Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Habitat Spheres

Howdy,
Over the New Year Holiday, I hauled, tied wire and pieces of cinder block to about 78 Christmas trees, then sunk them, vertically. From what I'm reading on this forum and the labor involved, I'd rather not do that again.

I see a plastic habitat sphere being sold on several sites, including Greg's site, www.lakework.com. I'd like to hear from some folks using them, Greg included.
How do sink them to keep them in one place?
I thought about attaching plastic fencing (in rolls at Home Depot) around one side to provide cover for smaller fish and sink several of the spheres almost touching each other.
Will beneficial organisms grow on the PVC, as it would on natural products, like trees?

Thanks In advance...

FA grows on my PVC feed ring.

Big Mac when I click on above link it does not go to my site. I have to fix that. Anyway they sink by themselves are very easy to put together, etc. I brought one to the PB meeting and folks seemed to like them. i have heard back from clients they are catching fish around them. I just today sent 6 to Ted Lea.

Having said all this we are still in early stages on how well they are working. They are not designed like Christmas trees to protect small fish. They do grow algae and start the process of attracting small fish. They can be anchored by simply tying one brick to hole in sphere but we just push them into mud a little bit and they stay in place. I'm excited about them. The inventor said folks have put fish food inside the pvc pieces and that worked well. We have attached 2 together to form bigger ones. I like you idea of attaching the fencing to them.

Bill Dance has joined the marketing efforts so now called procupine attractors. That website has good info as well. Big Mac I just say to customers try a few and let me know what you think they are $35 each but drops to $30 for 6 or more. Thanks for inquiry and hope this helps, gotta run.

Greg,
I think the reason the URL is not going to your site is because it grabbed the period at the end of the sentence for some reason.

As a newbie, I'll bite. FA = Filamentaceous Algae? Is that good or bad? I hate the stuff when it's hanging from my fishing lures.

bigmac,I have a multitude of structure in my ponds and seems it decreases about as fast as I put it in, X-mas trees etc. Have a lot of 1-2 inch mesh but it gets solid coverage, I saw these attractors at the Ga meeting and wanted to try them, knowing that Greg Grimes was handling them was all the shopping I needed to do, 6 on the way and 6 more in a few weeks will all go into a one acre pond,probably 12 more smaller ones in another display pond. I have the large ones coming (I think)12 should be a good trial, They will be in a LMB B'gill pond, I find my fish love to hang out around the aerator diffusers where there is not enough structure and this should help remedy that.I will pvc glue to the center base (not sure if recommended or not) and weight a few of the rods to keep in place.I dont think snagging these will be a problem either.Ted

On the link from Greg's site, there is a lot more information. They do recommend glueing the pipes to the sphere. If needed, they also recommend adding weight with aluminum or copper wire. I'm intrigued by the idea of putting 3 to 5 of them together, using both ends of some of the PVC pipe sections.

The only part that you might hang a lure on would be the actual sphere, but will know more once I get the ones I am about to order from Greg.

My idea of tieing the rolled plastic fencing to the spheres for protecting smaller fish sounded good, until I realized it may very well reduce the snagless properties. If I caught and had to reel in 3 of these attached spheres, I'd feel like Bill Engvall was about to hand me my sign.

I'm buying just the spheres, since I'm not sure how deep it is where I want to put them around the pier I fish. I'll paint the PVC I add hunter green, if that won't adversely affect the FA and other growth?? If someone sees the white PVC, under the water, the cover might just grow legs, even in semi-private waters.

Big Mac I sent you an email. If you can put them out and watch them for a short time I think they will grow algae and the whtie not be noticed. They need to be 2.0 ft min. under water anyway so trolling motor, etc will not hit them. We have never glued them and have yet to lose any pieces that we know about.

Thanks Greg. That's all good to know. Look forward to hearing from you about my order.

I wonder if there would be any advantages to roughing up the 1/2" PVC, with sandpaper, before sinking the cover?

Hmm... My idea to attach 3 of them to each other to form a pointy triangle, along with the possibility of needing to lift them for relocation, might require glueing? Wouldn't they'd break apart from the weight, when lifted?
I would prefer to not glue them in, so I could have the option of adding longer or shorter pieces of PVC, later, in case I wish to relocate them.

Thanks for the reminder on the depth for the trolling motors. That's all that's allowed on this large pond/small lake. I seem to have a knack for finding every stump out there, during each fishing trip. If I don't find them with the boat, I find them with crank and spinner baits. I broke down and made myself a lure retriever. Just stretched a spring a bit, then stuck it in the end of a fiberglass pole. It works pretty good.

I am sinking the spheres I bought this weekend and have a few more questions.

I wonder if there would be any advantages to roughing up the 1/2" PVC, with sandpaper, before sinking the cover, such as fish eggs and algae sticking better?

Maybe, with sinking only one you wouldn't need to use PVC glue, but what about my plan to attach 3, or more together, and sink them as a unit? Would the extra weight make it a good idea to glue them in case I need to move them later?

I see they have a hole in the sphere for attaching copper or aluminum wire and a weight. Attaching several together would inhibit rolling on the bottom, so I don't think a weight is necessary in still waters?

nope no weight with three attached and yes agree glue is good idea with putting them together. Rough up a copuple of them for comparision with regular ones. Man I like just volunterring your time on an experiment it is much easier than me doing it myself. Seriously curious if that indeed makes a diff.

go ahead...glue 'em. When the time comes for adjustment, bring a hacksaw, couplings, glue, and the necessary extensions.

Duh, good idea. Makes sense, but PVC cutters beat the heck out of using a hack saw.

I'm planning to put 3 of the same pipe length (2.5', 4', and 5') spheres together to create a 3 sphere triangular unit, by using 3 lengths of PVC twice the length of the others. For a straight line set up, I'd just need two of the double-length pieces. I'll take some pictures, before I sink them, then post them next week.

Sorry, guys. I wasn't able to install the 12 porcupine spheres this weekend. I got caught up in problems with an air conditioner and fixing a roof, before it rained. The A/C Compressor needs replacing. Ouch!

I'll try to get up there, within the next few weeks to finish assembling and installing the spheres. I'll take some pictures and report the results in this thread. I'll rough up some of the PVC and leave others, as is, and report back on that, too.