Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Fish Caged CNBG

First, here is the picture of my new "Condello Condo" fish cage that Bruce taught us how to make at Pond Con V:


The cage is about 34"x34"x58". Jodi and I built it inside then found out that the sliding door was only 32" wide. Jodi thought that was funny but I DIDN'T. Turns out it fit out one of the regular doors but only after taking the door off the hinges.

Now a couple of questions:
1) I plan to house about 300 3-5" CNBG. Will this cage be satisfactory?
2) Assuming they won't "bag" the fish... Can you transport that many fish in two very large (20 gallon) plastic containers with one "fish saver" type aerator in each for a 1.5 hour trip? If not, other ideas? Any ideas on a "ball park estimate" for delivery???

Thanks,

Nice cage, DJ!

I think the cage will accommodate 300 BG.

Be careful crowding BG during your trip - this is where a lot of stress can occur. Do you have a 100G tank [galvanized or plastic]? I think 150 fish in 20G can be done, but isn't ideal. 100G tank is around $60 at local farm supply up here in NE - really good investment.

Due to low temps I think two diffusers in 100G should work for a 1.5 hr drive.

Be sure to gradually acclimate them to your pondwater before caging them. I like replacing 5g bucket every 5 - 10 minutes until I'm 75% pondwater, then I go for it. Better safe than sorry!

Great information from teehjaeh!!

And I think the cage looks great.

300 3-5 inch bluegill is easily within the capacity for the cage. I've had fish in similar cages for over a year with no mortalities. No problem.

My first daughter entered this world a month early, so after delivery my brother in law and I ran back to my house and built Kayla's crib.....outside of her room....and it was way to big to get through her door.....so we disassembled it.....put it back in her room.....and reassembed.

Man, great ideas like that make me regret missing Pond Con even worse...

Don't miss it again, Mike!

Been there! Done that!

Not one bit humorous at the time. Twas at least a 10-bad-word scene that evening!

I used ratchet straps to bend it enough out of shape to get my 36-inch cage out a 34-inch doorway.

LOL!

The worst part would have been missing Bruce's presentation. I won't give it away, but I can hardly wait until springtime to try Bruce's crazy finding. I hope that he will turn it into an article for PB.

It's been pretty gratifying to have people say that they liked my presentation. It was so much fun to give the talk, but even more fun to listen to all the other amazing presenters. Those giant bass have still been milling around my dock. I've also found they like crappie just as much as they like bluegill and little LMB. It's eerie to see the shadow of a nine pound bass lurking underfoot all the time.

I wish I could see that "eerieness" in my pond

tj,

Are you suggesting that I can use one 100 gal tank instead of the two smaller tanks?

Is the tank you refer plastic or metal? Like a 100 gal washtub?

Si, amigo. 100G tanks are so versatile, you can use them for many purposes in addition to moving fish. I prefer the rubbermaid 100G stock tank beacuse it's indestructible, has a nice lip around the top for bungee cords, etc. and will never leak. Galvanized is lighter and easier to net fish from than the plastic, but my nod goes to plastic. I have 2 dented up and slightly leaking galvanized tanks, and 3 plastic tanks that still look brand new. Come on over and you can borrow these for the Winter.

hehe, Perhaps I'll spend the $60 instead. It's too cold in the great white midwest!

Cage look great to too! I especially like the fact it is deeper than wide. From my experience that makes it easier to dip the fish out by tipping it up on the shoreline. Did you design it that way for that reason?

I know of several instances where a taxidermist mounted a large elk or moose and found he couldn't get it out of the doorway! Fortunately I was forewarned and made one antler detachable on a world record caribou i mounted. (muzzleloader).

I made a carving once where the log was brought into the shop and then stood up on end (weighed 5 ton). Worked on this piece for three years during which I measured it a few times and all seemed good. The carving got to fragile to lay back down sideways and I was 1" to high to fit under the header of the double doorway. Ended up jacking the header and roof up to get it out......

