This year I added 250 fry to my pond to do battle with filamentous algae and duckweed. 2 months in and it looks like all I did was provide take out dinner to the established fish population in the pond. The LMB and Channel cats probably loved me for it.

The fry were between 1" and 1 1/2" long going in and I released them in an area with American Pondweed growing so they had some cover.

So now, having no evidence that the fry did anything but feed my grateful pond occupants, I am planning for next season. I was wondering if I make a fish cage and anchor it in the shallows right over some floating American Pondweed and use a 3/4" mesh so the fry could get out and back in, if they would use it as a safe predator free zone. If I can somehow keep them away from predation until they get bigger than the mouth's of most of the predators, maybe they will have a fighting chance. The thought is maybe they will be able to come and go, eating algae as they go until they are more acquainted with their habitat and can avoid predation or even go back inside to avoid it.

Question is are fatheads, or for that matter any fish, smart enough to use a cage for a safe harbor?

Last edited by PaPond; 10/17/18 11:27 AM.
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