Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations "Fish Corral" - quick and dirty

EDIT: At the time of this editing I've built the corral and I'm testing it by collecting WM for Mr. H's small pond. On June 26th I was at 8 total WM in the corral, which was the result of adding 11 fish, with 3 fish dying.

At that time the corral seemed to be holding fish. In addition there were several dozens of yoy brim congregating in the enclosure. These small fish where able to easily pass through the 5/8" netting. On the 26th I pulled the corral partially to shore and lifted the netting to confirm fish numbers. When I repositioned the unit I apparently failed to seat the netting properly because the next day only 1 WM was in the corral. I lifted the netting again to confirm the loss of fish and found no holes in the net. The reason I believe the net wasn't seated properly is that when I lifted it I caught a few 2 - 2 1/2 inch brim which were far too large to pass through the net. The most likely reason for them to have been in the corral is an opening along the bottom.

Today, June 29th, I caught and added 2 WM bringing the total back to 3. One of these spent time on the ground so I will be watching it for signs of infection.

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Original post:


I'm trying to design a containment device that I can make cheap and quick, to hold GSF for 3 or 4 weeks. I would like to start feed training wild Greenies in the unit while I get their new home ready.

There's a few reasons I haven't considered a fish cage like in PB magazine.

1. I won't have a good dock to work from.

2. I would like to give them as much space as possible.

3. I would like them to have some natural bottom to hang out on.

Here's what I've got so far:

Construct a 5 sided "C" shape using 3/4 inch pvc and 45 degree fittings. It should be about 24 feet across and 17 feet off the bank.

Attach netting to the pvc that will hang down to the bottom, and attach chain along the bottom to "seal" the net.

Stake the pvc to the bank and use "noodles" to float the rig.




This is deer netting that I grabbed on sale at Home Despot for about $10. It is 7' X 100' and has a 5/8" mesh. It's about as strong as 4 - 6 lb test monofiliment.



Whatcha think?

Sounds like a blocking net to me. My only question is the mesh size . 1/4 is the usual size for seine nets. It may work for adult fish. I am just not sure.

I just kind of had a minor disaster with something like that. Only, I used a 20-foot seine staked on three sides into the water, with the fourth side against the bank. It is 1/4-inch mesh.

I'm still not sure what is wrong with it, but it won't hold fish -- in or out. Actually, it is kind of comical. Two days ago, about a 10-inch bass was checking it out -- from the inside, while little bluegill were swimming past on the outside!

I think the fish are going underneath it, but I can't be sure. They could be going over the top, and I'm not seeing it. Noodles on top, and what I think is reasonable weight on the bottom. You better get some real heavy chain, and you better make it levitate a few inches above the water.

My cages will be done soon.

Good luck,
Ken

Mesh size should be okay providing fish are greater than 3". Only problem might be with fish eating birds such as herron etc. Greenies would not need "as much space as possible", and "some natural bottom to hang out on". Those are humanistic determined features not needed by fish as long as water quality is good. The larger area will make it more difficult to feed train the fish. Fish feed train most successfully (highest % going on feed) when they are in crowded conditions. NOTE - Try to keep all greenies to be of similar size in the net area. If some are 2.5X longer than others smallest ones will be fish food.

Thanks all.

Bill, same thing only smaller? I'd rather not take the time to build a cage, and there's the issue with no dock to work from.

For wading birds I figured on stringing some mono along the bank. If needed I could run it along the pipe too.

A word of wisdom. Herons are very adaptable and will stand on the PVC. They can curl their feet around the PVC. Been there done that.

Wouldn't one reason to keep it large be to help prevent predation from birds? If the fish can stay on the bottom, and they can go 17 feet from the bank in 5 feet of water I would think they would be pretty safe.

I'm all for making it smaller though. Does anyone have an opinion on what size makes the most sense?

Also, these fish are free for the catching so if a few escape or get eaten it won't break me. I'll just have to force myself to fish more...

I'm with Bill on this. I think you need to build a cage to get any significant feed training in. Or a tank on the shore with netting on top with a small sump pump to pump in pond water and rig it up to overflow back into the pond. If you don't crowd them with good water quality they won't take to the pellets very well. Another thing that will help a lot for feed training is to soften the pellets as per Cody's recipe. Pinch the air out of them as you feed to get them to slowly sink.

Hmnm. Running a pump isn't an option which still leaves the cage approach somewhat inconvenient (no dock).

I'm not trying to be difficult (comes naturally), but the feed training isn't the main goal. Primarily I want to collect adult GSF so that when the new pond is ready I can tag them and add them in one move.

Even if they weren't taking pellets very well initially, they will be exposed to it regularly in the new pond. I know that RES aren't usually pellet feeders, but can you count on other lepomis to come around to it eventually without specialized training techniques?

