Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Has anyone used or considered Chicken feed

What I'm thinking is a laying mash without the animal/fish meal or the molasses. Ie a straight grain based chicken feed. Could I use it to feed Silvers or Jades.

Just check the fine print. A lot of chicken feeds have copper added.

High Omega 6 levels produced in the fish with grain based diet.

What I am looking into now is to use chicken manure (so chicken feed to the chickens) and compost it down .... then add to worm farm when cooler .... pathogens removed by worms.....and feed this to the fish. Produces algae and zooplankton which tilapia thrive on.

I gave my trout layer pellets for a while when I couldn't get any fish food. Fish didn't grow very much as there isn't enough protien.

Had a thought.....

If want to use grains and seeds then maybe just sprout them first? Will give you more feed for your dollar. But then need whole grains and not crushed of course. Also changes the omega 6 ratio. Extremely nutritious.

Generally chicken feed is way too low on the protein for most fish though it might keep them alive till you can get a better quality feed for them.

Basically there is no known way around the need for animal/fish protein in the diet.
Thousands of scientists have been trying for decades ,, As soon as the plant based protein percentage gets to around 30% growth rates plumet.
I guess a lentil will never be a T-bone steak:)

Hi Chappo.... Have been wondering of late if pushing for growth rates... max protein.... does not sacrifice the quality of the fish produced What is your take on this? I know commercially mass is vital for the numbers to make it, but just in terms of quality....Fish can only eat so much .... and pushing for mass seems to have produced al kinds of weird and wonderful problems... high Omega 6 levels in fish usually known for high Omega 3 levels... Use of MT........ etc

What do you think of bugs attracted to an underwater light as a source of natural protein? Would this up it considerably?
Is urine high in protein cos high in nitrogen?
Are zooplankton not the best source of all for protein?
What do you think of using vermicompost ...... rich in urine soaked compost with lots of added manure ... cooled and given to the worms to remove pathogens ... and put straight into the pond for tilapia?
You feed Moringa to your fish?

Nope, and nope.... protein is built from amino acids

Urine may contain some amino acids as waste by products....

But most zooplankton are single cell or micro-organisms of limited cell numbers... the amount of amino acids released can be seen in this study.... http://www.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_12/issue_3/0376.pdf

I will say one thing ROO.... we may not often agree but you are never boring!

Thanks for the .pdf. Will go check it out.

A light over the water may work better. Its when the insects hit the light and falls a little while dazed that gets them into the water. If the light was under the surface they may not land on the water. We used light traps to collect insect samples. Big funnel with a black light just over the top and a container of alcohol at the base. Little guys died happy.

Gotcha. Easier to rig above than underwater anyway. And no alcohol.... or happy fish hour all day long.

Once they hit the water the fish will clean them up quickly. Only problems is you can't control what hits the water. Moths, crickets, beetles etc.

And you may have to turn it off if there are too many insects.

You think there could ever be too many Duff? Sounds like excellent free protein. How much protein in a bug? Must be more than 30% easy....

I suppose just go rotten if fish don't eat them all. That would not be good. But have seen tilapia clean up a dead fish once. Couldn't get to it and then didn't have to.

Any bugs you have found that the fish won't eat?

Need a mozzie zapper... sure would love to clear the air of those!

Spirulina contains all of the amino acids essential for humans, and its protein content is high. The more I think about it I want to grow spirulina and dry it for fish & human food.

A small shallow pond would be simple to make. Feeding it is simple too.