Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I like the taste of Tilapia, love the taste of Catfish. My wife won't touch Catfish but will eat Tilapia. I'm in Michigan, so any tanks for Tilapia will be indoors and heated. I'm wondering if there are any other cold water fish that are also easy to breed, grow decently fast, and are fairly inexpensive to feed (pellets preferred, but would be willing to grow live feed if I knew how and what to grow and that it would be fairly easy to do).

Depending on your summer temps Trout may be an option, they are probably the 2nd fastest growing after Tilapia.

Catfish, Bluegill, and Yellow Perch are other good cold water options but will take longer to grow.

As for breeding any of the above I don't know, ymmv.

I would think Yellow Perch would be the best choice since Michigan can get hot in the Summer. They can take higher temps than Trout. Catfish and Bluegill are considered warm water species (they'll take cold Winters though), Trout are considered cold water species and Yellow Perch are a cool water species.

You might stand a chance of breeding Yellow Perch but don't know of anyone that's tried it.

I'm actually thinking two totes with catfish and one with yellow perch. How many fish of each would you suggest. I will have 6 totes cut down with the tops being used as grow beds.

I have now decided to go with yellow perch and hybrid bluegill. Getting close now!