Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i found a supplier of hybrid striped bass that i was considering, but i found out that i'm in an area where i can't have them..
lots of choices,, i'd like to try a season of trout.. but i'll probably end up sticking with the yp, bg and tilapia mix.. the tilapia have had at least a few hatches, but the yp and bg keep them in check.. i thought i had a few fry in the sump, but now i think that the rosy reds have spawned
if i get really ambitious i'll have a tank set up for yp egg ribbons in the spring - last spring they clogged my plumbing

but lots of eggs went to feed the crayfish (which fed the perch) so it wasn't a total loss

You'd have to get the trout pretty big to grow them out by the Summer I think. That's to bad about the YP eggs, I like the idea of trying to breed the Yellow Perch, I don't think I've seen anyone try this yet. Would it be possible to put some branches in the tank for them to attach the egg masses to, then just move these to another tank with water circulating or would they be to difficult to move in one piece?

that's what i was thinking about the trout.. and they were quite a bit more expensive as well
about the yp... yeah, i'd like to get a 100 gal tank for the eggs, but will probably make do with a couple of 55's if i get that far..
i don't have the data to back it up, but the yp spawned this last spring a couple days after i turned the heater on in the basement and the water temp went up a couple degrees.. i turned the heat on because i lost a couple tilapia, and was totally unprepared for the ribbons, they were easy to collect even from the bottom, and held together in a net to get into another tank, but the "short term" structure i used didn't hold up... i've got a better idea using a pvc frame and netting to "rack" a couple ribbons.. if i time everything right, i'll have no fish in the pool to move the fry to.. if not they'll go into the sump and the small system, as well as all the glass tanks
gotta restart my green water system and do a big time cleanup in the basement
oh, and after seeing brian's bluegill spawn, i think i had a bunch of bg eggs end up in my sump as well this last spring.. yp were easy to id as they are in ribbons.. there were lots of really small eggs not in ribbons though..

Ouch, on the bluegill eggs, missed out twice.

Do you have any idea if there is there a way to tell if the eggs are fertile before you try hatching them?

yes, i read up on it a while back... osu has some good free info published regarding water temps, feed etc..
i was raising glass shrimp, i had read that they'll eat only the dead eggs, and thought that would work for me... fertile eggs remain "white" i think.., and the dead eggs will get a fungus
i gave up on the glass shrimp (even though i had a few hatches) because the marmokrebs took over all the regular tanks..
too many ideas, not enough tanks (or time)

Thanks Keith, don't know if I'll ever try something like the glass shrimp but you never know.

FWIW I got my trout at about 4" long in January and they were a decent eatable size by middle of June. This was outside with water temps in the 40s in the Winter so you could probably grow them more in the basement than that.

good to know Dave, thanks!
did a little cleaning of the growbeds
i already harvested carrots once from this growbed, but right after i did, another batch took off

second bed has basil, a couple rosemary plants (finally!) and my future dil's jade cuttings

third bed has regular chives, garlic chives, a couple of swiss chard and a single fennel (another i've had trouble getting to sprout)

the single tote system has more basil, dill, thyme..and i think oregano



had to trim all the basil back and made 4 cups of pesto (that's 10 cups i've made in the last month... the new used freezer is coming in handy - i'm using some to marinate some pork to cook today, i did add a few other spices..
we'll have the carrots today as well

i couldn't even see the asparagus in bed one, hiding behind the carrots! i raised the lights since this pic was taken!

and the rosemary hiding behind the basil

i still have probably 15 or so tilapia in the pool, with 4 or 5 bluegill and 80 or so yellow perch, 5 tilapia in the single tote system
single tote system after feeding duckweed from the crayfish tanks;

pool before duckweed feed

after duckweed

You get really great color for shop lights

sucks about the HSB, I woudlnt expect the hybrid of two native fish to be regulated. They were my fastest growing fish this summer with channel catfish second and tilapia third


brian

Real jealous of your growth/success with your grow lights. I'm curious as to what temperature the room is.