Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Questions on Trash cans for holding/raising fish

I need a little input for raising some Condello Strain BG. It seems that a few will be making their way Northward from Nebraska, and I will need to overwinter them in a cage so they don't become fish food.

1) What size netting (opening) will I need for 1"-3" fish? 4"-6" fish?

2) How many fish per square foot of cage? 4'x4'x4' or 4'h x 4'w x 6'l or??

3) What to feed at what water temp?

4) How far from the cage(s) will I need to locatate a vertex aerator, and is 5'-6' aerator depth O.K.?

5) Will using a 4' deep cage that is floating on the water be O.K. for N. Indiana winter or should it be deeper?

What else do I need to know or change?

The pond depth in the area of the cage(s) will be 10'-12'. If recommended, the cages could be floated in a different area of the pond that has a different water depth.

Thanks for any input, guys and gals. I need to implement any suggestions within 7 days (when the fish arrive). If I need to do anything else, please let me know!

esshup, did you see this discussion on fish cages?
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=168793&fpart=1

Also excellent articles on raising fish in cages in the march-april, may-june & july-aug. 2007 issues of pond boss.

AP:

Thanks. I'll dig up those copies and do some reading.

I use:

1 to 3 inch bluegills -- 1/4 inch mesh
4 to 6 inch bluegills -- 3/4 inch mesh



I prefer to stay conservative:

1 to 3 inch in a 4 X 4 X 4 cage 600 total
4 to 6 inch in a 4 X 4 X 4 cage 300 total

I feed as much as they want to eat. However you are getting close to the 50 degree water temp cutoff this time of year. When below 50 F. I would stop feeding bluegill for the winter.



Before last winter I did not locate a diffuser near my cages at all or have it even on anywhere in the pond and had good survival. However this year I may run one intermittently within 50 feet. Last year was weird with thin ice and deep snow which eventually caused D.O.levels to plunge. Due to the thin ice i was not able to remove snow for light penetration and hence the subsequent D.O. depletion. Surprisingly last year in that crisis, when I cranked up a surface aerator and opened up a 30 feet wide hole near my cages (yellow perch and bluegill), even in below zero temps, I had no morts from super chilling. I'm starting to think superchilling is overstated for at least yellow perch and possibly bluegills and Dr. Willis seems to have also found this in one of his pond studies. Largemouth bass may be a different story as I've had stressed bass in winter from potential superchilling.



I use 4 feet deep cages with part of them above water with no problems. The same goes for Bill Cody. Be aware that snow may weight them down a little and cover them too.



Sounds good.

Thanks Cecil. I'll be a busy boy this week getting everything ready for Sunday (delivery day). The pond last year had ice thick enough for ice fishing without any concerns (8"-10"), and with the snow cover, I'd have been worried about low DO if there were more fish in the pond. I'm still not that concerned, but now with the cages, I'll have them in (or close to) the area that is stirred up by the diffuser. And, with the pond being a groundwater pond, I don't know how cold the water will get a ways below the surface due to it being in the aquifier (13' deep and deeper).