Ice fishing season is here and one of my regular ponds has great populations of copepods which will swarm into an ice hole at night if I shine a light down the hole. At least two species of daphnia and several sizes and colors of cyclops can be collected in good numbers while I wait for the trout to bite. In the past I've used a store bought baby brine net which is tiny and very inefficient.
I'd like to devise a plankton net which has a round rim measured to almost fill the six inch auger hole I use. I'd drop the net down below the hole and draw it up through when a good cloud of copepods have gathered.
The net material would have to be fine enough to stop even the smaller daphnia while not so fine that water won't easily flow through.
Any suggestions?
material for DIY plankton/baby brine net?
Started by
Guest_mikez_*
, Jan 02 2009 06:24 PM
10 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_PhilipKukulski_*
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Posted 02 January 2009 - 07:41 PM
Freaking Ispell just ate my reply.
again,
I am appalled that the aquarium industry has sold brine shrimp nets for decades that let brine shrimp nauplii through.
I have used a home-made net for 8 years. The net is made from an old Speedo spandex swimsuit.
again,
I am appalled that the aquarium industry has sold brine shrimp nets for decades that let brine shrimp nauplii through.
I have used a home-made net for 8 years. The net is made from an old Speedo spandex swimsuit.
#3
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 02 January 2009 - 07:47 PM
My wife helped me construct a driftnet using raw silk for netting material. Water flows through it, but it will capture very small organisms such as 8 mm long fish larvae. She sewed sleeves onto a square silk bag so that it be slipped over a PVC pipe frame. I'm sure it would snag daphnia and copepods.
#4
Guest_Newt_*
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Posted 02 January 2009 - 08:27 PM
I use one of the 'soft touch' nets from Petsmart (blue, with half-barrel-shaped net and a tubular metal rather than twisted wire handle). The mesh is just as fine as that of a brine shrimp net, but the net comes in larger sizes. I'm sure it's not as fine as spandex or silk, but it works reasonably well for me.
#5
Guest_netmaker_*
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Posted 02 January 2009 - 10:31 PM
How big are we talking in size of girth?
Will a 750 micron mesh hold these critters?
Ever see a Tube Drop net?
Its a pvc pipe segment at 4" dia. x 5" in depth. A 750 micron "tube" is fashioned to the pvc frame and a 3 point bridle is tied on the front. It simply looks like a mini plankton net without the expensive collection bucket.
The 750 mic. tube is .25M long and hangs down.
The pvc is dropped into any hole or crack. You retrieve and the tube collects everything in its path.
The other suggestions are also very good and i am sure work well. The Tube Net is just a little more rugged for wear and tear.
sa va,
nm
Will a 750 micron mesh hold these critters?
Ever see a Tube Drop net?
Its a pvc pipe segment at 4" dia. x 5" in depth. A 750 micron "tube" is fashioned to the pvc frame and a 3 point bridle is tied on the front. It simply looks like a mini plankton net without the expensive collection bucket.
The 750 mic. tube is .25M long and hangs down.
The pvc is dropped into any hole or crack. You retrieve and the tube collects everything in its path.
The other suggestions are also very good and i am sure work well. The Tube Net is just a little more rugged for wear and tear.
sa va,
nm
#6
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 02 January 2009 - 10:34 PM
Let me correct my earlier post, the silk we used in the net is organza, not raw, silk.
And netmaker, the drift net I described is about 15 inches on a side, designed to be staked into a stream bed facing into the current using tent pegs slid into sleeves on the outside of the rig. I think the bag is about 18 inches deep. I haven't used it in a sustained situation yet, maybe I'll try that this spring and see what kind of ichthyoplankton is washing down Estill Fork of the Paint Rock River.
And netmaker, the drift net I described is about 15 inches on a side, designed to be staked into a stream bed facing into the current using tent pegs slid into sleeves on the outside of the rig. I think the bag is about 18 inches deep. I haven't used it in a sustained situation yet, maybe I'll try that this spring and see what kind of ichthyoplankton is washing down Estill Fork of the Paint Rock River.
#7
Guest_mikez_*
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Posted 03 January 2009 - 11:13 AM
How big are we talking in size of girth?
Will a 750 micron mesh hold these critters?
Ever see a Tube Drop net?
Its a pvc pipe segment at 4" dia. x 5" in depth. A 750 micron "tube" is fashioned to the pvc frame and a 3 point bridle is tied on the front. It simply looks like a mini plankton net without the expensive collection bucket.
The 750 mic. tube is .25M long and hangs down.
The pvc is dropped into any hole or crack. You retrieve and the tube collects everything in its path.
The other suggestions are also very good and i am sure work well. The Tube Net is just a little more rugged for wear and tear.
sa va,
nm
This sounds very like what I have in mind. The question at hand is, what do I make the screen from?
I was hoping to use material I might have around the house or can get locally.
Bruce where did you get the silk you used?
I'm fresh out of Speedo swimsuits at the moment but I'll keep that in mind.
Thanks!
#9
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 03 January 2009 - 01:29 PM
Our source for organza silk has been Dharma Trading Company.. Go to the fabrics section, and then to silk, to find organza. The 45" wide organza is $4.85/yd for 1-10 yards, or you can go crazy and get a 50 yd. bolt for $3.85/yd.
#10
Guest_bflowers_*
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Posted 03 January 2009 - 02:19 PM
I've not attempted what you're trying to do Mike so pardon my ignorance but woman's stockings seem like a relatively cheap way of trialing a material.
I have been able to stretch women's stockings over 4" PVC pipe. I was trying to make a daphnia collector to drag throgh the water. It worked fair. The problem I had was throwing it out and then keeping it in a parrallel position as I dragged it in. I would bet the stockings would stretch over a 6" PVC with no problem. I have also squeezed boiled egg yolk through stockings to feed fry.
Bill F.
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