Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations cage raised bg

I once made a cage out of galvanized wire. In about 6 months, it had rusted thru.Stainless steel will last forever in the water but that is big bucks.

Another option is do both, soft netting attached to the inside of the frame, and steel mesh on the outside.

I believe you; I was just harassing you.

Scott,

Aquatic Ecosystems has it:

Galvanized PVC coated. Oh but it's not cheap and you have to buy 100 feet. 100 feet of 1/2 by 1/2 inch four feet wide is $665.00. That does not include motor freight!

Maybe Stoney Creek sells it and they will cut some off for you? Don't even see the plastic cage material in their latest catalog although I know they sell it.

If it was me I'd go with the plastic netting. It's pretty strong stuff. It's possible otters will ignore the cage of fish. Are you sure you have them?

Just make a decoy cage out of panty hose with GSF in it.

Oh yah JHAP's busy being a grownup

If you're dead set on wire in the cage, I'd do like was suggested, plastic inside, and regular galvanized wire outside. You could use 1 1/2" chickenwire outside to keep otters out. I think the total cost of both types of netting would be less than stainless or coated wire netting.

I would suggest using atleast 14 gauge galvanized fencing for the outside, if you do have otters they have powerful jaws.

Tractor supply has a big selection of fencing on their website, even some with plastic coating.

A. P. could you please send me the link to the tractor supply coated wire? I cant find any, except the green coated and the mesh is too large.
Thanks.

scott the coated wire at Tractor Supply had a 2"x3" mesh which should be ok for keeping out otters, but here's a link to coated fencing with a 1"x2" mesh.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B...mp;linkCode=asm

thanks a.p... it is kinda pricey including the shipping. is there any problems with the smaller mesh, like 1/2x1/2 hardware cloth? that is readily available since most people use it for rabbits and chickens.

The 1/2" hardware mesh should work, the drawback would be shorter lifespan and the smaller mesh would probably need to be cleaned often cause of algae buildup.

If you are determined to use plastic and wire mesh I would not put it on the bottom of teh cage. I doubt it very much that otter will chew through the plastic mesh on the bottom side of the cage. If you build one of these cages why not build two, one with plastic and wire, and one smaller one with just plastic and prove to all of us that otters will chew through a plastic mesh cage. For the smaller cage you can use a large dia old bicycle rim as a top rim or hoop abt 28"dia and 4 ft deep (cylinder 15cuft). You can get these rims free from a bicycle repair shop. PM me and I will send you pictures of this simple easy style of smaller cylindrical cage. This size of smaller cage can easily hold 30-40 4"-5" BG.

i havent seen any otter signs since thanksgiving. i hope problem is solved for now, but they always return. i've eliminated 5 in the last 3 winters.

i just ordered the mesh. i gave up on metal. i went to tractor supply today and all they have is 1/2"x1/2" and they are only 36" wide. so i ordered plastic mesh that is 3/4".

south eastern pond is supposed to get me some large bg soon. they are shocking some ponds and are going to get me 6" plus fish. i hope i get the cage supplies in and it built by next week. hopefully the fish will come soon. these fish have been pellet fed before, but arent currently. i hope they dont starve in the cages.
any thoughts?

They'll remember what the pellets are when they get hungry enough. I'd start out with hydrating the pellets first.

pvc fittings are in. hope to get the pipe tomorrow and start on the frame. i might take a pic if it is pondboss quality.

Scott69,

I sent another article I did on cage culture for my state aquaculture association newsletter. If anyone else is interested I'd be glad to sent it to them.

Cecil

Cecil,
I'd appreciate taking a look at the article as well.

roadwarriorsvt@earthlink.net

Thanks.

Cecil-Thanks for sending the article. Great info!!

I finished the cage frame earlier today. Now i am waiting on the netting to get here.

I used 1" PVC.

O.k. sent.

Got it. Thanks. A lot of good info packed in that article.

No problem. If anyone wants to see an article on my RAS and how it's built I can send that link too.

For anyone within driving distance your welcome to have the cage I built 3 years ago, since I have a problem with bears I stopped using it, there's some damage to the top netting but the rest is ok, I also have a partition for the center frame so it's like 2 cages in one.
It's 7.5'L X 3'W x 3'H.

Link to a round cage construction.

http://extension.umass.edu/aquaculture/s...eetJune2206.pdf

If you have a cage that is 4' dia x 4' deep, what number of tilapia could be kept in there to get as big as possible till fall. Thinking about starting with a 5" size.