"Habitat Mats" -- places for fish to hide & feel safe

[Mmathis]

I was just reading another post that made me think of this. It's from RAINGARDEN's site [the folks in Hawaii who sell goldfish]. You make a tube out of [landscape?] fabric that's eventually going to be filled with sand. Somewhere in the construction, you'll have a sheet [or layers of sheets] of fabric that will be cut into strips that is attached to this tube. Then you fill the tube up with sand [and sew it closed] so it sinks, but the fabric strips will try to float. So when you drop your tube [visualize a sausage] in the water, it sinks, but the fabric strips will float & sway, and look like kelp.

Might be nice if you aren't able to have plants in the pond for whatever reason. Guessing all kinds of "fish food" will grow on it, and it gives the fish a place to hide. Not sure it was originally meant for garden pond-type use, but I thought it was an interesting idea [as long as you keep the sand contained], and see no reason why you couldn't use it anywhere. And it's something that you could easily customize to suit your own needs.

You could probably use some type of glue instead of sewing.

http://www.raingarden.us/habitatmat.pdf

What I imagine it would look like....

 

[Catfishnut]

Turtle Mommy,

This idea has me thinking. The idea of using the landscaping fabric would allow you to bend the "tube" into curves that would fit the contour of your pond, both in elevation and side to side bends. So that will allow it to appear aesthetically realistic and appealing to the human eye. Now, along with the fabric filaments to mimic kelp, what if we were to attach a 1/4" to 1/2" flexible tubing to the "tube" and add small aerators along the length of the tube and hook it up to an aerator pump? Now we have the "kelp" swaying in the current and fine aeration bubbles coming up within it. The aeration would help keep the "kelp" upright and provide oxygen for bacteria and algae to grow on them. A bio-filter within the pond!

I think the fish would find it a great sanctuary and their swimming through it and the motion of the current and air bubbles would keep it continually clean. This has definite possibilities!

Gordy

 

[mrsclem]

You could also use pvc pipe filled with sand and fasten the fabric to it. No danger of sand leaking

 

[Catfishnut]

You could also use pvc pipe filled with sand and fasten the fabric to it. No danger of sand leaking

Mrsclem,

That was also my initial thought, too. It would work great in my massive bait tank where I don't have to worry about aesthetics.
However, in a decorative pond, you would want to use the ABS (grey) pipe or paint the PVC pipe to help hide it from view. The landscape fabric has the advantage of being formed to the contours of the pond. However, the PVC pipe would be much more simpler to work with overall.

For my crude bait tank, the PVC pipe is probably the direction I would go. I am working more towards effectiveness and less to aesthetics.

Gordy

 

[Mmathis]

Yes, following the contours of the pond and/or having gentle curves is what I would do.

Gordy, I like the idea of the aeration.

As to the PVC pipe, you could always cover it [glue it with the PL stuff] with the landscape fabric. I did that to disguise some pool noodles that I'd made into a floating ring for one of my lily pots.

 

[mrsclem]

I keep black, brown and green Krylon paint on hand for pvc pipe used in the ponds. Works great!

 

[addy1]

I do the same mrsclem, hard plastic paint, hides it well.

 

[sissy]

I use abs pipe .I got pieces already cut at home depot they sell them in 12 -18-24-and 36 inch lengths .I bought one that was 12 inch diameter and one that was 8 inch .Not sure all hd's sell it .They sell pvc the same way .I noticed they added it about 3 weeks ago when I was there to pick up a T pipe .12 inch one was 11.99 .Cheaper than buying the whole pipe .Plus easier to bring home/abs was for koi tunnel

 

[jmajid]

while doing some shopping at Lowes on Saturday i noticed that the schedule 40 PVC pipe in 10ft lengths was cheaper (!!) than the 5ft lengths of the same thing... and you can ask them to cut items for you - they make 2 cuts for free i think.... then charge a nominal fee per cut thereafter.
so - worth a look at the "contractor" lengths in case you need this.
Thanks for the ideas for the tunnel and these habitat mats!
We were going to build a Koi Kastle thing - but now we are thinking of just doing something with large diameter tube!

 

[mrsclem]

I'm thinking about covering one of my small cages with the strips of landscape fabric and using it as a spawning area and maybe some of the fry would survive!

 

[sissy]

I used a kitty litter box for a long time .Just the top part ,Since it was hidden under my bridge most people did not see it .I had to add weights to it .I remember 1 time on here I posted a pic and first thing JW noticed it was a kitty litter top ,since she has cats she knew right away what it was

 

[Hangman]

I've been doing something similar using 4" diameter PVC fittings (for example a wye works very well) the fittings are a lot heavier than the pipe and tend to stay in one place. I paint them black and the fish also use them as hiding places. I drill a number of holes along the sides and top and tie 2' lengths of green yarn through the holes. It looks like plants or grass growing under the water.

 

[addy1]

I float lilies in the pond, the fish hide under the containers and love to hang out in the plants

 

[Dave 54]

Do you have any photo's of this finished lanscaping please Turtle Mommy .
Weve not seen this in the UK as of yet but like everything else it will eventually make it across the pond at some stage, mind you with the storms weve been getting of late it may be sooner than later "chortle chortle"

Dave

 

[Mmathis]

Do you have any photo's of this finished lanscaping please Turtle Mommy .
Weve not seen this in the UK as of yet but like everything else it will eventually make it across the pond at some stage, mind you with the storms weve been getting of late it may be sooner than later "chortle chortle"

Dave

Dave, I don't think there were any pictures, but I drew a rough approximation in my first post. The information that was in the link is all I know of. It's a DIY project, but you can tell from the responses on here that there are various interpretations.