Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Wouldn't it be useful if the website were to have a country-by-country, state-by-state register of suppliers of fish.

We could share our contacts and opinions on their value.

Adrian

Should we start by researching commercial producers in the Yellow Pages and then checking who has dealt with them to determine a rating?

What would be the rating criteria?

Regards,
Tony

The criteria would be:

Quality of fish: size, shape (empty belly or not), growth rate, number of distorted fish on the batch

Quality of service: period of availability, contact with the hatchery people, minimal numbers of fish ordered, reliability

Price, relate it to growth rate aswell (less expensive at the end of cycle)

Environnement concerns of the suppliers too, AP is based on it so better make a factor of it and if the quotation is good enough it will orientate the activity towards an environemental low impact.

Food safety, tracing of the different foods given and of the origins of the fish and rearing conditions (water supply not from a nuclear powerstation per example, or on the same river as a chemical products manufacturer)

I'd say put in between (low)1/2 (medium) /3 (good) on each criteria and multiply each, take the results and the highest ones are the best.

What do you think of them? they are usually the ones taken in the fish farming business to search for suppliers.

To encourage participation, perhaps we'd need to keep it simple. I thought a personal impression of the experience, people, suppliers, we deal with.

For example, I bought 50 20-cm SPs @ $2.50 from Sally and Greg Howard in Badgingarra, near Perth, Western Australia. The fish looked well cared for, were expertly packed in heavy polythene bags placed in new polystyrene boxes. After two weeks all survive and seem happy.

For those in the USA that have an Orscheln Farm & Home store they are having Fish Days. We just stumbled in last week and I grabbed a flyer. Channel cat 4-6" .39, 6-8" .59 Bluegill Hybrid 1-3" .39, 3-4" .56 Bluegill reg .40 Balack Crappie 3-4" .85 redear sunfish 1-3" .50 Largemouth Bass 1-3" .80 Flathead Minnows 1lb 8.50

Moderators I was not sure where to stick this so if you want to move it go for it.