Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My folks have a 1-1.5megalitre dam on their property and we were discussing the possibility of stocking it with fish. The problem is WHAT fish?

Where they are (Panton Hill) the soils are quite sandy/clay so the water is very cloudy. The dam is about 8 years old, but the water has never cleared.

Not sure about temps, but whatever is normal for Victoria.

Whatever fish it’d have to be fairly self sufficient and not bad on the table.

Any suggestions from those in the know?

Thanks,

Aaron

Try silver perch

Where is Panton Hill

What ever is normal for Victoria covers a range of climates and environmental conditions.

You have generally got three broad climatic conditions (maybe four).

1 Warm, to hot: all your native southern warm water finfish do ok to well, catfish, silver perch, golden perch, murray cod, etc. Trout, Blackfish Salmon do poorly or die.

2 Mid range:warm water species do ok to good and cold water species do ok.

3 Cold range (thats me) Warm water finfish either do ok to poorly, while cold water species go well.

4? Alpine I'm not sure about this one because I know you can find some species of warm water finfish at quite high altitudes in snowies and other parts of the great dividing range. Maybe the summers are warm enough that the cold winters don't matter? If it exists then warm water species die while cold water species salmonids and blackfish do well.

Stuart

I think you would need to speak to your state department of primary industries/agriculture to find out what you are allowed to have and what might do well.

Panton Hill is just outside metro Melb to the Nth Nth East.

Good point KE.

near greensborough / diamond creek?

Yessiree

That area would be south of the divide wouldn't?

DPI would probably not like any of the warm water finfish stocked in there then.

If you could get hold of them river black fish would be cool. They wouldn't be able to breed (need clean gravel) though.

Apparently the DPI allows (in our area) the stocking of:

Golden perch
Silver perch
Estuary Perch
Australian bass
Brown trout
Rainbow trout
Yabbies
and Goldfish!?

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nreninf.n ... entmap.pdf

I think Monyas on the money, go with the Silver Perch as they will do far better in cloudy water than trout will. Golden Perch would generally need a larger food source of either small fish or yabbies. Putting Yabbies in the dam may even make it muddier as they burrow and stir up the mud even more.

Who was it said that logical and government don't belong in the same sentance.

In my discussions about stocking of fish in dams with one of the fisheries guys their advice only barely resembles that map.

Hi, I've stocked my farm dam with both silvers and golden perch.

Both of the little mongrels are impossible to catch on a line. The only way we've caught them is when it's like it is now in a drought, and we net them. The silvers are at least 3 times the size of the goldens. I think most likely because silvers and omnivores and will eat weed growing in the dam and most things that wash into it.

No problems with fish dying, just that the little mongrels wont take a bait.