Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all:)

My dam is finally full and I'm heading overseas for about 16 weeks and would like to through in a few fish. I won't be around to feed them, so would like something very low maintenance. The dam is 50-60 megalitres and has many shallow areas but also depths of 5-6m in places. I have noticed that there are some canetoad eggs around, so would like some fish that enjoy a canetoad egg snack.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

gav:)

Gav,
welcome

I'm not sure on this one, but I think canetoadpoles are toxic just like the grown-ups

How long have you got before you go away?

You can add things like dead branches of trees with lots of twigs and stuff. Maybe toss some mulching hay in around the twigs. This will promote lots of growth of little bugs that the fish can eat.

You might be best to call someone like Ausyfish and ask them the best type of fish for the situation. Some species you will not be allowed to keep because of DPI regs.

Good luck, let us know how you go

if you fertilize your dam about a month prior to adding your fish with a nutrient source such as manure you can provide the fish with natural food in the water. the nutrients will trigger an algal bloom and zooplankton will eat the algae. you will need good aeration however as as this will chew up do levels. this should be able to support growth without much maintenance at all. however due to the fact that aeration requires an electrical device you will need to have someone check now and then to make sure its operating. perhaps you have a good neighbor who can keep an eye out.

as for fish species i really don't think you could do much better then silver perch. they are very hardy and can tolerate low and high temps. i know people who just threw some silver perch into they're dams and just forget about them. they then later drained and found most had survived. they didn't grow very fast but they did grow.

You could also hang it or float it in bags/sacks.
It`ll grow algae on the underside and leach nutrients into the top water. There`s more DO at the surface than down in the murky depths

Thanks for the replies.

I'll give Ausyfish a call tomorrow and see about silver perch and perhaps barra.

I am leaving in 10 days so perhaps have left it a little late. I have noticed that on the edges of the dam there is already a small amount of green algae. It is quite windy where I live. Consequently, I sometimes get little ripples of about 3 inches on the dam edges. Would this aerate the water enough?

Thanks heaps

gav:)

PS: canetoads are nasty..I hope something enjoys eating them or there eggs

wind aeration is good mate, sounds like ur dam was well sited.

Back again:)

The Qld department of fisheries has advised me that I really only have two options for fish species - barra or sleepy cod. Both fish seem to be carnivorous, so I'll have to do something about producing lots of things to eat - the algal bloom and zooplankton idea seems good.

I'm pretty interested in sleepy cod, but have noticed that AusyFish suggest that they might not be good for pond grow-out situations. I was thinking of growing them in an aquaponics fish tank until they got larger and then moving them to the dam.

Any suggestions or advice appreciated on growing them in dams or barra in dams.

Thanks heaps

gav

PS: thanks twintragics...more luck than good management about the natural aeration, but it doesn't make for such a great situation for the dam wall's second purpose...a small ultralight strip...)

Gavin, I'm surprised that they didn't recommend Siver or Jade Perch as I would have thought they would do well in your dam situation....

Although I'm not sure if Jades are self feeding, I believ that Silver Perch will do just fine and have been the fish of choice for most dam systems for ages.

Did they give any reasons?

Sleepy Cod are certainly becoming an area of interest in aquaculture circles but I believe they are somewhat slow growing even in tank cultures.

Perhaps check out Golden Perch as an alternative.... I beleive they will grow out in ponds with little intervention, even if only slowly.... perhaps temperature may be a problem... but with the depths you indicate you have in your ponds I don't see temperature really being a constraint.

Hi Rupert

I asked if I could stock the dam with silver perch, but was told that the legal cut-off point is at the Fitzroy (Rockhampton). There was some mention about Sooty Grunter as well, sometime ago, but they came back with only two options for my situation.

Both the Barra and sleepy cod seem interesting, but a bit more hassle not being omnivores.

gav:)

Interesting...... wonder if that restriction applies to tank culture systems as well

Golden perch (Macquaria ambigua oriens) are found naturally in the Fitzroy–Dawson river in central Queensland and a sub species (Macquaria ambigua ssp) have also entered the internal Lake Eyre–Coopers Creek drainage system of Central Australia.

Jade Perch (Scortum Barcoo) are a native to the the Barcoo River, the natural habitat of the Jade Perch.

Sooty Grunty goes by various names, depending where you are but is commonly known as "Black Bream"

Did you make them aware you were planning to stock a dam rather than a tank.....

The two species recommended would seem more appropriate to tank culture as both are essentailly carnivorous

I can only think that the reason for suggesting other species is for possible reasons of "fish escapes"

Thanks for the info Rupert.

If you live in Rocky, you have heaps of choices. You got it right about the fish escaping. They are worried that if the fish escape it will damage existing natives species. I had a read of their documentation and they seem to be sticking to the info...unless I want to get a permit, which I would imagine be a bit of a drama.
http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/1261.html

All the best

gav

Lucky you're not south of the border.... down in NSW....

Getting a permit for anything in dams/ponds is bloody near impossible... even the existing licenses are being phased out....

Down here it's basically tanks or nothing..... ecept perhaps for yabbies and such....

Understand the importance of maintaining native species, but down here they wouldn't survive and breed anyway due to the temperatures....

Up your way I would have thought they were all native species....

Thanks Rupert.

Yeah...I would have thought they'd be native too. I'm not complaining about the location though mate, as the Great Barrier Reef is bugger-all distance away and there is always, red throat emporer, sweet lip and coral trout. Still, if there is a lot of water in a dam...it would be nice to use it as best and simple as possible.

Oh well...I'm still keen on trying out sleepy cod in my aquaponics system and see how I go from there.

Thanks heaps mate

gav

Been a few people mention the Sleepy Cod.. and I'm one that's interested in them as well.

Please keep us posted if you go down this road Gavin. Thanks