Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey I threw this up in another area of the forum but got no hits so I figured I'd try here...
I've been looking into possible fish species to populate my soon to be built system and was wondering if anyone in Australia (specifically South Aus) has had any experiences with catfish?
It seems from the forum that they are hard to get hold of, keep or a combination of the two.
Any input would be appreciated.

Look up fish supplies in your area (Column should know), tandanus have a pretty good temp tolerance once they have some size on them. Try get them as fingerlings at the start of summer. They are expensive though.

Cheers, I did know they were more expensive but I haven't really read too much on here of people's experience with keeping them in regards to temp tolerance, feeding, stocking with other fish and the such.

Getting hold of them is the trickiest part. I haven't read up on many people growing them, but shouldn't be difficult from what I've read.

The only place I could find them from were from here:
http://www.narrabrifishfarm.com.au/narrabri-fish-farm

But postage is the killer to SA, more so if you've got a smaller amount of fish. If you wanted 100-200 fish, it'd have been cheaper, but the smaller amounts are pretty expensive. You can get them from some aquariums, but you'll be looking at $15-$30 per fish.

I've stopped growing edible fish (not really much of a fresh fish eater), I like the goldfish more, much prettier, and I can breed and sell the fry.

Any one know if the fish farm at Prospect Hill south Aus is still around? No search of the net could tell me and posts on the forum are quite old...
Any help is appreciated.

Does anyone know if you have to get a certificate with fingerlings when buying them?
A guy that sells them is saying that its illegal in SA to have silver perch fingerlings without a certificate as they are a protected species.
I picked up some from an aquarium store and didn't get given a certificate.

Good question.

I did get a certificate from the bloke at lewiston I used to get my fingerlings. Not sure on it being a legal requirement though?

ha ha him..................

Tonnz

Livefish has free shipping on silver perch atm which makes them cheaper than any local supplier. The shipping costs usually make local cheaper.

LiveFish $2.40 each vs the Adelaide breeder $3.80 each and I don't have to drive 40mins to get them.

I spoke with a local fish store to get more clarification. He said you don't need a cert or licence, you just need proof where you bought them from so you can show they were not captured from the wild. It would then be onto the fish store to prove where they got the supply from, and then onto the supplier.
He said Silver Perch is his best selling for Aquaponics.

Not sure how it works in all states but a fish translocation permit is required in WA. Discussion here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11745&hilit=translocation

Long story short they have an online form to complete here http://www.fisheries.wa.gov.au/Sustaina ... ocess.aspx

Pet shops and other aquarium businesses are excluded from this for some reason, or at least it is not managed or policed. Bit of a joke.