Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I recently converted my swimming pool to an aquaponic system. Well, actually it is just a double pond with an elaborate filter at the moment. I need more fish before I can claim it to be an aquaponic system. I currently have about 30 Goldfish in the smaller pond and just started looking for Bluegill and Channel Catfish for the larger pond. I want these types because I don't need a permit for them and they seem to be easy to manage. My problem is I am having trouble locating a local source for these fish. Anyone know where I can purchase fingerlings for these types of fish in the Solano County area?

Before and after shots of the area...



Any help with a fish source will be appreciated.

Thanks!

2009 California Registered Aquaculture List
www.nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?Doc ... onID=24906

Everyone who has a aquaculture license with the California Dept. of Fish and Game is on this list.
There doesn't seem to be any in Solano County but you can ask on craigslist.org for free or any other format and see if someone has a stocked pond and buy from them or perhaps another county over has some to sell. Depending on the size and quanity of the fish, they can be shipped through fed-ex and regular mail- I ordered crown-tailed bettas that were shipped from Jacarta and picked up at my local post office.

Jacarta?! wow, did the shipping cost more than the fish?

Thanks for the reply. I looked at the registered list a few days ago. I was hoping there might be another source... something like craigslist. I don't know why I didn't think of that, I browse there all the time.

If that doesn't work I'll just have to go pick some up in Sacramento. Not really a big deal. I just wish these places had websites so I could see what I'll be getting and at what price. A few of the SoCal fisheries have websites, but they are much too far.

Anyway, thanks for the tip!

Yes, they did!!!! I bought them during the wintertime and the fish were shipped to an importer in colorado first. But the airlines were down, due to big snow storms, so the fish were layed over for about two weeks. And the fish caused a big ordeal at the post office too- all of the employees wanted me to open the box so they could see them. But the male and two females were just fine, although their water was very yellow by the time they reached me (the importer took care of them while they stayed with her).

Another way to go is what has been happening to me- word got around that I wanted catfish and people who normally catch and release or who like to fish but not clean or eat them, have been bringing them live to me. I've gotten all sizes that way.

Also remember that as long as the fish are for personal use and don't have any restrictions (like Tilapia), you don't need a aquaculture permit.

I found this site some time ago. Looks like they deal in volume, but it may be worth checking out...

http://www.stillwateraqua.com/?cf=supstocking

I found that site about a month ago.I liked the site because they gave a lot of information, even prices. I sent them 2 emails with some questions I had and I they never responded. So I'm not gonna bother with them because there are other places closer to me. In fact, I found a place only about 10 miles from here in Yolo County. I must have missed them when I previously checked the aquaculture list.

Thanks for the link anyway, I appreciate it.

I was thinking about going out and catching my own because I used to fish a lot in my younger days. But I have read in a few places that wild fish will most likely have parasites and/or disease(Besides that, that is illegal in California. Which isn't the reason I won't do it, but I can say it is. ). And thinking back to the catfish I used to catch, I could easily believe that. It got to the point where I would catch and release simply because they looked so horrible I wouldn't think about eating them. Have you had any problems with those fish?

I lost a few of the bigger ones because of a nitrite spike and water pressure wasn't good enough to change out enough of the water volume in time and I lost all of the babies because of a pump mishap- the hose fell out of the biofilter and drained the tank dry.
There were a few losses from some of them not adapting to the feed and even some babies died getting tangled in string algae but as far as diseases, the only issues I've had so far is with a few scrapes and secondary fungus attacking a few of them but I just treated with salt and it cleared right up. I should also mention that my 9' round tank is now almost a miniture pond- there are also a few each of perch, bass, minnows, and bluegil swimming with the catfish, one of which is about 8 pounds and almost two and a half feet long. But most of these fish are from private ponds and not "wild stock" to begin with.
Having said that- yes, there is a greater risk of introducing diseases with wild stock, even the water they are brough home in but I raised aquarium fish for a long, long time and still delt with diseases because it was introduced through live feeder fish and even a parasitic insect was brought in on a live aquarium plant.
Also, except for the new fingerlings I just got a few days ago, these fish have been quarentined for more than 60 days already so any issues of disease or parasites would have come up already. I will have no concerns about adding them to my AP setup once it's operational.
No matter what the source of where you receive your fish, I would still suggest quarentining them for at least 30 days, as even transporting can stress fish enough that viruses, which would not affect them otherwise and may not be known about, can come up unexpectedly. Most fish suppliers, no matter how healthy their stock, seldom test for viruses (penaeid shrimp being one exception) and you need to be aware that there are two types of virus transmissions- ones that are vertically transmittable (from parent to offspring) and those that are in the environment and opportunistic. Both types attack fish that are in a stressed or weakened state, however survivors of the opportunistic type are hereditarily stronger but the inherited type may mean that the surviors are carriers and not to be used for breeding purposes.
I hope this helps.

Try http://www.proaqua.com/ (Tony Vaught). He's in Chico and services the aquaculture industry. Met him at a conference recently--seems very professional and nice. I called him recently about possibly supplying me with some redear sunfish for my planned puny home AP system. I have not yet purchased anything from him, but I was pleased he seemed very open to dealing with the small quantities I'm interested in (relative to commercial aquaculture facilities.)

Best wishes, and keep us posted on how your project goes...

Whoops, just realized that proaqua.com is another site for stillwateraqua.com that you checked out already. Sorry you didn't get email back from him. My experiences with him have been positive so far.

Hey, sorry to hyjack / revive this old thread, but I was wondering if anybody had any luck with getting any fish in the south bay area. I'm looking for trout, but I would also go for catfish or bluegill or a combination of each.
This will be my second season (been lurking for a while). First season was with Tilapia and it went great, but I put a lot of energy into keeping the water temp up so I was looking for something that likes cooler water.
I only have a 150 gal tank, so I'm only looking for about two dozen fish. If there is anybody interested in a group buy or some one looking to get rid of extra from a breeding project let me know.

Purchasing 100 trout 3" fingerlings from Smith's in Calistoga for $185. It's by appointment only. They are a pain in the neck to get a hold of by phone. Try after lunch, always seems to work for me. You don't need any kind of permit to buy small quantities going into a home tank.

Smith's Trout Farm & Hatchery
18401 Ida Clayton Road
Calistoga, CA 94515-9596
(707) 987-3651


Anybody else with fish source info and experiences in Northern California, would love to hear about it.