Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Has anyone raised catfish in an IBC? My IBCs will be cladded and covered, so the light won't be an issue, but I do wonder about the horizontal size of an IBC. Cats seem to like long waterways?

Also, do they eat roots? If I put 2 or 3 into one of my DWC troughs, would they eat all the plants?

Can channel cats be raised in ibc's? That's the breed I want to try, and am contemplating my system.

I think cause of how big channel cats get that you can not raise them to full size. But maybe if ya took them out early but idk thats a great question I would love to know as well

I know people who have raised channel cats in IBC fish tanks, It can be done. I don't really like to do it because I tend to raise them bigger but they can certainly reach eating size in an IBC.
For growing out channel catfish in a backyard system, I like to have at least 10 gallons of fish tank water per channel catfish and then at least 2 cubic feet of media filtration per channel catfish but normally more. And I will usually start harvesting some fish as they get past 2 pounds so that I can let others grow even bigger. 2-5 lb is a reasonable size grow out in 12 months here in central Florida where I have a long warm growing season for them. I one had a 10 pounder (took two years and she was an advanced fingerling when we got her.) That would definitely be too big for an IBC tank unless you only had the one fish.

I have an IBC about 200 gallons of water total. i purcahsed 20 catfish 3 - 6 inches in length. They eat the worms I toss in, but don't seem to care for the catfish pellets I purchased. the water is a bit cooler than I have read. Once my heater goes in I hope to see them eat more and then grow. I keep them shaded, the water is murky so I beleive that helps. none have floated. I did put a small water pump on the sidewall of the tank to flow the water in a circle. It don't push much water 90GPH but I though if it created a current they would feel more at home like in a river. They seem to bunch up in one corner or the other I presume for comfort. a few will swim off to look around. Sorry no questions at this time, only likeing this thread. I guess I hope I am on the right track. my Cats also seem very interested in the fish, distant relatives.

I find this thread most interesting and am sure to have lots of questions as they grow, things change.

Les.

most helpful thread, thanks to all!

I'm into my second round of channels (after a bad outcome with round 1)

so if anyone has the time, what is the max salinity ppt?

these fish are coming out of a hatchery (creek fed) no salinity at all I'm assuming, and a pretty constant 55 F water

and what the hell is the story with flashing?

I killed the first batch because they were flashing like crazy and I misdiagnosed a parasitic issue, salted, and then blew it completely.

1. I should have done a dip and not salted the whole system

2. They were prolly flashing because of the salt...(catfish being scaleless and therefore much more sensitive, sunfish and goldfish were fine

3. The flashing mystery deepens as 2 days into the latest catfish introduction, goldfish and sunfish start flashing...
as far as I know... without refractometer, but with fairly accurate water change records, salinity ppt is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 and prolly tending downward from plant uptake

4. water change output has an odd surface sheen, which at first looks sorta oily, but only for the first few hundred gallons, then things seemed to clear up
Could this be an excess of slime being shed from an incompatible salinity level which inadvertently caused excess slime production?

they smashed food this morning and this evening, a few have bruises from being in a tank with a few hundred
but that's to be expected

/worrywort/

Catfish will be fine at the "usual" AP salt levels of 0-3 ppt, mine is at 2 ppt currently after some fin rot showed up (and it cleared it right up in one day).

So how are the channel cats goin in the IBC? I am looking at doing channel cats in a 330 gallon ibc with a 275 gallon sump, and another 330 gallon IBC cut in half for grow beds. How many do yall think I can stock with that kind of set up? I was thinking maybe 40at 1 pound to 1.5 pounds but would love to do more but think I woud push it with more than 40

They are doing good for me, they are only 5-8 inch long though. They love Aquamax 400.

Are you planning on doing a single season on your cats? Stocking pretty decent sizes then harvesting in the fall/early winter?

how many do you have in your IBC lowcarb? How big is your IBC? Well I figured If I could get 40 or more in the set up that I meantioned above that I would take half the first year and leave the other 20 or so to get bigger for the 2nd year

Ive only done Talapia and Blue Gill

I did not like doing Blue Gill they take forever to grow lol

I enjoyed Tilapia due to the fact they ate greens as well and they grew fast I just had 1 1000 watt heater for my 75 gallon and they did fine all winter and ate normally I had mozimbique talapia

The only problem I had with the tilapia was they were a bitch to sex Im still not sure if I have 1 male and 2 females in my breeding tank Im gunna have to wait till they get bigger

Mine is a 330 gallon IBC. I don't have a ton of filtration (adding more next year I hope), so I only have ~20 fish total. With enough filtration I'm sure you could do 40 at 1.5lb-2lb, but 30 would fit TCL's recommendation and she has a lot more experience than me.