Spring activity at the hatchery

Working hard at Hunting Creek Fisheries!

New Packaging for Hunting Creek Fish Food

You might remember one of my tips in the last post was to look for garden pond fish food that is packaged in a foil bag or other packaging that blocks sunlight and other exposure to the elements. We are pleased to be able to offer our feed in new bags that do just that.



Here's a picture of our line of feed. You might notice some of the bags are blank. We allow our wholesalers to purchase packaging in blank bags and "private label" their feed.

New customers get a free gift with feed purchase on any orders placed before Mother's Day - contact the hatchery and tell them Jim The Fishman sent you.

Top Fish Food Qualities for Pond Fish

Spring is here! After your goldfish, koi, and other beloved pond creatures are greeted and anxiously counted to confirm that all the favorites survived the winter, does your next thought sound something like..."now, where did I put the fish food?" Does that send you into a water garden hobbyist spiral of panic about whether you are giving your precious darlings the best possible care you can provide? It's ok. We all do.

So, you want your fish to be colorful, active, eat healthily, and poop less, right? You want your water to be sparkling and clear and not toxic to your fish and plants, yes? These are not lofty goals at all and many of the answers are in the fish food. We all live busy lives and none of us want a hobby that seems more like a chore, so I thought I would put together a few fish food realted tips to help you do more enjoying and less working around the pond.

1. Look for nutrients like Krill meal, spirulina, and asaxanthin all of which help to enhance and brighten colors
2. Avoid fillers like corn which can increase waste and cloud the water, pellets should not break apart or get soggy
3. Look for a high protein content, again easing digestion and minimizing waste
4. Feed your fish in a localized area so you can monitor intake. Try throwing a plastic ring in the water and putting the feed inside the ring. If they eat it all, give them some more, if there is some left, you know you can use less next time. That way it doesn’t all get washed down the falls or sucked into the filter.
5. Try to buy food that is packaged in a reseal able, foil bag or other sun blocking packaging, exposure to the elements reduces the nutritional value and integrity of the food

Look for these qualities in your fish food and you will be on your way to enjoying your water garden whether its a whiskey barrel, a simulated mountain stream, or an acre pond.

Visit the Hunting Creek Fisheries website see our selection of quality ornamental goldfish, koi, golden orfe, and the food they eat.

Pictures of Hunting Creek Fisheries Comets

The 2011 season is upon us. While we get rolling, I thought I would post these pictures of comets that we caught this week for our first orders of the season.

Enjoy!

Hunting Creek Fisheries Launches Facebook Page

I hope you're having a good week and staying cool. We were lucky this week to see a little bit of rain. Reports around the Frederick, MD region are that corn crops and other agricultural crops are suffering so keep your farmer friends in your thoughts and remember that Rain is a Good Thing!



If you want another great way to follow Hunting Creek Fisheries, check out our Facebook page. Like us and get timely updates and topical information about ornamental goldfish, koi, golden orfe, and our exclusive blend of feed.

I know, that sounded like a commercial. I'm practicing for my big break, in case this whole fish farming gig doesn't work out.

Don't forget to send us some pictures of your HCF fish and your ponds, we'd love to see them and share them with our subscibers.

Nice mention in the Gazette.net

Family fish farm handed down to fourth generation
The article features our new President Matt Klinger, and our plans for the future. "As the business's fifth president, (Matt) Klinger represents the fourth generation of his family to manage the 125-acre property."


HCF President Matt Klinger (foreground), and your blog host and HCF Production Manager, Jim "the Fishman" Shubert (photo credit: Gazette.net)

Full Circle

Can anyone say heat wave??? We've been experiencing record highs here in Frederick County, MD this week. The thermometer read 106°F yesterday at 2:00 p.m.

One good thing about working at a fish hatchery is the abundance of built-in swimming pools and a never ending supply of excuses to fall in to one of them. For the sake of fish health (and fish farmers' health) we were up at 4:00 a.m. this morning to drain a pond of this year's Golden Orfe Fry. They were out of the pond and into the building to get prepped for shipment before 10:00 a.m.!




Here's a picture of some of what we drained. Sorry for the quality of the photo, Droid didn't want to focus this morning. These are the same fry we've been following here on the blog so I thought you might enjoy seeing them all grown up. They are ~15 weeks old and measure from 3-5 inches.

For more info, check out the hatchery website at http://www.huntingcreekfisheries.com/.



I'm going swimming.