Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm sure they are Ivan, don't know if you can freeze the trout pellets, but I wasn't aware they only lasted 6 months, can't see anything on the SK Retting Bag,

Ivan, Skretting make different pellets for Trout, Barra and Aust Natives. The bottom line is though that the fish dont know the difference and will eat whatever you feed them.
Most manufacturers recommend that you use the bag up within 3 - 6 months from the date it was made. This is impossible for the average aquaponics enthusiast though and I wouldnt be too worried about it. Often I have bought new bags and the manufactured date is already 1 year old. The fish still eat it and so long as you store it properly (cool and dry) it should still be fine.

Thanks guys... I will look into getting a bag of trout food shortly...



Cool? Does this mean that in summer, I need a fridge or freezer??

Hey obo, do you add anything else with your pellets? You've been running trout for a long time now, what are your thoughts on taste. drew

Ivan, I store the bulk of my food under a table in the laundry, the container that I am using for outside lives in the shed. Out of sunlight.

Nothing else drew, just pellets, and aparently the taste is fine. I dont feed the Trout much for a fortnight prior to harvest.

I have marron and yabbies in my sump, they keep the sludge at bay, by picking through it. THat could keep the water cleaner, thus improving the taste of the fish.

Have you checked what you have DP, I would be surprised if you still have Marron if you have Yabbies unless they are separated somehow

Muddy, or "off" flavours are generally attributable to particular clays in clay ponds... and not related to pellet feed...

Off flavours are caused by Geosmin which is a type of algae. Funnily enough sometimes fish out of muddy ponds often dont taste muddy, as without much light penetration thru the water there is little presence of algae.

Yep, 100% correct Troutman... due particularly to blue-green algae....

Aquaculture ponds are generally "limed" to unlock phosphates in the bottom residues and clay of ponds, usually after drying.... to promote the alkalinity for algael blooms and to promote succession of micro-organisms in the pond...

In natural ponds/waterways some clays are more basic than others by nature, and stimulate blue-green algae quite naturally.. leading to anglers, especially with bottom dwelling species, reporting a "muddy" taste...

We often notice geosmin as that "earthy" smell after fresh rains...

Geosmin breaksdown quickly in acidic conditions... as most likely occurs in AP... as opposed to the lime induced alkalinity of aquaculture ponds...

So it's very unlikely that fish in AP systems will exhibit "off flavours".... but we already knew that...

Got a good feed of Yabbies yesterday, surprised to catch them as is cold as, but they are extremely muddy because they aren't moving around much, but they taste just like yabbies when cooked

glad you enjoyed your yabbies nocky....kiwis were eating well done wallabies

It is good that some of you can catch yabbies close by. The fresh food market in Canningvale wants to charge me $30 per kilo. Not sure how many I will get, but I was hopefully that when the weather warms up, it would be cheaper.

depending on size ivan generally around 12 per kilo, $2.50 each is about the norm in Perth, a few country market days I have been to are about $19 per kilo, I suppose $30 not bad considering a drive this way would cost about $40 in fuel, but then you would get much more than 12 I suppose, I got close to 80 at a guess maybe more, many small ones suitable for the tank, but the small ones taste ok as well

Well the maximum I am looking for is about 20 at this stage. What is needed to catch yabbies anyways? From the dam I mean...