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Fish tank protection!!!

I purchased my Catfish yesterday from Florida Fish Farms. I got 50 for 15.00 plus 40.00 in gas. They seem to be doing good. I fed the fish and the cats seem to be eating.

My neighbors have a pond that is covered in chicken wire because of racoons. There is a large area of woods behind my house full of all manner of wild life. How I am worried about my fish tank... or should I say plastic fish pool. Any suggestions on how I should protect it from the recon claws?

I have seen chicken wire 3 foot wide. I would think a recon can climb over that.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Thompson on June 12, 2012 at 6:30am

I just put my wire directly atop the tank with a wooden frame for support. Feed goes right through the mesh and I just lift it off as needed. It is too heavy for raccoons to lift, they can bite through the wire, and so far I have not had a problem (and I do have raccoons around my place)

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on June 12, 2012 at 6:52am

What about the sides of the pool?

Ron Thompson said:

I just put my wire directly atop the tank with a wooden frame for support. Feed goes right through the mesh and I just lift it off as needed. It is too heavy for raccoons to lift, they can bite through the wire, and so far I have not had a problem (and I do have raccoons around my place)

Permalink Reply by George on June 12, 2012 at 8:43am

You'll have to engineer something - maybe build enough of an overhang that they can't reach the fish. How deep is your pool?

Permalink Reply by Ron Thompson on June 12, 2012 at 8:54am

I use a stock tank, so it is raised up but even if it was flush the cover overlaps the edges. Think of a mesh top on a hamster cage - now build it from chicken wire and 1x4's.

If it still isn't clear, I can try to get a picture for you.

BTW - I meant to say Raccoons CAN'T bite through the wire.

Dan Ponton said:

What about the sides of the pool?

Ron Thompson said:

I just put my wire directly atop the tank with a wooden frame for support. Feed goes right through the mesh and I just lift it off as needed. It is too heavy for raccoons to lift, they can bite through the wire, and so far I have not had a problem (and I do have raccoons around my place)

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on June 12, 2012 at 9:52am

My pool has plastic sides and that's what I am worried about. If they claw through the side, then all the waters gone. I am thinking about building 1-by 4 sides around the sides. I like the idea of a chicken wire sides.

Ron, what type of wood did you use for the frame, PT?

Permalink Reply by Ron Thompson on June 12, 2012 at 10:21am

The cover came with the tank (I bought it used off Craigslist and the previous owner had built it). The would looks like standard timber, not PT. It is not in contact with the ground, so PT isn't all that necessary.

My earlier tank was a soft sided ring-top pool. I had that wrapped with some silver sided bubble wrap insulation. It helped with temps in the winter and I never had issues with vermin. Maybe I was lucky, maybe they did not like the silver, maybe they just didn't care because they saw nothing of interest through the sides. But I had no issues for two years (and I know raccoons visited - they ate fish feed and left footprints)