Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat floating reef

I what to create a 5' x 9' floating reef for my pond. I'd use 8" PVC pipe in a rectangular shape for the float. I would hang 32" strips 48" long of green plastic lattice below, alternating from one side to the other to form different size spaces. I would use small SS cable to hang the lattice, that way when you had to pull it up on shore they would just fold over. From what I've read the young fish prefer to be in less than 4' of water. I would also put a piece of the lattice over the float for shade. Total cost about $120. What do you think ? Am I all wet? New but extremely enthusiastic pond meister!!

Neat idea. I think I'll build one in the barn and be ready to put it in after ice out. You could use plastic cable ties to attach the lattice, they come in all sizes, and I think 4" PVC would be more than enough to keep it floating.
Scrap plywood for the top might make a place for minnows to spawn similar to floating pallets.
Use the cable ties on the 4 corners and place it on a flat spot where it would rest on the bottom of the pond so the larger predators wouldn't get inside from the bottom.
Being all plastic (other than the plywood)it should last quite a long time and be easy to pull out and hose or power wash off any algea or crud that attaches, maybe once a year.

Dan

Are you going to anchor it in place or tie it off or? If you don't, it will be on the shore.

I plan to anchor in down in a stratigic spot, close to my feeder. If I want to offer shade and protection of young of the year fish, how small should the smallest spaces be ? This with out simply cloging up with algae, or will I need to wash it out once of twice a year ? What about locating it 40-50' away from my bottom diffuser ? Thanks,

I did something similar using nylon chair webbing suspended under a floating dock. The dock is 8 by 8 and I remove it every winter so I didn't want to permanently attach anything to the bottom because taking it out would be a problem. (as if it isn't heavy enough already) I made a hanging web hideout for small fish by using 24 sections of 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe 8 feet long with caps glued on both ends so it floats. Then I made strips of the webbing between 3 and 7 feet long, folded the top and had the wife sew a loop in one end 3 and 1/2 inches down so a 7 inch diameter loop was made. On the other end she sewed in a small weight. The loops slide over the pipe pretty snug so glue the last cap on after the webbing is on. My setup has 24 rows of strips and each pipe has 24 strips. The strips are mixed in a pattern of various lengths. When the float is in the water for the season it's easy to take the pipes and with a helper on each end lay on the deck and pass the pipe under the float. The floating PVC header keeps the pipe pressed tightly to the bottom of the dock and the weights on the bottom make the nylon webbing hang nicely. Place all 24 pipes and you'll have a pretty dense forrest under the dock. In the fall they are easy to remove and dry out for next year. This has provided me with excellent fishing as the cover is great for baby bluegills and the bass hang out around the outside of the cover waiting for an easy meal. Of course I'm on top getting the easiest meal of all and a tan at the same time! But that's the job of a pond boss, someones got to do it.

Great ideas. I would be interested in writing a story for PB about what you guys are doing. Specifically, does it work? Do you see certain sizes of certain species attracted to these devices? Tell me more...email direct if you wish, [email protected]