Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Last year I caught some fresh water cobbler and put them into my tank and they are still happily alive.
Blackwood river freshwater cobbler.

Trévi - well done on keeping them alive

Are they growing at all ? What are you feeding them ?

Hi Chillidude,
they skim around on the bottom of the tank with my Koi.
They havn't grown much at all.
I guess they have doubled in size in 12 months.
For food they are bottom dwellers and get the left overs from the Koi.
To catch them in the Blackwood river I use Jilgies for bait, but they will take prawn.
I catch them after the river starts running and just under one of the river crossings
where there is plenty of aeration.
Need to be there on an overcast night or when there is no moon.
I wont put my bare feet in the tank.

What's a Cobbler?

KP - they're Tandanus bostocki - a fresh water or estuarine catfish we get over here. Good eating, though the flesh can be a little soft sometimes.

Kuda,

They're sort of like an estuarine "catfish" of sorts and live in fresh and salt waters (different species??) They feed mostly at dusk/overnight on prawns, molluscs etc and some other debris (when fishing for them in the Swan River, they don't appear to be too fussy). The fish have spines which inject painful toxins when you step on them, they will easily penetrate Dunlop Volleys worn when dragnet-prawning in the River! They can grow quite large (so people keep telling me, but I have never caught one much more than a small plate-sized meal; I'm no fisherman, hence why I grow my own fish now ) I have seen them (many years ago) at Moore River and in the Blackwood River but am not sure if they are found outside this area? Maybe Google will reveal more?

Trévi,

Are they controlled/restricted? I suppose I could look up the Fisheries website, but thought I'd ask first



Scott

hay good on you trevi, I have kept them before just before i converted to Aquaponics from Aquaculture, I managed to Keep quite a few for almost a year but they started developing a white patch on there heads that would slowly spread to cover most of there head then they would die, i later found out this was because i had no salt in my system, salt would have remedied the problem, well now I know.
i used to get them from Dwelingup i have seen some beuties in there around 60 cm and have cought them around 40 cm.
I am glad some one is working with them as i think they would be a good species for AP but there is so little knowen about them, not like Tandanus Tandanus, which i have at the moment.

good luck with them Trevi.

Thanks for the support.
I have been told that they are very slow growers and this has been my experience.
Yep, there are size and number restrictions when catching them.
They are one of the most delicious fish.
They taste different when caught in salt water.
In fresh water they have flesh like a trout and taste like a trout.
The flesh when grown in fresh water is very delicate.
We just throw the whole fish on the barbi and cook them with the skin on.
The skin splits and the flesh gently peals away from the bones.
Hmm, delicious.
However, I suspect that I'll rely on catching them from the river.
Growing them in my pond is just an experiment, but you never know your luck?
I'll throw a bit of salt in the tank.

They would make good cleaners anyhow... keep your koi tank in order, even if you never eat them.

yeah definetly worth haveing a few at the bottom of the tank i recon and i would love to have a tank full of them to one day if i can work out how to bread them!

Got this silver cobbler in Lake Argyle - 10kg

The Lake Argyle Silver Cobbler (Shovel Nosed Catfish – Arius Midgelei) is a little different to the esturine Freshwater Cobbler.

The freshwater cobbler, Tandanus bostocki, is a species of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Plotosidae... and can taste muddy and soft... and is considered venemous.

The Silver Cobbler is considered one of the best eating freshwater fish in Australia....

I wouldn't say it was the best fish I'd eaten, but it was OK. It was a very firm meat that held together well, and would be great for curries, noodle dishes, stir fry, soup etc, anything to add a bit of flavor.

hay are those silver catfish what we buy in pet shops as salmon tail catfish?

they certainly look the same