Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey,
i thought some of you know, that i'm from germany and still are looking for my ideal fish.
The Bluegill is illegal at my place, and many of your fish aren't available.
I breed Tilapia but days with warm temp are not so much for tablesize.
Carp grow very differently and need much feed (2,5kg) per kilo weight.
So i can get the smallmouth bass for some euro, but i don't find much infos about them.

So my questions:
- can i feed them with peletts
- how quick would they grow with good water and good food
- whats the taste
- possibility of breeding

I found also that bluegill slow very slowly but that don't be the true, when i read the reports from some members here.


Dom

Sorry i missed the name: Micropterus dolomieu

I don't know much about raising them but I know they taste good, better than carp. They are a white meat fish.

Thanks for your reply.
Ok the taste is important, but more important for me, is how to feed the fish, and how fast he will grow.
It's difficult to find a good fish for my climate.
Too hot in summer for trout, often to cold for tilapia.
No chance to get silver perch, jade perch or channel catfish.
Small brown bullheads and european welsh to expensive to buy with an amount > 30.

So i've tilapia, carp, redfin (don't eat peletts), goldfish and zander.
Zander grows good, but feed only 1,5% of their weight.
Meat is very soft and not so fine to eat.
Taste is very ..... small... don't know the correct word. <= sorry

what fish are native to your area? those would probably be best. remember you can alternate fish during a season too. I only have a 6 month window for trout but they grow so fast they will be an edible size before summer heat knocks them out.

I would avoid Smallmouth Bass (SMB for short). They are often difficult to pellet train, and they have poor food conversion rates. I love SMB, but they are really more suited for the typical ponds and lakes.

look for pond owners in your area to find what they are raising, you may be able to buy some from them? not sure how the law works in germany but a quick search shows that it would be governed locally..

They are great fighters, will tail walk across the water on a hook and line. In the wild they will congregate together, but they are not a schooling fish. They eat other fish, but really love crayfish. In the wild they like clear and cool water, though warmer water than trout, but I imagine they would tolerate some poor water but not as poor as carp. They are not going to be a fast growing fish. I would expect several years to maturity. I've never heard of anyone trying to raise them. So I imagine training them to eat pelleted food would result in a few casualties.

As far as taste, I only keep small mouth when they are foul hooked and are going to die. Too much fun to fish for to keep. If I'm hungry that's what walleye, trout and bluegills/yellow perch are for.

When you looked at trout did you consider using shade cloth in the summer (or placing the tank on the north side of a building), and keeping the pumps going all night for maximum heat loss? Especially if you dig the tank into the ground?