Service Area

Stocking Savvy does on site consultations in Sarasota, Manatee and south Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. We can do photo based and online consultations for anywhere in Florida and the southeast United States or come out to your site for a small fee. To find out if you are within our area for an on site consultation please visit out contact page.

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Pricing 

Consultation and Plan Basics

• Small Backyards, Lawns, or Gardens call us today and we will send out our landscapers for a consult!
• Ponds, Lakes, or Water bodies $250 each up to 10 acres.
  • Water-bodies over 10 acres are $500 each.
• Mitigation Site priced per acre dependant on site. $150 minimum.
• HOA's and Community Associations are $100 per water body, with at least 5 individual ponds. $150 for each separate mitigation or natural area up to 3 acres.
• All Water Bodies or Mitigations over 20 acres are subject to individual pricing.
• Plans listed here are minimums and more can be added for overseeing planting and stocking, presentations bundled into the consultation, walkarounds, and additional work needed to write the plan. Additionally extensive driving time, special considerations, or any requirements beyond the base plan will be added before work begins and a complete quote will be given.

Long Term Consultation - For communities that are large or require routine consulting Stocking Savvy will contract out our licensed biologists for consulting at $50 per hour plus expenses which are detailed per site. We also do monthly inspections at this rate keeping an eye on how plants and animals develop.

​Water Testing - $50 per water body or testing site. Specialty testing is dependant on lab fees.

Presentations - Price dependant upon topic, area, and travel please call to discuss this.

Discounts - Stocking Savvy offers a 20% discount for Educational Institutions and 10% for Military and their Families.

Pond Planting

Florida ponds and lakes naturally hold a lot of nutrients containing runoff from agriculture, lawns, roadways, and filtering everything coming from upstream. This can cause many waterways to become eutrophied or hyper-eutrophic (too many  nutrients) which can lead to harmful algae blooms or nuisance plant growth that can reduce the use or aesthetics of a pond and even be harmful to humans and wildlife. Stocking Savvy recommends an all native planting of ponds to compete with harmful algae and invasive species and to provide habitat for fish and birds. Imagine if your pond had hundreds of beautiful flowers that actively helped control erosion and dangerous algae blooms! We help pick and plan the perfect plant design for your ponds, lakes, and water mitigation sites and can even help you make a beautiful aquatic butterfly garden. Planting is one of the main parts of our consultation services and is always specific to the site as far as species and cost. Not all plants can grow everywhere and we do not plant from other regions or countries. Many non-native plants have a chance to become invasive, and may require large amounts of herbicides or removal to control as they lack any native herbivores. Invasive plants can also take over a water body; displacing wildlife, reducing access, and some of the worst such as Hydrilla have actually drowned swimmers! This is why Stocking Savvy always uses native plants and native fish for a native Florida pond. Below are example categories that show various price points to start, due to acreage, plants desired, and maintenance needed prices can vary and are on a case by case basis.

Standard Planting: $ Low Cost Low Maintenance Planting - These plantings consist of a few extremely low maintenance species such as Gulf Spikerush, Golden Canna Pickerelweed, Bulrush, and Duck Potato. They are common, cheap, grow in quickly and while some have excellent flowers they are only seasonally attractive. This option is best for large areas of eroding pond bank or where pricing can be an issue as these are the functional bread and butter plants.

Florida Beauty Planting: $$ Moderate Cost Moderate Maintenance Plantings - This is for most sites and areas such as golf courses, wealthy associations, and involved homeowners who want a great deal of aesthetic beauty in the plants. It includes all the low cost plan but adds in more flowers which may be pruned and larger plants such as shrubs and trees that can be on the water edge. This can sometimes be better for bank erosion but due to the wider diversity, larger installation, and the expensive nature of some plants costs are higher here. Cypress trees, Scarlet Hibiscus, Cordgrass, Climbing Aster, Aquatic Milkweed, and Fragrant Water Lilies all fall into this category.

