Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All, I can get Rainbow and Brown fingerlings fairly close to home, what do people think? I couldn't find anything much for trout on the site, I know there farmed quite a bit, anyone tried or thought about them in AP?

The man I spoke to says you get a table size fish in 6 to 9 months. This sounds good to me.

The fish I was first thinking of getting were Silver Perch, as they seem so popular. Should I stick with something other people have?

I'll be moving into a house in about 3 weeks, then I can start getting set up. ATM I've got goldfish tanks I plan to run mini systems off and *plans* for an outdoor setup . My husband thinks I'm slightly MAD and thinks the fish are going to take over the house . The bad news for him is that it's already started ! (1 bedroom flat - 5 fish tanks !)

I NEED a bigger house !

Many thanks for any help, opinions etc.

Savage Goldfish

SG, "Troutman" would be the bloke to talk to....

In general.... trout like colder, fast flowing water that is HIGH in DO (dissolved oxygen)....

DO is an essential part of the raising of trout... in nature the fast flowing bubbling rivers/streams creates this oxygenation...

For tank raised trout you would need to be able to recreate with lots of "bubblers"....

Wondering if the high summer temps down your way might prove problematical... you may have to cool your tank(s)....

May also have to check the fisheries regulations as well....

Do a search for trout here on the forum, there is some info within the various posts

Thanks Rupert.

'Troutman', of course! I missed the obvious !

I have a shady spot in mind, but the ambient temp does get up here in summer, I wouldn't want them to get cooked. How hot is to hot?

Bubblers I can do but fisheries regs.....? Might have to look into that.

EDIT: Just been on the DPI site Quote: " Trout farming needs high volumes of good quality cool water. Problems occur if the water temperature goes over 21 degrees Celsius, and the trout will die in water temperatures as low as 24 degrees."

I can see this being a problem, might be back to SP .

Yeah what Rupert said, Temp would be the biggest issue. Depending on the stocking density, to how much aeration, etc you will need. I have seen trout farmed in ponds as well as raceways. But at the site, they had the broodstock and fingerlings in raceways and growout in ponds, but i think the broodstock in raceways was to condition them as they norm swim upstream to spawn

Trout could mabey be spawned by yourself, you wouldnt get the hatching rates that commercial farms do, but you wouldn't really need the thousands of fingerlings either (just strip the milt and eggs and mix in bucket basically)

Thanks Daniel.

I like the idea of breeding my own.

I've been trawling the net and one site says that each female has about 3,000 to 4,000 eggs .

Even at a low hatching rates that would be a LOT of babies !

Hey SG, good to see someone interested in trying trout in their aquaponics systems. Like the other guys said the limiting factor with trout is the summer temperatures that you will experience but that only applies if you want to keep the fish for a long period of time. The best way to grow trout is to buy them in April when the temps are cooler and the fish around 9 months old. Most hatcheries will sell them at this stage for around $1 each. The good thing with Rainbow Trout (dont bother with Brown as they are much slower growing) is that they are fast growing and real keen on their food so you can push them on in growth if you really want to. By spring time the fish will be pan size so you can start eating them right through the spring months until your water temp gets to about 25c. As you have a shady spot you may find your water temps wont get too hot until around Christmas time as is oftem the case where I am located.
Although trout are found in cool well oxygenated rivers they also do well in lakes and dams. I have found that extra aerators are not necessary in your tank set up and just having a continual flow of water through the tank seems to work fine.

Forget about trying to breed them though as:
1. You would need older fish, which would mean getting them through a summer.
2. You need cool well oxygenated water continually flowing over the eggs.
3. Trout eggs take around 6 weeks to hatch compared to Silver Perch 36 hours. Over the incubating period many eggs will die and if these are not removed from the others the whole lot quickly gets covered in fungus and
you can very easily lose the lot.

The good news is that if you can get some to hatch it is then easy to raise them as unlike Silver Perch juveniles which require zooplankton for food Trout can be fed on small pellets as soon as they have absorbed their yoke sac.

Troutman-- you got any pics of what you're doing?
How long have you been in Buno?

sorry for hijack

such an interesting post as well, as I was only able to get my trout to 2.5 yo in a pond and biggest was about 3+ kg...

lots of frozen water !!

Oh trout man! i was just around the corner from you last week! busso!

As C1 will testify though, it was a VERY jam packed holiday i missed catching up with him too!

C1, see your PM.
There is a pic of one of my tanks on: http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... &start=660

Ha, I was wondering what had happened to you Steve. It had been a bit quiet on here over the last week and all the while you were just around the corner from me!!

HA! 1138 posts tell a different story

Hi Troutman!

Thanks for the info. I like that they grow quickly and feed well.

Getting them in April is good, I'll have the system setup and cycled by then.

Are you feeding commercial trout pellets? What else would they take? I know they're keen in insects.

I currently feed mine either (depending on whats available) trout pellets, perch pellets, bread (they love it, though there isnt much goodness in it), tadpoles, water beetles and any other aquatic life I can get my hands on. They will definately grow quicker with the higher protein food like Trout Pellets but they are quite expensive to buy.

Could you please tell me what the protein, fat, etc % on the trout pellet is?

I remembered they feed squab pigeon on pigeon peas, around 30%+ protein. Wonder if trout would take them crushed and mixed with other stuff?

As a kid the people down the street had trout in their pool and they fed them chook pellets. They turned out well, looked good but I never tried eating them.

Trout Pellets are usually around 45% protein where as Silver Perch Pellets are 35%. They will eat chook pellets but I dont think there is that much goodness in them.

so troutman you got any other pics that we can see?