Growing big fish starts with growing lots of food to feed them. In order for the fry and forage fish to thrive and reproduce, they need mass amounts of food to develop and prosper.
The Pond Boss says: "Feed the Food" !!
http://www.fishiding.com/the-hangout-artificial-fish-habitat-fish-feeder/ artificial bait ball feeder
I like this idea. Can you tell us more?
Peepaw, I'm not a great fan of artificial structure for various reasons, but this intrigues me. Strong work.
We feel it is going to fit a large hole in our habitat choices. I still am amazed that within 2.3 pounds of this feed bag of matrix holds a whopping 400 plus square feet of surface area. should be a slam dunk to hang under your dock to keep the family cleaning fish all year!
After a short time in the drink, entire Bait-ball will be a living smorgasboard of high energy food for your fish.
I like this idea. Can you tell us more?
These units can be tied togehter to form endless arrangements and sizes. Same matrix material as the Floating Islands which allows spray in foam to be added to create desired buoyancy.
The mid depth suspending habitat feeder is here.
Pee Paw-- Can you tell me what is in the bag you created to make the "bait ball" ? Is it just unused food that a person would compost ? I'm just curious on what could be used there that would last a while. Looks like a great idea.
It's not food in the bag, rather food grows in and around the bag. The pieces of material inside the mesh bag are a dense, plastic fiber, similar to the consistency of a coarse steel wool pad. It will never decompose or rot. They come from the technology and manufacturing process of
FTW's Floating Treatment Wetlands.
The food for the fish grows on the plastic and PVC fibers and limbs, starting with Bio film, Periphyton, algae and insects. This magic mix of nature's finest converts nutrients like Phosphorus and Nitrogen into this food. Another cool benefit is while it is feeding the fish using these unwanted, often excessive nutrients, it will clear and clean your water, without any chemicals.
Large scale water issues require large scale answers. These Floating Treatment Wetlands/Islands are being used all over the world to improve water quality and improve habitat. The more surface area installed, the faster the results can be seen. Circulation and aeration speed up the process.
Ok that makes sense. So what could i use in the bag that wouldn't be expensive that would sustain growth? would old sponges or scrub sponges work? from having a backyard pond this would be similar to like bio balls or material used around the filter to add the natural bio elements? i guess anything would work to some extent?
Is the thing you pictured something that can be purchased or is it a homemade deal?
I haven't thought of the sponges, I'll bet they will work great as well. Their safe, long lasting and have tons of surface area. String a few up and dangle them in the drink, I'll bet you see minnows around in no time. Our site has all the details.
i was checking out that side. i like all that stuff for sure. I can't afford any of it tho!! I'm more of a DIY. Hey I posted on the forum about existing ponds, i would like your thoughts there as well. Thanks sir!!
I would bet polyester stuffing like which is used in stuffed animals would work fairly well also. Available at craft shops. Mix that with some other heavier than water materials like crushed sandstone or activated charcoal would probably work fairly well. What would be intriguing is putting it together with a float so wave action would force water flow through it.
the concept is dynamite. i wonder if perhaps mixing in a bit of barley or straw or alfalfa would enhance the product even more?
IMO the theory is very good, but the design is flawed. Floating islands succeed because the roots in the water column remain alive and growing with a loose weave with good water flow through the root matrix. The biofilm lives on the roots and small fish can hunt among the dangling roots. The roots and the biofilm absorb dissolved solids from the water. All key items for its success.
On the new bagged substrate design, the bag is packed too tightly with substrate, I think periphyton and associated invertebrates will live mostly on the outer or near outer surfaces. Most all the innner surfaces especially the subsurface and middle zones IMO will be wasted due to lack of water flow and over growth of the attached algae growths on the outer surfaces which are artificial. These surfaces will tend to readily clog and inhibit water movement throughout the bag.
In many waters that are plagued with filamentous algae, most of the growth on the bag will be FA which will create a mat on the outer surface. When that happens the inner matrix will receive too little light and too little water flow that will cause it to become unproductive and probably anoxic. How well this works in a pond will IMO be dependent on the nutrient regime in the pond. The nutrient composition in the pond will determine what grows on the bag surfaces.
I have done some stuff like this before and results were similar to those that I have described. If the material in the bag was spread out over a large area it would be much more productive and beneficial.
Bill:
Would a design of a floating island with things hanging down be improved if the floating island was of sufficient diameter to keep the hanging substrate in complete shade 100% of the time, or would there still be sufficient sunlight to allow FA to grow?
It might be a non-issue in ponds that have sufficient numbers of Tilapia stocked.
All,
Actually, Bill might appreciate that diatom based periphyton functions under low light conditions, like those offered within the eight inch diameter coral/feeder bags. He's correct that biofilm, the basis of all forms of periphyton, will cycle more nutrients given circulation...which is why the interstitial spacing within the coral is as porous as it is.
Coral feeder matrix operates the same way floating islands do, and while plants add about 15 to 20% to their efficacy, the primary nutrient cycling factor in islands or coral feeder bags are biofilm generating microbes.
So whether it's a backyard eutrophied fish pond, or a stormwater pond, or a wastewater facility, these biofilm generators, given sufficient surface area and circulation, will out-compete free floating phytoplankton in their race for nutrients.
After a week or so, usually less, rub some of the film off of coral bags and look at it under a microscope to see what we are talking about. It's literally buzzing with zooplankton and other tiny micro invertebrates.
Watch what happens to the growth rates of fish that vector with biofilm and the diatoms that exist on it under low light conditions...like all forms of minnows. This translates to the ultimate health of both, your fishery and your waterway.
Last year, with no feeding program, Bruce harvested 210 pounds/acre of wild, organic, fish from Fish Fry Lake. And the water that left the lake on its way to the nutrient enriched dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico was at non detect levels for all forms of nitrogen. They also got most of the phosphorus out. This is important, folks, when you consider the off the chart growth in the rates of eutrophication.
We are very interested in hearing from others who track their waterway's water quality. We believe that fish harvest represents the ultimate best means by which to cycle nutrients out of water in most natural settings.
BioHaven products are all designed around this vision. Today half the lakes in the U.S. are marginal fisheries. We can have our water back!
Until you have seen, held and installed one of these in person, a picture can only tell so much. The first orders begin to ship on Monday!
the concept is dynamite. i wonder if perhaps mixing in a bit of barley or straw or alfalfa would enhance the product even more?
This has already been thought of and in the mix. Great minds think alike Nate, good call.
We add a completely natural blend of diatom enhancing minerals...and I can guarantee that it's not being duplicated anywhere in the world. We do not add carbon, because it's rarely limiting, but we focus on all the key minerals that may be in short supply in some waterways. (per Bruce@FII)
I think the inner material in the bag would be much more productive if the material was in sheets or layers 2"-4" thick instead of 8" dia cylinders. This would allow optimum water flow among the substrates. In thinner layers would also allow small fish to feed more effectively on more of the surface areas rather than primarily on just the cylinder's outer walls. Set up as layers would also provide more cover/habitat for small fish.
I would like to see data as to the amount of nutrient absorption there is per cylindrical bag compared to thinner layered 'feeders". This sounds like a good senior or thesis project for a student subsidized by the Jesse West Foundation and "FISHIDING".