Habitat Restoration: $$$ High Cost High Maintenance Plantings - This is the most involved and difficult of all the planting options we have but best for the environment and requires knowledgeable crews to maintain it. Based off historical plant records we will mimic the environment to it's original state and incorporate as many different species as possible to provide the best habitat. Depending on budget over 20+ different species can be added including submersed plants such as Lemon Bacopa and Ludwigia, Spatterdocks and Lotuses, Redroot and Cow Lilies, and many more. This will look natural and incorporate the best ecosystem for native animals to thrive and improve water quality the most. 

For some example plants check out our gallery below!

Fish and Invertebrate Stocking

While many companies stock fish and even invertebrates such as grass shrimp this always revolves around sport fish. With the exception of triploid grass carp which are a genetically modified fish from the Amur River in Vietnam no commercial stocking companies actively utilize native herbivores or filter feeders in their stocking plans. Stocking Savvy provides an encompassing approach helping build new ecosystems from the ground up or restoring disturbed or polluted waterways. By using herbivores, detritivores (scum and decay eating animals), and filter feeders, we can help prevent problems with aquatic weeds and algae, improve water clarity and quality, and actually improve sportfish and wildlife health. Stocking Savvy only uses native fish or University of Florida approved biocontrols in our waterways ensuring that your ponds stay as natural as possible and we can reduce the amount of maintenance and chemicals used in your pond. Since these fish are native they will not overpopulate your pond, will adjust their numbers to grow or shrink with the food supply offering an adjustable control. By using fish and invertebrates this method of controlling algae and nuisance native vegetation is permanent! Since the species we use are all native to your specific watershed we personalize each stocking plan to the individual site and as such not every site will support every species. Below we offer several different packages that we use to target or cater to different issues.

Standard Stocking: $ Low Cost Low Diversity - This includes a basic diversity of fish and invertebrates aimed at primarily improving water quality. This does not include large sport fish such as bass or gar and promotes cleaning fish such as Lake Chubsuckers, Florida Flagfish, and Bullhead Catfish which help improve water quality and consume problematic algae and plants. This can be adjusted for any pond size and controls for algae, poor water quality, poor water clarity, duckweed, azolla, slender spikerush, chara, and other native nuisance plants. For invasive plants such as Hydrilla, Water Hyacinth, or Salvinia, Stocking Savvy will help come up with an integrated pest management plan that deals with these issues and stocks the appropriate control organisms.

Sportfish Stocking: $$$ High Cost Moderate Diversity – Focusing on sportfish health, growth, and forage this stocking adds a variety of prey items that have been implicated in improving sportfish health and size while still cleaning and providing lake services. Lake Chubsuckers for example clean up midge fly larvae, algae, and submersed vegetation while having been shown to improve bass size and health when added as a portion of their diet. By stocking a wider variety of prey we can keep your lake clean in an environmentally friendly way while improving your sport fishing success. Stocking Savvy works with a wide variety of native sport fish such as Largemouth Bass, Bluegill Sunfish, Channel Catfish, Florida Gar, Bowfin Amia, Warmouth, Crappie, and other sport or rough fish for a truly Florida angling experience. Call now to see how Stocking Savvy can help you become a savvy fisherman. Due to the larger size, demand, and sometimes rarity of these fish costs can be higher in this plan.

*Stocking Savvy does not stock non-native species such as Butterfly Peacock, Snakeheads, Tilapia, Cichlids etc. Many of these species out compete native fish, erode banks, reduce water quality, and can cost millions of dollars in damage to native habitat. Rumors that Tilapia remove aquatic weeds are also unfounded and they have been shown in high densities to reduce bass counts as they reduce bass recruitment while eroding shoreline with their nests. Should you want to fish these species we suggest seeing them in their native habitat and home countries or using aquaculture facilities. Stocking Savvy firmly supports fishing for Florida fishes for an experience that is uniquely Florida and American while being environmentally friendly.

New Lake Stocking: $ Low Cost High Diversity – The best time to stock a lake is when it is built, the second best is right now! New pond and lake stocking is the easiest and often cheapest as there are no other fish in the water body yet to compete with the stocked fish. This allows us to stock smaller amounts of a wider variety of species and save you money. This method closely follows the Multimodal Biological Control method that has made Stocking Savvy, so savvy. By stocking properly and starting with smaller species working upward, we can pre-empt many lake problems such as algae, weeds, erosion, and midge flies before they begin. This method often ends with the adding of sport or rough fish and includes a wide variety of species stocked over several months. Let Stocking Savvy help build your perfect pond today!