Yes, Cecil. I made it deeper so that my fish could access deeper and warmer water during the winter. I thought that there are more options for the fish when moving vertically as opposed to moving horizontally.

That's true but it also makes it easier to remove the fish from the cages by tilting the cage against the shore if you pull it to shore to remove the fish. By pulling it up and at angle you reduce the water volume and concentrate the fish. I use an extendable pole attached to the dip net too.

For my cages that are wider than they are deep I use a winch on the pier to pull the cage up at an angle against the pier to remove fish. What do you do?

I'll be doing that Monday morning and the following Thursday or Friday to move bluegills into two high school systems I built. Not looking forward to doing that in cold weather but due to circumstances beyond my control it came down to his late.

Heres an update on the caged fish...

I had a discussion with EW who suggested I release some of the 150 caged CNBG before spawning "fever" hits and drives them crazy with hormones.

All of the CNBG were "fat" as they fed continuously throughout the winter but I can't say I got really good growth since I caged them in December (at 3-4") but I guess I shouldn't have expected much. There were several closing to 5 inches so I think some did grow. However, I do feel that most of the HSB did grow (17 of the original 20 survived).

I also noted some "fungus" on the fins on about 1/3 of the CNBG and will post a few pictures of those hoping for some help with diagnosis and treatment (Note to God: Please don't let the treatment be drain the pond and start over!!!). I did not release the CNBG with the fungus. I saw no fungus on the HSB.

Here are pics of a few of the released fish:



A few pics of the fin fingus:




Thanks Ya'll!

Thanks for the update. Good you let some out. Fungus could be from the stress of close quarters and spawn approaching. Did you let all the HSB out? If not I would let the HSB out asap. The fungus CNBG's best chance is loose in the pond. Whatever they have is in the pond (normal condition)at this time of year so leaving them in is not a big deal. I would get them out of the cage. This assumes you are not going to try to treat them for fungus.

You can treat them with PP in the cage, but they may recover once released on their own. It's not contagious if you're worried about that. I have a friend in Illinois that raises some bass in cages and has the Potassium Permanganate treatment down to a science.

Eric,
I left a few HSB in the cage cause they were still 5" or so. I'll let them out and, likely, the CNBG as well depending on whether they can be treated or not.

Cecil,
I am worried about the fin fungus contagion. If it is not contagious, how is it is that so many in the cage have it? Second question, how in the world can you treat fish in a cage where water flow exists?

The ones that have it were the most easily stressed and/or had some issues with handling worse than the others did. Fungus is something that takes advantage of a compromise in the slime coating, superficial surface injuries, or it's a secondary infection due to bacterial issues. It's not uncommon in winter at all. In fact fungus prefers cold water. Once the water warms, the fish feed better, and their immune systems are up to par, many will snap out of it if they aren't covered too heavily with the fungus.

It's not contagious unless the fish suffer continued damage to their epithelial layer and the spores present have access to that skin damage. Most likely however the damage that was done initially by handling is no longer taking place.



The friend in Illinois mixes small amount in a container and spreads it on the surface of the cage. It quickly spreads out inside the cage via diffusion and does it's thing before being diluted by the water.

If you have any questions his name is Jeff Blankenship of A & J Fisheries in Vandalia, ILL (618) 780-3919. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you. He's a super nice guy that likes to talk just like me. Only problem is when we talk it never ends.

Cecil, Thanks!

So I have now made my "Texas" version of the "Condello Condo".


I think somehow I had a CNBG kill. either they were eaten, or died with a freeze either way, I need to grow out some CNBG to get big enough so my bass wont eat them...



This bad boy is 6 foot by 6 foot by 5 foot deep. I plan to put 1200 CNBG and hope they reach a large enough size that I can release in the fall.

I plan to attach this to the side of my dock, and at the end of the growth period, i will remove the floats off one side and tip it over...

Any suggestions of automatic feeders... im afraid my texas hunters will spay too far to feed consistently..


thanks

Dustin