Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Anyone have any experience, or knowledge about breeding channel cats? We will need to understand this to enable a sustainable system.

T.

Member JDPhish runs a commercial "catfish" operation... hasn't been on the forum much lately though...

Might have an email address somewhere...

I bought four channel cats last spring. They are in a two foot deep 7 ft. diameter tank which is about 1000 gal. From my reading I deduct that is to small a space for them to breed. They are about 16" long now. By next fall if they havent spawned I will have them for supper and go for sunfish.

I've read that they should be between 2 or 3 and 8 years old: too big to handle after that. Lots of other info I didn't pursue as I'm not sure if I could handle even one female's output of young without covering this property with AP systems...maybe if there was a local AP group we could share...but then we might be better off buying fingerlings... *sigh*

Sure would be fun to breed them once or twice, though.

What I've heard/read about channel catfish breeding is that they become mature (able to breed) usually between 3 and 5 years of age. In commercial breeding ponds they place big old metal milk urns down in the ponds to act as breeding caves. The ponds are generally big but not deep as the workers walk around in them wearing waders and reach down to pull the urns up to check and see if there is an egg mass in them. Then they take the egg masses into the hatchery where they are placed into shallow tanks with paddles that constantly fan the water over the egg masses for aeration.

In the wild the male catfish would remain to guard the eggs and use his tail to fan water over the eggs for aeration.

I understand temperature can play a large role in survival of the eggs and fry but I don't have specific numbers.

I don't really think my tanks are big enough to breed the catfish but some people seem to think that if you make sure you have one male and one female of appropriate age in a meter cubed cage in the water, with an appropriate "cave", you could get breeding in that small a space when conditions are right.

As to how to hatch an egg mass in a BYAP system, I'm not sure the best way to do it but it probably wouldn't be too difficult provided temp control is within one's budget and you want to set up some little motorized flapper for the hatching trough.

The young catfish don't take up huge amounts of space. I expect I could comfortably keep 50 of the 3"-5" fingerlings in my less than 50 gallon aquarium isolation tank for at least a month. (I have 32 in there now and they have plenty of space.)

I wouldn't dare let these little guys loose right now in my big tank right now not only for fear that the monsters would eat them but for fear that one might still manage to get too close to the big pump intake as they are slender squirmy little creatures.

Then again, I can get those 3-5" fingerlings for only 30 cents each so buying them isn't such a hardship. The larger ones were only 50 cents each last time I bought them though they have probably gone up to 60 cents each. The larger ones got up to eating size over the summer here.

Tilapia might be easy to breed but keeping the water warm enough might not be so sustainable depending on your situation.

TC,
It doesn't appear that my last post went through so I'll try again... maybe I didn't hit the submit button.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. I was just talking to a guy yesterday who use to raise catfish- had a fish farm- and he described the same process.
Large diameter ponds, three feet deap.
Metal milk jugs for nests
Males guard the nest
Getting the eggs and taking them to the hatchery.

He said that he use to tie fish line and a bobber to the front of each nest jug so that he could see from the bank which nests had a fish since the fish would move the line when swimming back and forth.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

VR/
Tony

Also, and interesting experiment might be to take tank raised male and female and place them in a large artificial pond. Like a large round kid's swimming pool, perhaps with a natural bottom, or artificial (plastic) grass/plants, etc. Since there are so many eggs laid by one female only one success would be needed for a small operation.

Might add this to the project.

T.

Channel catfish supposedly like sand or gravel bottoms (as opposed to mud bottoms that some other types of catfish prefer) though I don't know if this would make much difference one way or the other for breeding.

My four channel cats are in a 7 ft diameter 2 ft deep tank, outside in the weather. They are about a year old and 10-12 inches now. I intend to keep them untill they get to big for the pond and see if they breed. If they breed will the fingerlings rise to surface so I can see and remove them? Wont the adults eat them if I just leave them?
I do not have fingerlings available cheaply. Further, I should have a permit to receive or keep any fish other than koi or aquarium fish. It cost over $150 to ship fish here and I cant find a supplier within 500 miles.

Those of you with catfish, esp. those who have higher density, have you noticed any oddities of behavior, esp violence? What are your density numbers? Have you seen any problemsn with them rubbing themselves raw and getting infections>
T.

While no means a catfish authority Anthony.... I'd feel comfortable in saying that this just is not typical fish behaviour... or at least behaviour consistent with happy, healthy fish....

IMO... it indicates either severe water quality, or health problems... very likely, in both cases, to be caused by over stocking....

Very possibley true. The comments came from a Georgian fish farmer who's been in the business for years, even bred a "super bream" subspecies, but I am very leary of his comments for the very reasons you mention.
T.

Never, I had a heap and what I did notice is how the stronger ones helped the weaker...but catfish are agressive though in general....my tank was under stocked at the time.....and I would never bother with them again, just served the purpose of cycling the tank....I let them all go back in to the river a few weeks ago..

They where a forked tailed cat fish..if that matters