Habitat Restoration Stocking: $$ Moderate Cost High Diversity – Do you just want a healthy pond that really focuses on restoring habitat and feeding birds, otters and gators? Stocking Savvy will help you build a functional lake and wetland ecosystem that focuses primarily on restoring plants and using a wide variety of invertebrates and small fishes to support wading birds, otters, and other animals while de-emphasizing sportfish. Choose this option for heavily polluted ponds or recently disturbed ponds by heavy maintenance or generally low water quality.

Lake Additions – Do you have a small pond or lake but just feel like something is missing? Want something cool to watch? Need that wild Florida feeling? This category has just that, animals that might not be part of the ordinary stocking or that add a little extra to that wild Florida look.
                Turtles – There are 18 species of freshwater turtle in Florida and we stock a wide variety. These turtles eat vegetation or nuisance insects and can be a fun interactive part of any lake. Prices will vary call or email for a quote. Popular species include:

• Florida Softshell (Apalone ferox)
• Eastern Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)
• River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna)
• Florida Cooter (Pseudemys nelson)
• Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentine)

Consultation Services

At Stocking Savvy, we provide customized management plans based upon your sites specific problems. Whether it is massive algae blooms, poor fish stocks, invasive plants, midge flies, or just wanting to make a beautiful Florida habitat Stocking Savvy has the answers for you. Chemical controls are used as a last resort and we emphasize biological and physical controls as well as using social and cultural controls to prevent problems in the first place with a truly integrated pest management plan. Stocking Savvy only uses Florida native plants and fishes unless they are tested tried and true biological controls approved by the University of Florida. Stocking Savvy has partnered with numerous local businesses for our services for plantings, maintaining sites, building gardens, and stocking fish, we are made in Florida for Floridians. So if you need the ultimate plan to solve your issues not just push them off, and you want native plants, and native fish, for a native Florida, you need Stocking Savvy.

Water Testing

Water is the lifeblood of every aquatic environment and ensuring that your water is clean and healthy is paramount. Stocking Savvy will conduct a series of water quality analysis including Phosphorus, Nitrogens, Turbidity, Heavy Metals, Salinity, Calcium, Magnesium, and Hardness. This is an addition to management plans and can be included in individual management packages. Call or email for water testing today as well as special services including dissolved oxygen and copper polluted soil testing. 

Grant Writing and Funding Assistance

We at Stocking Savvy know how difficult it can be to fund many projects and as such offer grant writing services starting at $25 an hour. We can write the grants, offer support letters, or project planning and management on a wide array of habitat restoration projects. If you or someone else have a project you would like help with please visit our contact page and talk with us further. Grants often include money for grant writers, administrative overhead, or the hiring of professional consultants like Stocking Savvy. To find out if your project is eligible contact your grant writer or contact us anytime!

Presentation Options

Stocking Savvy firmly believes in educating the public about the latest methods, tried and true practices, and combining them into innovative new ideas. For large events and speakings we will cover a wide variety of topics and how Stocking Savvy's habitat restoration and urban ecology practices will help. Whether it is reducing nutrients and controlling harmful algal blooms in backyard ponds or helping plant Florida friendly yards we will happily give a speech relating to your specific event. We also host a monthly Environmental Q&A where you can come and ask questions about Stocking Savvy and the environment. For more on that check out our events page! Below we have a list of the popular topics we present on and have presentations ready to go. We are also capable of covering several topics in less depth for shorter presentations or panels.
-Algae and Red Tide
-Invasive Species
-Midge Flies and Mosquitos
-Erosion and Living on the Water
-Florida Friendly Landscapes
-Climate Change
-Public Action and Education

Sean Patton speaking on Multimodal Biological Control at the 2018 Environmental Summit.

Water Testing? Pond Management? Consulting on Issues? Click Here!