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Shallow Water Fish Habitat

Shallow Water Fish Habitat

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Shallow habitat is the key to a balanced Eco-system. Fish move into shallow water to build beds, nests and spawning areas. Artificial fish habitat can be great for young fish. Fish habitats also come in an array of sizes and shapes. Here the fry are hatched and need to immediately find cover or get eaten by waiting predators. As soon as the male leaves the nest, predators start devouring the young. Tight, dense habitat provides fry with small areas to get into and grow, where they find larvae and insects feeding on the periphyton and algae. Like any infant, they need protection from the elements, lots of food easy to consume and danger kept at bay, far away from their hiding spots. Habitat products standing from about 24 inches tall up to about 42" tall, are considered the shallowest models for average depths of three to six feet deep. Free shipping

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Dense natural eelgrass habitat

Growing forage in your lake or pond can be your own fish stocking program. If you have enough shallow cover to protect young forage species and fry, you will not need to spend money on yearly stocking any more. You can feed and grow more big fish if you provide them with enough food in the form of smaller fish. The size and amount of the food available, dictates how big the game fish can ultimately grow. Ample shallow habitat allows fish to survive longer, growing larger before heading out to deep water. Shallow cover is the grocery store of the pond, holding most of the food.

This shallowest littoral zone cover is hands down the most important habitat to your fishery. Protect the young of the species and your investment. "High complexity is achieved in systems that exhibit a mixture of order and disorder (randomness and regularity) and that have a high capacity to generate emergent phenomena." Fish structure is an important piece of the underwater puzzle of fisheries science.

shallow cover by fishiding.com

Our ten part underwater video series shows how fish interact with our products in real time video and time lapse photos, learn along with us here.  

Legacy habitat mats by fishiding.com
bassmat-shallow habitat mat by fishiding.com

Legacy Habitat mats, offer unlimited flexibility in design and installation, while the larger modular habitat mats offer the solid and robust security of additional weight and size. Replace the fine, woody habitat along your shoreline that has rotted away with artificial habitat that will last forever. Clusters of fine, flexible and dense cover like the Cradle model grow algae fast to feed the baby fry. Set shallow cover adjacent to known spawning areas or to replace weeds and vegetation that have been removed.

 

Fishiding shallow cover

Do you have a small backyard garden pond, Koi pond, tank or any other smaller water with fish? If you do, you know that your fish need hiding places just as much as big water fish do. Birds, cats, raccoons all eat fish and steal fish from ponds. Give your fish a place to hide from the sun and dangerous predators. 

We have a multitude of options for the smaller fish protection needs. If you'd like to make your own fish attractors, we can help with that as well with our loose materials for DIY fish habitat projects. Clusters of shallow cover can be a fantastic compliment to your fishery, growing and maintaining the food source. Mid depth units can also be incorporated into the shallower mix, sometimes simply bending the tallest limbs down to "fit" into the designated area.

Made from reclaimed PVC, each unit can be removed and sprayed off with a hose to clean for small waters or fish hatchery settings. Different textures and material arrangements, have proven to appeal to different species and sizes of fish. Create an under water forest that only smallest fish can swim through and hide within. Smaller in size pieces but not in coverage, these shallow water units can be bent and trimmed to your exact wishes or needs. Try a few and watch the fish enjoy their new home.

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Shallow fish cribs by Fishiding.com