Using modern high quality, high protein food, feed conversion rates can be close to 1:1 under ideal conditions with fast growing strains. A large number of trout farms with ok conditions and normal strains commonly achieve 1.5:1. Salmon farms are consistently closer to 1:1 growing Atlantic Salmon, with some more recent specialized strains eating huge amounts daily to have incredible growth (like about double). These ratios were not always the case before higher quality food was available, and some older studies still reflect the poorer ratios, as do some more recent studies in countries where they were trying to use sub-standard food.
My personal conversion rates seem to be around 1.2:1 on average for trout (automated feeding 4 times a day, and manual supplemental feeds 2-4 times a day). It would have been even better, but it took about a month to get the automatic feeder portions right for the fish (the portions were originally too much for a single feed, hence having some wasted food). I have been getting trout growing from a starting weight of 100gms to 350gms average in 3 months (some fish much less, and some much more). Weight gain from that size is even quicker.
Hi Furnaceboy.
Thank you i will take your advice into consideration before i put the very first fish in the tank.
here at local market trout supply has saturated the stores, there are plenty of trout from the wild and from the farm, it would not a good situation for me to try to go and compete against the current.
With Barra, it will be easier to sell while i learn the grow out system.
Here in Canada i have not seen or heard of any successful commercial aquaponic operation, most of the fish farm are out door type and cause environmental damages. there are some Tilapia farm that are done in door, still can not compete against the frozen import from Asia. So why become one of many! while i can be different?
I am still tending forwards to Barra and i believe this fish can and will compete head on with Salmon or Trout in this BC market, also i can grow the veggies that fit into local Asian market better( We have a very high Asian population in Vancouver BC).
Cheers and love to hear more from you.
vdt
I would have thought that it would be prohibitively expensive to heat to the levels required to keep barramundi or tilapia happy for the 8 months a year that would be required there, unlike trout, which could be kept easily within a temperature range that would be fine for the trout and the plants (unless of course you were committed to growing hot climate plants). Some strains of brown trout can handle a bit warmer temperature than rainbow trout, which might help. If your focus is on the plants (and I daresay it should be with aquaponics, as you won't have the stocking densities of high intensity RAS), maybe you could consider something else that is locally available, like yellow perch, which can handle warmer temperatures, and breeds pretty easily too. I am not aware of them being used around there in aquaculture however.
There are a lot of people in your area in BC with great knowledge of the capabilities of the various salmonid species that you could draw upon (not to mention local hatcheries) to help with your decision. Gofishbc has some good people that could assist you (for some, that might even be their job
), and they have even developed some interesting triploid strains which may be of interest, although they don't know how they would do in a RAS type system, I am sure they would be keen to find out. I imagine that you have been (or soon will be) dealing with the BC Ministry of Environment (even if you just want to stock trout), and they too have some helpful resources, although it may not seem like it if you are wanting to host exotic fish.
At any rate, don't let your decision be based on thinking that barramundi will grow any better than the trout. Also,the cost and hassle of importing exotic species (permits, quarantine, higher mortality due to extensive travel, etc) should be a big deterrent. It would be for me. With the tilapia, if you were to breed them, at least it would be a once off for the import and quarantine I suppose.
Keep us apprised of your journey with this, as it should all prove interesting.
