Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Gday

We are growing Silver Perch here in our system in the Sydney region. Seems to us they aren't growing that fast and we were wondering if anyone else around here finds the same thing? Someone said Golden Perch grow a lot faster but may need heated water in this region.

Any comments?

Sorry, that was Jade perch not golden perch.....

I think the word is that Jades grow quicker but would need heat in a Sydney winter. Trout might be better winter option in Sydney (fast growers in colder weather) and keep using the Silvers as a longer term grow out.

In my opinion ,, Silvers are used because they can handle a wide temperature range. But reality is they grow VERY slow at lower temps ,, alive but not growing and therefore not supplying fish POOP for the plants. It is for those exact reasons I will not be stocking them.
I believe the Sydney soil/air temps offer the almost perfect growing condition for two seperate systems . One cold water , the other warm. Jades / barra in one and trout in the other.
Well , that's the way i see it ,, many dissagree.

The furtherest south I've heard of Jades being grown.. and surviving ... through winter .. is Newcastle...

And that was in a heated shed.. and with a 300w heater going full time to keep the tank at or around 22 degrees...

Chappo is right that Silver Perch will effectively stop eating once the tank temperature gets below 15 degrees... maybe feeding once a week, the rest of the time grazing on the bio-film buildup...

Silver Perch are a 15-18 month grow out... and that applies even on the North Coast pond based aquaculture farms...

janetnbruce , Rupert knows more about Silvers than I could hope to learn, Advice on that i refer to Rupe.

For me , I am an impatient person by nature , if my fish aren't big enough to eat in 12 month cycle ,, they'll be cat-food ( laced with poison for the neighbours cat)
It hasn't helped that my major experience is with Tilapia in Thailand ,, fingerling to 750 gramme + in 5 months

Jades or even barra can be grown to large size in less than 10 months , but need warmth ,, please take a look at a multitude of threads on keeping systems warm.

Trout can be grown to large size in less than 10 months, cool temps required ,, for trout you merely need look at soil temps ( 30 odd centimtres below surface) in order to see how to make a system that meets their needs.
Cheers
Dave

Thanks guys, most informative. We're moving to the Hunter Valley sometime in the next few months, so we might leave a species change until then. I am expecting winter temps up there to be lower than here, so the trout might work out well.

cheers, and thanks for your help- specially with the cat food suggestion!

How many Silvers are you guys running at the moment??

And how do you plan to move the system up to the Hunter in a few months?

Some pics of your system would be nice...

How do catfish go over there. My catfish are more active than silvers as the water gets colder.