i would like to stock my pond with a different blood line from time to time and it be mostly larger males. since it is hard to find anyone that will deliver a small order (100-200) and impossible to find anyone that will sell male only, i thought about raising my own. i thought i might buy 300 or so 3" bg and put them in a cage. would it be possible to raise a few hundred in a cage up to 6-7"
I have done just that, as have others on this site. I'm here to tell you it can certainly be done.
questions:
what size cage should i build?
If it was me, and what I have done, is to start out with a 3 X 3 X 4 foot cage (the 4 feet is the ~ depth) with the largest size mesh you can get away with, and then transfer them to to a 4 x 4 X 4 foot cage with larger mesh a few months down the road.
The reason being, if they are more crowded, they will feed better (competition and less territoriality) and 3 X 3 X 4 is not to big for 300 three inch bluegills. Then when they reach about 5 inches I would transfer them to the 4 X 4 X 4 cage with larger mesh. One nice thing about bluegills is due to their deep bodies you can use wider mesh compared to other species.
what is the simplest cage to construct?
It's a matter of opinion. Bill Cody likes the circular cages, which he feels are easy for him to build and maintain. I prefer the rectangular cages and feel they are easy to build a and maintain. I especially like the rectangular cages that are deeper than their diameters for harvesting. That is, you pull them up to shore and turn them on their sides and scoop the fish out of the part that is submerged. The one below was more difficult to harvest due to the depth being the same as the height. Had to reach out farther with the cage in the way and pulling it in it wanted to catch on the bottom.
You can also harvest fish from a cage on the pier by using a block and tackle and two attachment points to the rectangular cage mesh. Pull on one end and dip the fish out of the submerged water. Sorry no picture at this time.
Mine are build with 1 1/2 inch PVC with three way connectors as a box type frame with the plastic net material attached with plastic zip ties. A lid is made in a similar way with some plastic tarp over the back 1/3rd as shade.
how can i make the cage otter, turtle, and heron proof?
how long will it take to grow off the fish in the cage?
I can't speak for otters but with a lid I've never had a problem with turtles, herons, muskrats, or mink. Not sure if wire mesh would deter an otter if they were inclined to get into a cage. I've had some snappers in the pond and a few painted turtles hanging around the cages, but never any damage or fish eaten. My thinking is the painted turtle may have been feeding on fish feed.
i plan to attach it to my dock. i have an auto feeder, but figured i would hand feed them often. i doubt i could situate it where the sweeney would feed them.
I hand feed all my cages so I can't tell you much about using a Sweeny. There are smaller demand feeders out there that you can mount directly over the cage. You can also build one yourself if you know how.
