vegetation or Plankton
dies at a rapid rate it depletes all of
the dissolved oxygen which can lead to a
fish kill and you lose every fish in the
pond so for starters this pump's going
to prevent that and the second benefit
is that as we add more and more fish to
the pond each spring when we have new
spawns and introduce more Blu Gill small
bass and even tilapia the increase in
number of fish is going to require more
dissolved oxygen which this pump is
going to provide more than they could
ever need but this airator is going to
improve the water quality and will also
reduce algae growth because by producing
more oxygen in the water it converts
things like phosphorus which algae
typically uses for food and not to
mention by churning up the water a lot
of those algae spores get pushed down
deeper and die off because they don't
have access to the sunlight another
added benefit is a reduction in
mosquitoes because they require still
calm water for their eggs to develop and
it's also going to reduce the
accumulation of bottom sediment so the
organic matter in the pond decomposes
much slower under low oxygen conditions
so as you can see by adding more
dissolved oxygen there are numerous
benefits and this system works great in
conjunction
with our diffusers and we installed
three diffusers just after we built the
pond and the diffuser is really good at
last but not least we had to check out
the LED lights at night the really cool
thing about this is they have built-in
color patterns for holidays throughout
the year so like red white and blue
during fourth of July green and red
during Christmas so now our fish are
going to know what holiday it is they
should be
celebrating now today we're going to be
working with a product called Sunday to
help improve the lawn around our
backyard pond as well as out at the farm
and we started the first application of
the Sunday product about 6 weeks ago and
this is what our long looked like it was
in pretty good shape but you could see
there were a couple of bad spots and
this is a quick look at what the lawn
looks like 6 weeks after applying the
Sunday
product and just in case you didn't see
that video Sunday's products are
extremely easy to use you basically just
hook them up to a water hose there you
go it's got pretty good range on it
Sunday works as a subscription service
and you start out by using the tools
they give you to take a soul sample of
the backyard and you send that off to
their experts and based on your so and
climate they'll send you back the exact
mix of fertilizer you need to keep your
yard looking great throughout the year
so Sunday takes all the guest work out
of it and make it extremely easy to use
with these pouches that attach to your
water hose so if you're interested in
checking them out head over to gets
sunday.com
bamabass and for a limited time they're
offering 30% off your first long care
Box by using code bamabass 30 at
checkout so Nate makes has been building
a squirrel house for the fox squirrel we
call Foxy and we put out a few feeder
stations to see which area had the most
squirrel activity and that turned out to
be highly entertaining in itself because
as always you never know what you're
going to get with the wildlife we saw
Flying Squirrels George Jones The posum
and even clever raccoons figuring out
ways to open the feeding stations and
access the peanuts all right out of all
the squirrel feeder stations we put out
the nut bar did the best it's pretty
self-explanatory it's in this giant oak
tree lot of animals living and using
this tree each day so we're probably
going to mount the squirrel house right
here on this big Branch but the tough
part is figuring out how to get power
and ethernet down here to this location
because we're literally 1,500 ft away
from the closest power source but I'm
always up for a challenge so let me just
show you guys this cool little package
here by Dakota lithium called the power
box I call it the juice box there's a
lot of these type deals out on the
market but this one is by far the best
trust me I've tried a bunch of them so
to start off with it has a lithium
battery this one is the 135 amp hour
which will give you juice for quite a
while well the best part about this is
they've made a waterproof device that
has a multi-function inverter built into
it but not only that it has built-in
storage for things like this switch I
can mount it right there the 120 volt
plugs are right there everything get
stored away nicely so I like this
product so much I'm even going to put a
link down in the video description so
you can check it out now the second part
of this deal is getting the Wi-Fi signal
down here so we're going to mount this
up high in the tree and it's going to
send the video signal from the squirrel
box camera 1,500 ft away to the cabin
without any day loss we're even going to
be able to live stream it so time to get
everything set up and installed all
right Nate out here delivering the
Squirrel House what we got Nate we got
the beautiful mahogany front door set
wood floor
inside come around back you got
waterproof hinges up top way you can
open her up let's see the inside of the
Squirrel House got the full housing
Suite in there got the kitchen got the
living room with the TV over here got
the bedroom set down here got the
squirrel bed right there even built in a
camera so all you guys can
[Laughter]
watch Candle on the
table so the first thing we had to do
was set the table with some almonds and
a variety of nuts to hopefully lure the
squirrels into their new home we also
put some bonus items in in the
refrigerator it's going to be
interesting to see if they can figure
out how to open it and Nate was even
thoughtful enough to build them their
own front lawn he's got little hidden
gems everywhere you can see they even
have a
fireplace I like the front lawn dude
nice good
cut yeah I wonder who's going to get up
here and cut the
grass so big shout out to Nate makes an
incredible job the animals are always
happy when you show
up and we may have had to do one or two
sketchy things that wouldn't be approved
by OSHA but hey if we're ever going to
live stream all these cameras these
things are necessary so one last look at
the inside of the house unfortunately we
installed this so late in the week
you're going to have to wait until the
next episode to see the squirrels enter
their new home so now let's go check in
on our little buddies and Cedar Falls
and I'll have to say I'm starting to
love the bass we call Johnny and June
and the Blu gills there's something
special about having fish that aren't
scared of people and now every time I
come up to the pond they swim over and
greet me and a lot of this began when we
started feeding the bluegills the
protein pellets but the bass Started
enjoying us coming by for a different
reason so this Pond was built with
shallow shelves so that the bait fish
like the golden shiners we stock in here
have a way to hide and get away from the
bass well every time we walk up we scare
those shiners out of the shallow pockets
and that's when Johnny and June get
aggressive so pretty much every time we
come up to the pond the fish get a full
belly so now they look forward to us
stopping
by and it's that time of year where all
the lies are blooming which also means
that it's toad time so if you're around
any body of water this time of year
there's a very good chance you're going
to hear that mating call from the frogs
and toads and this is nothing new to us
we've been seeing it the past few years
in the backyard pond so when you hear
these little guys around the edge of the
pond if you look closely you'll start
seeing these strings of eggs and then
when you come back a couple days later
those eggs become tadpoles and you may
see thousands of them but they're very
beneficial because those Tad poles eat
the algae off the rocks and basically
help give your pond a good cleaning and
once they fatten up they also become an
easy meal for the blue gills but there's
one guy out there that's not too happy
with the invasion of the toads and
that's
Moby he said not in my house so next
week I promise we're going to give you a
full update on the backyard pond and
Moby they're all doing great and have
gained a lot of weight over the winter