Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I was hoping somebody who's a little more into the aquarium scene could help me out.

I don't eat that much fish, so I'm not planning on growing much fish to eat. So I thought I could grow out some ornamentals to sell on gumtree, or to an aquarium maybe.

I've got very fat goldfish that look like they are going to pop when it warms up a little. I'm pretty sure I could breed and grow them out, to sell on. But are there any other breeds that I could grow to sell on? That are worth more money? And preferably easy enough to breed also?

I thought Koi would be fantastic, but they are illegal in SA, so I had to ponder it some more.

I'm not expecting to make masses of money from it, but if I can get them to pay for their feed, maybe even electricity for the pump, I'd be happy.

Sadly there aren't many valued Aquarium fish that can handle the temp swings of an outdoor system.
Native Rainbowfish perhaps?
A lot of breeders use IBCs to rear and spawn them.
Otherwise Black Moor or fancy Goldfish, swordtails, mollies or feeder fish for those who own carnivorous fish.
Not too many options though unfortunately.

If they could survive outside and weren't native they'd probably be illegal to have in your system - at least that's the way it seems to work here with everything but carp.

Yea Koi was my first thought, shame they are illegal Column. Is that illegal to own in the state of SA or illegal to have in outdoor ponds? If the latter, it would be worth checking with fisheries because AP might be that grey area you need.

I might stick to the fancy goldfish then. They grow quite well and happily on the high protein Barra feed. I've seen some going on Gumtree for $30 each, nothing to sneeze at.

Koi would have been ideal, but they are horribly illegal here. Big fines and everything. The Murray River is pretty much ruined by introduced carp, so I think they are keeping a strong stance on it because of that.

Not that i want you to do it because i am thinking i should switch my comets to them and grow them LARGE and sell for $50 each but....... Look up pearlscales, they are just goldfish still, so hardy but quite new to the market (a few years) and cost alot.

i was actually wondering if i could breed pearls with wakins to get a fish with the pearlscale but looking more like a koi and not looking like they are on the verge of death at all times.

I hope you know I'm going to steal that idea now!

I don't think we'll be much competition to each other from different states.

Thanks for your help!

Well if you are going to try the cross breeding thing and have success, ill happily take a few to breed for the Vic market as payment for the idea LOL.

Deal!

I was googling around today looking for fingerling suppliers on the east side and it was interesting to see some species fetching a good price at larger sizes. SP and JP at >150mm go for around $20ea and then things like sleepy cod and tandanus can get right up there in larger sizes. I found a guy selling a 10 yr old sleepy cod going for $1000, mind you that's pretty rare.

Where did you find the guy selling the cod?

Although there is a big difference between somebody trying to sell it for that price, and somebody buying it.

He was in Bathurst, NSW. Yea it was just an observation but trying to give you a perspective of growing out edible native fish. Tandanus are dam expensive, I can't figure out why because up against other eating fish they don't beak any records, maybe it's a breeding thing. Sleepy cod I understand because they are a slow grow out.

no one is thier right mind would pay even $20 for a native fish or any other for eating, except in the rare case - 1kg+ trout if the person would have otherwise bought a whole fish for $60kg, but then most people wouldnt be buying them live???

I think most are for the aquarium trade, which do demand high prices but get very few sales.
I personally think simply growing fish to sell to resturants would be a better income - more steady - for APers, simply because we can work to some sort of bulk and arent relying on selling 1 or 2 fish we grew in our $2000 aquarium setup over 5 years on extra expensive aquarium shop food, then needing to start the process again, our process can be continuous... and obviously in the case of perch, etc we can recycle our food inputs to reduce costs, etc.

for aquarium trade i personally think ornamentals are the only way to go, best thing would be to move to far north QLD and breed discus or the like.

Once again, just an observation. You'd actually be surprised, I know people who have charged and paid $10-$15 for SP. The fish farm I found on the net today was charging $20ea, that's a reality whether you would pay it or not.

Additionally, not everyone has the option of cheap fingerlings or live anywhere near a water source. In the goldfields it was not uncommon to pay $5 per perch or $8 per trout. If I spent 3 years growing out an SP I'd be selling it for $15 without a worry.