Russ - I too have never had problems with turtles damaging cages despite two large turtles frequent the cage area for surplus pellets. For floatation I've found the 2 liter pop bottles hold up well when expsosed to UV light, however I prefer the 2 quart Ocean Spray clear juice bottles. They hold up very well to UV and have indentations to help hold them to the cages when tied with twine.
I doubt the fish outside the cages caue any stress to fish in the cage. Much more stress will come from pecking order stress from inside the cages. Fish will bump and bruse each other which can lead to not eating and fungal infections. Also fish that don't feed or go off feed will die especially if they are dominated or bullied by other fish. I consider your losses minimal and quite normal. I would rate your first attempt at cage raising an A- or A.
If my caged fish are plump at freeze up and not overcrowded, I get no losses during winter ice cover. As soon as ice is melted around cages feed caged fish a small amount of chopped worms or soft rolled sinking pellets.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 11/06/09 10:23 PM.