GW I have had good success with my blocking nets both in keeping them in and others out and in feeding inside the net. I have poles to attach the nets to about 4-6in above the water line.

Here is a pic with the net up .

Thanks ewest. I'll start reading up on the uses of blocking nets.

"I know that RES aren't usually pellet feeders, but can you count on other lepomis to come around to it eventually without specialized training techniques?"

It all depends. I've seen wild bluegills go to pellets like kids to a swimming pool, and I've seen some not what anything to do with them. I think the main factor will be the amount of natural food available.

GSF are active pellet eaters as are BG while RES can be feed trained but not nearly as easily. One study stated that BG X GSF (HBG) are avid pellet feeders while RES X GSF would not eat pellets. I will find the data.

I have just recently moved the LMB and RES from the 55 gal aquarium to the pond. In their place I trapped about a dozen 1"-3" GSF. It took about 2 days for them to accept artificial food. Within a week they became voracious feeders. Now almost a month later, they swim to the glass when I approach and would eat every 30 minutes if I would feed them. GSF are very aggressive fish. Once they recognize something as food they go for it. Even the 1" fish mix it up with the 3" when food is present.

They seem to prefer the sinking pellets (right now that is a small soft pellet from the aquarium shop) but will take some of the floating pellets. They seem to like it falling more than from the bottom, but they will eat pellets from the bottom. I doubt that you will have any problem with them eating artificial food, especially in an enclosed area.

I have really come to appreciate these fish. They are very attractive. Mine show quite a bit of variation in overall color and markings, as well as variation in body shape and fin shape (tail shape mostly). Some of the GSF are almost black in color with very subtle vertical barsand some are more light colored with more distinct vertical bars. It is interesting to see the markings change in prominence when the fish are excited as in when showing aggression or at feeding time. There could be some cross breeding with BG that would explain the variation, but the BG were only introduced into the pond last summer (June-August). The GSF have been in the pond (in stunted form) for years.

I cursed them for years as vermin that had infested my pond, but I think I have come to better appreciate them, especially as an aquarium fish. It is really entertaining to sit and watch them at night after everyone else has gone to bed. They are attractive, highly animate, and very easy keepers. I am still not too keen on them in my pond, but I can certainly see the attraction one might have for them.

Nice post mikebee. I have plans to set up a large aquarium for fish collected from my future pond. I've had many aquariums, but I haven't tried native species before and I think it would be great.

When I started doing research on GSF and other indigenous fish I found NANFA, North American Native Fish Assoc. They have a forum full of people who enjoy keeping native species in tanks. Here's their website:

http://forum.nanfa.org

mikebee excellent post. Some of the variations you noted are indeed seen in crosses. That is one way to assess if you have crosses. Those variations could easily be many generations old . I have watched many times as lepomis in an aquarium change color and express many of those traits (color pattern , posture, aggression , submission , fear etc) that are described as emotions in humans. Here is an example.

I put the corral together today.







I'm happy with it so far. Gams and maybe some sunfish fry were swimming through the net as I was installing it. I want the WM to have as little stress as possible before I transfer them and I hope that this enclosure does the trick.

I didn't catch any WM today, but I got a few little LMB and this Crappie.

We are interestd in the success of your corral. Keep us informed of the progress of the fish in it.

Added 2 WM to the corral today. I'm taking photos, but I'm not recording length/weight. They won't be in there all that long and some will escape or get eaten anyway. I'll know how many I put in though, so we can get some idea of how the corral works.

WM 1 was lip hooked and looks fine. Had a nice round belly on it.





WM 2 was hooked deep so I'm not sure how it'll do.


I saw plenty of Gams and 1" panfish swimming through the netting. They better watch it! I put a minnow trap in the corral so I can get an ID on them.

I checked the corral today and saw a good number of Gams and 1 - 1.5 inch panfish. I watched them swim in and out of the enclosure.

I threw in BSF larvae 5 or 6 at a time and saw at least one of the two WM eating them. I put in about 3 dozen and saw it eat about 10.

Time to get some fish pellets.

A lot of fun -- yes !!

I really like the way WM look. They're cool.

That's because they look like a cross between a BG and a Striper!

Here's one of the small fish that was inside of the corral. Edit: Trapped another little panfish today. Any idea what these are? Crappie and BG?




There are usually 3 or 4 dozen fish of similar size 1 to 2 feet from the bank. Closer in belongs to the Gams. The minnow trap is inside the corral and it seems to be bringing the fish in. The small fish are more concentrated in the corral than outside. Of course they pass through constantly.

Here's a video of WM #1 taking BSF larvae. When I shot this it had already eaten several. About 30 minutes later I fed it a big night crawler.



Edit: ...and then there were three.

Good shot GW.