Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi F&F,

F&F you have seen the setup at Ballarat. The blokes are not that fussy when handling the fish, so when you handle the numbers they do a few mix ups are bound to happen.

The trout with the straight tail is a brown as you say. It does not seem to be much different in size to the rainbows?

F&F, going on the belief that rainbows are quicker growing were you suprised by the browns growout.

This thread has got a bit off track with the WA strain of temp tolerant rainbows. I'll get back to the subject at hand as that was not the point of the thread.

Has anyone else got photos of browns grown out in their AP system and or rainbows to compare them with?

God bless froggo.

God bless froggo.

Yep supprised at the growout but more supprised at a brown beeing in the lot

I am also to be conducting a trial.
I plan on picking up 50 of each just after easter. Browns @ 6" Rainbows at 5" or maybe the other way around, I forget. $1.90ea

Now I'm really goning to throw a spanner in the works.
That fish on the top to me looks like a Brook Trout. Do they have Brook Trout or Hybrids at Ballarat??
Here's one I caught in Tassie a few years back. If you look closely you can see that the marks on the top of the body near the dorsal fin are more like lines than spots. Both Rainbows and Browns have spots.

I thought it might have been a brooky when I first saw the pics too Troutman. But I couldn't see any white edges on the fins. I have seen brown trout males trying to spawn with female brook trout in the Thredbo River but I thought they couldn't produce fry?

Fishfodder, the Tiger Trout is a cross between a Brook Trout and a Brown Trout though they are produced from Brown Trout eggs and Brook Trout Milt. Not sure if they can cross breed successfully with Brown Males and Brook Females.
Tiger Trout, as the name suggests have few spots but more of the lines as you find near the top of the Brookies.

Thanks Troutman

I have seen the brown males chasing the brook females but was told by a trout fishing guide that nothing came of it.

I have seen the tiger trout before, they are sterile yeah.

Hi Troutman,

yeh, it does look like a brook trout I had a double take also. It's possible as Ballarat collect their eggs from wild trout.

It would be very rare to find a brook trout and I'm sure the blokes when stripping the fish would know it was not a rainbow or brown.

The tail of F&F's fish is straight and the jaw does not seem to go past the eye but photo angle is not the best to see, that would mean it's a brown. The white spots is the major reason it looks like a char to me. Browns do have at least a few black spots on their side. F&F's fish does not seem to have any on the side facing the camera.

Your fish has the white spots[no black spots that I can see] and a forked tail that could mean your fish could be a hybrid also. The jaw does not seem to pass the eye which brooks should have.

Who knows 100% except for a dna test. The odds are in favour of F&F's fish being a brown as Ballarat only collect browns and rainbows.

God bless froggo

Hi KudaPucat,

that's more like it, this is what I'm after people who are growing the species in their AP system who can show real results on the subject.

That's a few of us now doing similar grow outs at various locations/temps with prob different brands of pellets/diets.

Where are you getting your trout from KudaPucat if you don't mind me asking?

God bless froggo.

I think he might be going to Macclesfield Froggo.

While on the topic of trout.....maybe a stupid question, but Im thinking about putting some trout in an IBC in my garage and running a barrel type bio filter instead of a growbed...the garage has no lighting. Will this slow down the growth or be detrimental to the trouts growth/ health?

Bundy, I have a recirc system in an insulated shed with only 1 doorway to let in light. One of my tanks on the far side of the shed receives no light from this doorway so is pretty dark the whole time. The fish have done fine in this tank so I cant see you having any problems. Trout seem to prefer shade or darkness to full sun. They get a bit frantic when I switch the light on but soon settle down after a while.

cool, thanks

I am shore jaycar would have some little lcd headlights you could give them if its too dark

thats what i like about you milne....a man of many ideas

Hi bundaberg kid,

as troutman said, trout are not keen on strong light. The bigger they get the more nocturnal they seem to be.

Do they need light, I'm not sure anyone really knows, so far I've seen no reports about it.

I'm keeping mine in the dark to reduce temps and stress. I only remove the tanks lid to feed them twice a day.

Hope your set up goes great,

God bless froggo.