NOTE: When someone makes copies of articles for another the recipient should somehow try to compensate the photocopier. I would like copies of both and I am willing to pay for each. Where do we find your email address? Use private message icon?
I have raised golden shiners in a cage. Often in mixed culture with other fish such as bgill or perch. Never raised them in a cage at high densites above 5 fish per cubic foot. But I would not be afraid to try it based on my experiences so far.
I think trying to raise very many large g.shiners
20 to 50) in a 35g aquarium will present too many problems and make it a poor choice. Cage culture even in a small cage the size of a 55 gal barrel will be much more successful. At least 100 g.shiners (3"-6")could be raised in a small cage. I would not be afraid to try 200 in a 25"-30"dia cylindrical cage (w/ 3.5' under water, 12to17cuft). This equates to 8 to 16 fish per cubicfoot. The biggest problem for you will be in getting small sized feed for them. All fish that I raise in cages get 40% protein feed. Trout chow (40+% protein) is a balanced diet stand along food for contained fish. I don't want to take any chances from cheap feed; this is one less problem to consider. Too many other ways to have problems with raising fish in cages. Your major problem w/ shiners in a cage will be in getting real healthy shiners that have undergone minimal stress. Stressed fish going into a cage will likely result in high mortalities within the first 10 days. If these high mortalities occur early, most likely it was due to handling stress. I harvested and handled all shiners that I put into cages. I do not have any growth data for shiner growth in cages so I don't know how much they will grow per summer once they are mature.
What was the problem of raising bgill in your cage? (Post any response to this question as a separate topic such as: Bluegill in Cages, under 'Creating a Food Chain' OR 'Types of Fish to Choose'.)
