Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All,

Living in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne (Vermont) and this year I decided to start an aquaponics system.
Just trialing it out and so far it has been very good with harvesting lettuce, bok choy, spinach, kale and it looks like the strawberries are a coming. I'm not much of a person who takes pictures but really keen to actually snap more shots now

Currently I have 14 trout since June (started off with 17 but a few weren't keen to stay and jumped out prematurely the first night ). Will start harvesting them before the hot weather comes this way in November some time.

The setup contains of a sump (not shown in the pics, hidden behind the tree on the right) and from there the water is pumped into the flood and drain grow beds which empty out into the fish tank and back into the sump.

Separate from the aquaponics I made a water tank that I could use to top up or do any water changes from the system with an IBC.

Thought I'd join this community, learn and maybe get to know some locals around. I've been enjoying the rough seas up top with a few hiccups along the way but ready to dive into the deep seas of knowledge and maybe one day expand my current system.

A question for anyone in the area, where would one be able to get Barramundi? decent quantity of fish food per $?

Hi Big Ham,

Welcome to the forum, that's a nice little setup you have there, and there's no maybe on expanding your current system, the addiction will kick in very soon.

On the Barramundi, Melbourne is too cold for Barramundi, you would need to heat the water and you don't want that expense.

Trout, Silver Perch and Tandanus tandanus (Eel-tailed catfish) are all suited for Melbourne's climate.

Unfortunately the only way to get a decent quantity of fish food per $, is to buy direct from the manufacturer and that can be an expensive outlay, you'll need different size pellets as your fish grow and the companies only sell in 18kg - 25kg bags, then the shipping cost on top makes it a hefty price to pay first up.

Thanks for the info joblow

Yeah I thought that was the case with Barramundi and keeping the expense to a minimum is best.
Do you have any shops to recommend where I can get good quality fish food? as well as getting SP and the catfish?


Still waiting for these warmer mornings to come...

I can't recommend any fish feed suppliers, they are very hard to find in Victoria, I've had to import my pellets from Tasmania.

My Silver Perch and Catfish I purchased from Glenwaters Native Fish Farm who have now sold out and the company has moved to King Valley

They also sell fish feed, but I don't know if they ship it or not.

https://glenwatersnativefish.com.au/