Building an ecosystem for Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens)

[NetMax]

So the plan (underway) is to take a kidney-shaped inground pool and turn into into a Yellow Perch pond, however I want it to be reasonably natural (with live food sources) and low maintenance. The pond is 20,000g and the 5,000g side (40" deep, waterfall return) will be planted (planters & floating), while the 15,000g side (9' deep, bottom drain & pond skimmer) will be mostly open (floating plants that I'll return to the 5,000g side). I'll be using 1/2 & 1HP pumps to circulate, an above-ground 60sq.ft. bog filter, and anoxic filter baskets creating a leaky separation between the 5K & 15K sides. I've arranged run-off feeds to average 30% water change/month, with 1/3 of that coming over concrete pavers (keep my kH up, and pH stable). The anoxic filter because I expect I'll need leaf litter at the bottom of the 5K side (for spawning & fry grow-out), and while bog filters are great at removing NH3/4 & NO2, it's the anoxic that can remove NO3 (into N3) and I suspect low NO3 will be important for native fishes). The plan is to run the system for a year (prove equipment & establish micro-organism and micro-fauna for the Perch to eat), and introduce the Perch in 2024. Climate zone is 5a (Ontario) 4C/39F to 23C/74F water range, so everything needs to over-winter (any micro-fauna would need to be native or cold temperature tolerant). Some questions:
1) Do Yellow Perch over-winter like Koi - going into torpor (involuntary hibernation) at around 10C/50F or do they just reduce their activity level?
2) What is Perch (or comparable) tolerance to NO3?
3) What natural food supply should I consider making a habitat for (cray, frogs, smaller fish etc), their habitat details and where to purchase?
Thanks for reading and for any comments or recommendations. Plan view below:

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Wow! Exciting!

esoxlucius
thebiggerthebetter

 

[esoxlucius]

Wow! Exciting!

esoxlucius
thebiggerthebetter

The only reason The Masked Shadow has tagged me in this is because he knows I love the European Perch (Perca Fluviatilis), a close cousin to your yellow perch.

Unfortunately, just because I like a particular species of fish, doesn't automatically make me an authority on keeping said fish in a man made pond, so I can't really offer much.

Awesome project though, I hope it comes to fruition and that you keep this thread updated regularly.

One thing I will say though is that a pond that big, and that deep, once mature, I'd have thought would be pretty much self sustaining. Small insect type critters and underwater bugs and such will all come naturally. Obviously perch are predators so you would have to stock it with feeders once in a while. If I had such a pond in the UK I'd stock it with small roach, rudd and minnows, you could stock yours with whatever small natives you have.

Plenty of underwater snags and cover too, that bridge is a great idea for shady cover) and marginal plants and reeds, perch are all about ambush and cover, you need to provide these areas in abundance. Once it matures it should be quite a thing. Good luck.

 

[Dutchaj]

This is an awesome project, can’t wait to see it come along.

I can’t speak to too much on your 3 questions, but for question 1- I know yellow perch are active/abundantly caught during ice fishing season

Here is a link with good info on their natural habitat

 

[NetMax]

This is an awesome project, can’t wait to see it come along.

I can’t speak to too much on your 3 questions, but for question 1- I know yellow perch are active/abundantly caught during ice fishing season

Here is a link with good info on their natural habitat

Excellent link - thank you. I liked the use of plastic pallets for fry/breeding habitat. It said they remain active over-wintering which I hope won't be a show-stopper. Providing food when they're under several feet of snow & ice will be 'interesting'. They do filter-feed so that gives me another vector to pursue. Cheers!

 

[NetMax]

The only reason The Masked Shadow has tagged me in this is because he knows I love the European Perch (Perca Fluviatilis), a close cousin to your yellow perch.

Unfortunately, just because I like a particular species of fish, doesn't automatically make me an authority on keeping said fish in a man made pond, so I can't really offer much.

Awesome project though, I hope it comes to fruition and that you keep this thread updated regularly.

One thing I will say though is that a pond that big, and that deep, once mature, I'd have thought would be pretty much self sustaining. Small insect type critters and underwater bugs and such will all come naturally. Obviously perch are predators so you would have to stock it with feeders once in a while. If I had such a pond in the UK I'd stock it with small roach, rudd and minnows, you could stock yours with whatever small natives you have.

Plenty of underwater snags and cover too, that bridge is a great idea for shady cover) and marginal plants and reeds, perch are all about ambush and cover, you need to provide these areas in abundance. Once it matures it should be quite a thing. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback. Stock density is a function of how much we're prepared to intervene, so I think 20,000g is actually not very large for supporting 'carnivores'. However, I like a good challenge and they stay fairly small so I think I could keep 25+ in good health. If they were herbivores, I could keep 50+, but then I'd feel like a gardener, constantly growing their crops. This will be more interesting as it's multiple biotopes eg: micro-organisms to feed the bugs to feed the small insectivores (or omnivores) to feed the carnivores, and the Perch are well suited to dip down into that food chain as needed (in theory). I'll definitely 'seed' the pond with biomass from local ponds to kick-start the process, and I'm thinking that the correct staging (introducing the fish last, after a year) will starve off most of the bacteria & parasites that require fish to host on (again, in theory). I'm actually more worried about finding the organic balance of nitrogen products - to support the bottom of the food chain, and not stress the Perch. The system's food is the fish's poison in small closed systems. Cheers.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

The only reason .avatar--xss { width: 21px; height: 21px; line-height: 21px !important; margin-right: 2px; } The Masked Shadow @The Masked Shadow has tagged me in this is because he knows I love the European Perch (Perca Fluviatilis), a close cousin to your yellow perch.

I thought it was yellow perch. Sorry!