Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We are getting into growing Azolla for the sustainable production of our own natural fish feed.

Dr. Kamalasanan Pillai, popularly called as Azolla Pillai, the Biotechnology Consultant at NARDEP, has kindly extended his support to our Aquaponics demo project. In his own words, "Azolla is a wonder feed for fish with 35% protein with very less fiber and also with lot of minerals and antioxidants. It will give wonderful success to your Aquaponics."

Dr. Pillai will be sending us the first batch of Azolla seeds from NARDEP, Kanyakumari. We will update progress.

This may be a language barrier issue. Do you really mean seeds? Would another word be appropriate?

Oh yes, Azolla seeds! What is wrong with the word "seeds"?

See its usage here...
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 669798.ece

I thought Moringa was the wonder feed... or Duckweed... or Black Soldier Fly... or Meal Worms.... or Lupins...

Azolla eh... is this an admission that perhaps your feed formulation incorporating Moringa may have been short sighted... or insufficiently researched...

Or did it just slip through the google net...

I should have explained it more clearly.
Azolla is going to be an another addition to our fish feed regimen. It does not replace Moringa, oil cakes, rice bran, hyacinth, earthworms, etc. We will be looking at the feed formulation/composition and make needful changes. Hope this clarifies.

I may be being pickie but ferns don't have seeds.

If it is true I do not know what he would send me. I will get a picture once received.

If he's not sending your plants... he'd have to be sending you "spores"...

I will update this thread.

It is possible that he might send spores but while growing ferns from spores is possible for something like azolla it is just so much easier to send live plants.

Also Azolla is very widely dispersed throughout the world I'd be surprised if there wasn't some down the road especially in the tropics. Even here there is Azolla around about. On my recent jaunt to Mount Gambier I was surprised to see a lot of Azolla which is unusual because down this way you only tend to see it in summer.

Maybe he is sending a particular species

Azolla is a great source of protein but it lacks a number of significant amino acids that fish require.

Now, now Stuart... let's not get into a discussion about fish feed composition and limiting amino acid profiles...

Everyone loves azolla! good choice Nannio.

what does everyone else think? good choice right?

you would say good choice if it wasnt nannio...... dont lie, you would, ive seen it before......

fish love azolla, but so does everyone.

PLJ had a carpet of azolla in his big tank, I think he even ate some himself and said it was quite tasty.

My Azolla was indeed tasty, Charlie.

I miss my Azolla carpet but I won't miss dealing with the detritus it creates. I had to shovel and bucket out hundreds of kgs of decomposing Azolla roots, etc from the bottom of the tank earlier this year in preparation for my latest batch of Rainbow Trout. I have also noticed that I have much more of a challenge with algae in my tank this season without the 95% cover afforded by the Azolla. Dead or alive, however, Azolla makes a great soil improver!

Azolla is about the most studied plant on Earth. It is extremely fast growing and has a myriad of uses and applications, and potential for even more. I hope you can make good use of it, Vijay.

I'd be interested in what species of Azolla it was because its been well documented that the different species have quite different rates and characteristics of growth.

The Azolla that is native to Australia is a relatively slow grower compared to other varieties out. I think I mentioned a few months ago a study I did on the potential of Azolla as a commercial feed stock so that AP could be integrated with other animal production or to feed into a biiodigester to provide power and heating for a AP system.

It was interesting but the $ didn't stack up.