Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Didn't even notice this section before I started posting in another!

SO. I am from Fort Worth, TX as mentioned in the subject. I graduated from Texas Tech University with an undergraduate degree in Fisheries Management and am currently working on a Master of Business Administration at Tarleton State University. In high school I worked at a pet store in the fish department for several years and then after college I worked with the State of Nevada Department of Wildlife for a year at a fish hatchery in north-east Nevada, a few hours west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Currently I am working in the completely unrelated field of Banking and am currently a serving Texas National Guardsman.

My ultimate goal is that I would love to start my own business one day and given my experience I think I could be successful at commercial level aquaponics. First though, I am going to build an operate some backyard level aquaponics to get a feel for it and hopefully develop some first hand knowledge of the systems.

Looking forward to it!

Yes! With your background, backyard aquaponics should be an awesome and fun way to familiarize yourself with the lifestyle.

What is your plan for your first system?

I have been doing aquaponics for the past 9 months or so. I have an 80 gallon, IBC tote, a couple of 20s, and I am currently working on a 300 gallon poly tank system. (Cycling the 55 gallon biofilter right meow. Also built a 35 gallon radial flow solids collector- my dining room is pretty hilarious, but eventually it will all go outside)

Commercial aquaponics is a whole new beast to deal with. Lots of ins and outs. A real complicated case man. However, I am very interested to see how it progresses.

Let me know if you have any troubleshooting questions!

GOOD LUCK!

aagnand what type of fish would you recommend for our area, Im fairly new to this and am trying to decide between catfish or tilapia. The AP system will be outside in a greenhouse but with our North Texas weather changing from really freakin hot to freezing cold I am still trying to find a good fish to use.

Check out large mouth bass. I have provided a few links that might help yall in Texas!

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/hatchery/

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/fishreport.phtml

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/bachman/

i feel like a broken record, i have updated this info on at least a dozen threads and counting

i do not recommend tilapia in an outdoor system in north texas. They will not live year round, If you started with large fish and only cared to run your system from apr/may to about the first week in november you can get by.

LMB are very hardy and a fun fish to raise. I grow them in my system... However, i dont necessarily recommend them because of they are cannibalistic and their large mouth makes it easy for them to eat each other unless you have multiple tanks and can grade them periodically.

catfish are hardy and fast growing. but more sensitive to water quality than some of the other fish.

bluegill and any other feed trained sunfish is slower growing but also very hardy

I have also worked with hybrid striped bass and red ear sunfish with good success. This year i am going to try to feed train crappie.

TPWD wont sell to the general public, they produce fish for stocking public lakes. I get my fish from overtons in buffalo and sometimes pond king in gainesville.

brian

I'm down in Galveston where the temps dropped below freezing last week. My fish tank got down to 34F. I have goldfish and they did fine, although they did stop eating. Several years ago we had a hard freeze and our goldfish pond froze over completely without hurting the goldfish. In the summer my AP tank has reached 92F without harm to the goldfish. So if you're not looking to eat the fish and just want an engine for plant production you can't beat goldfish.

when people say tilapia i assume they are growing fish to eat which may not be a fair assumption, I agree 100% goldfish are the most hardy and are a great choice if you have no desire to eat them.

brian

Whoa, I'm behind. Yes, tilapia would require a heater in our north Texas winters and is doable depending on the size of your system. I was thinking tilapia because I was thinking of edible fish. Catfish are very common in aquaculture which is why I was avoiding them. I was looking for a market niche that was less exploited.

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