Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just get bluegill from a fish farm and they are usually easy to get to eat whatever. I usually start with flake and then transition to busted up pellets then whole pellets when they are big enough.

I encourage you to try catfish again sometime, if it was a wild caught fish that hung around slowly dieing in a live well before getting to the dock and getting cleaned, well that is one of my theories about why so many people think catfish taste muddy. Also farm raised catfish can also get a muddy flavor but I know the farms work hard to avoid harvesting them if that is what a test fish tastes like but sometimes it happens. When raising them at home, you can harvest/clean and either freeze or cook right away so they are not sitting around to get "off flavors".

I've eaten lots of catfish...fresh and salt water. They're not bad. I like wild caught more then farm raised. I haven't raised any myself. IMO, tilapia are much easier to raise, clean and better on the table as well. Bluegill and all perch are very good, but pretty small. A 1 lb fish is large. If you purge the fish for a few days in salted water they taste a lot better. I don't like frozen fish compared to fresh fish...or frozen anything for that matter. That's one reason for the new RAS. I can have a fish fry(or bake,smoke,etc) anytime I want. I will tell you that freshly caught catfish breaded and deep fried are pretty darn good. Still prefer a grilled cajun spiced or crab and shrimp stuffed tilapia though.

Yeah I am keeping my options open. Seeing as I won't have the constant looming schedule that a commercial system would have. I can afford to have a variety of species so that my family won't be eating the same fish every day. I am even tinkering with the idea of having some Bass. Even though they tend to grow slow.

According to my Uncle, who is "Goofy About Fishing", that is the title of his self published book, Bass are not that great eating really. Of course he prefers to eat salt water fish in general.

As to the taste difference between catfish and tilapia, if you are raising them in the same aquaponics system and feeding them the same pellet feed, they are going to taste pretty much the same, they will be flavored by how you cook them.

The other day the cook grilled some catfish fillets on a smokey grill. They were yummy as they were the first day and then the left overs got turned into smoked catfish dip but would also have been great mixed up with some mayo, pickles, and onions and made into a fish salad sandwich. Of course the same could be done with Tilapia, you just have to clean 2 or 4 times as many fish for the same amount of fillet.

Bass are awesome table fare. Just an overgrown perch. If they're large, over a few pounds, they get stronger tasting. Best eating size is 1-2lb size. Not sure what the conversion rate is for catfish , but tilapia are about 35-37%. Not great, but not bad either. I think tilapia have a greater conversion rate in warm weather, making them more cost effective. But the cats should be better in the cooler months if you don't want to pay for heat.

Coach,

Do you have a chart somewhere for the conversion rates?

Yes, but I can't put my hands on it. I've got probably 3000 pages of research and charts. It's here...somewhere. Nothing beats tilapia in warm weather. But channel cats are close and in cooler water they'll keep eating. My little tilapia I have in the RAS have already overtaken goldies that were at least 30% larger. That's been about 2-3 weeks. The growth rate from 1-6" is pretty amazing. I also don't like cleaning catfish. I know how...I've cleaned thousands of fish over the years, but I don't like the nasty spines. Tilapia aren't a picnic either. Dorsals are like a pincushion, and they are kind of "round", so not as easy to fillet. But, like everything, once you do a few dozen, it gets easier and quicker. I actually fillet catfish too. I don't like the skinning and peeling like some folks do. I would love to try redfish, but can't find a local source for fingerlings. Now that is some good eating fish! East to fillet, put on weight quickly, and easy to skin after filleting. Tilapia are a bit ricky sometimes, their skin is real thin and easy to cut through. Tough, large for size scales, but thin skin.

That's funny. I was thinking about raising snook and reds. 2 of my favorites. I just don't want to meet FWC that way.

What fish are you guys talking about when you mention redfish?

Scotty,
Here you go
http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recr ... /red-drum/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_drum

Thanks

Anytime

They sell fingering redfish.

But don't you have to have a special permit to raise them? I did not think they would allow non commercial, people to raise them.

It looks like I am going commercial. I won't be able to do it full time as I do not own enough land. But it should make a pretty good supplemental income. After the first few days at Ryan's workshop. All my well drawn out plans were wadded up and thrown in the trash. I vastly over estimated the amount of tank space that I could fully utilize with the amount of land I had to operate on. This means that I may be able to save enough money. Buying a smaller fish house. Less tanks and piping. That may afford me the ability to buy better tanks, in several areas. Trading off cheaper for now. For easier operation, throughout the life of the farm.