Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

After a bit more research (thanks sleepe )...

The Departmenf of Fisheries does not recommend the stocking of black bream in freshwater or low salinity dams (< 3 ppt) in cooler areas of the state.

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:dgBfK4tay4QJ:www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/aq/aq024/index.php%3F0404+black+bream+3ppt&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=au&client=firefox-a

hmmmm

They reckon that temperature has a much bigger effect on growth rate than salinity, but most fish put into fresh water for the trials died. They were only stocked into farm dams though, so I will give them a go in AP and see what happens. There is not any data that I can find specifically on 0 ppt. Minimum of 3ppt aparently.

Far out So pre-salted veggies then

There would be other factors involved as well though - they dont take well to not being fed, and dams would have a pretty low oxygen level. I reckon they will do ok in AP, even with a low salinty level.

Wonder if they were introduced straight from a saline environment into the dams OBO...

Or whether they can/could be "acclimatised" over time.... not uncommon...

Australian Bass, Mulloway... even to some extent even Barramundi and trout... not only have perios of their lifestyles spent in saline environments, but actually need it to trigger reproductive responses and/or spawning...

Most Bass and Mulloway fingerlings are raised in saline environments that are gradually reduced to "fresh" water....

And a lot of bream species can be found in "brackish" waters.. and adapt overtime to near fresh water.... or at least on the eastern seaboard where they often become locked into intermittently open lagoon systems...

Don't know if this applies to the WA Black Bream though...

OB, that PDF you link to is an excellent resource. My late uncle (David Tiivel) worked for a long time studying in Northam and down south on Black Bream for that study. I even had a chance to see the study ponds, I think I fell in from memory. : ) I think they also found that the Mosquito fish they had in there didn't actually eat the mozzies...

Black Bream are an excellent table fish, they are a great sporting fish. However they grow too slowly to be considered viable for Aquaponics. I have had three black bream in an Aquarium for over 20 months and even after fairly reasonable feeding, I have only had about 4-5 cm growth...

I am not saying that they won't thrive in AP, just don't expect a feed in time for Christmas....

It's taken Natfish over three years (and several gradings/culls) to get their Yellowfin Bream to an average weight of 1kg...

And they reckon the FCR is woeful....

I'm not in it for the fish really (as long as they survive!)

I just enjoy the whole process.

I grew them for a while in one of my systems, they are a beautiful fish and I'm going to get some more from Tony for one of the systems, but yes, they are fairly slow growing.

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/thumb ... marron.HTM

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/thumb ... 0bream.HTM

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/thumb ... 0bream.htm

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/thumbnails/oops2.html

Yes Rupe old spot X was the mouth of the Margaret River
brackish water until winter (few months back) when the flow starts...
not like anyone knew it was spot X

They get acclimatised to fresh water before we pick them up.

Hi all,

It's true that Black Bream are slow growing, especially in fresh water. Yes if you want to have fish ready to eat in a short period you would go for Silver Perch. However the point is that while Black Bream are slow growing they are able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures and they are hardy...not even our students at Tafe can kill them... and thats saying something. I'm offering the Black Bream because there appears to be a lack of suitable fish around town for Aquaponics systems
The main point of having fish in an aquaponics system is that the fish are the source of nutrients for the plants.
Here at Challenger Tafe in Fremantle we also spawn Yellowtail Kingfish, Mulloway an Pink Snapper. In fact our broodstock snapper started spawning thursday and we got about 200,000 eggs.
If people are interested we have Mulloway and Pink Snapper available but these species won't be suitable for aquaponics as they need a salinity of at least 10 ppt.

Here's some photos from Tafe Freo









Everybody wave to the boss, Dean

more

Pretty darn fair setup for a TAFE... near rivals the Grafton Research Facility....

WA is just the better state lol