Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Okay folks have trolled the forums etc and everyone gives some good brand name feeds etc, but would actually like to know what to look for in a food. Im particulary interested in silver perch but it doesnt matter to much to me, just want to understand what Im reading on the packets

Thanks

Minimum protein content for Silver Perch should be 35-45%... depending on feed size and fish size...

I tend to feed the high protein feed until near harvest... unfortunately the brand of "performance" feed I used to use is no longer available...

Many people use high protein feeds formulated for other species... i.e Barra or trout feeds..

I'd recommend using a quality feed as Rupe suggests, Silvers will do fine on a barra or trout feed, and if it's a good quality feed you'll get little to no deficiencies in your plants...

Cool, I have some food for kois and pond fish, I read the ingredients on the pack and was completley lost, Im going to organise to get some proper food for them next week, but was unsure what it was that I should look for in a food product, hence the question

Thanks

I've found that you want to find feed that is meant for recirculating aquaculture. I use some feed over here that is meant for dense culture of fish like catfish or tilapia.
I have tried using cheaper feed that was meant for farm ponds, that stuff was definitely not good for the system. Feeds meant for extensive ponds are really just feed supplements since it is assumed there is some wild feed available to the fish. I noticed poor water quality with that cheaper feed as well as the fish didn't eat as much or grow as much on it.

Another trick to finding fish feed (which at least works here.)
Find the brand of fish feed you want. Then find a feed store in your area which is a dealer for that brand. They might not carry that fish feed as a standard stock item but since they are a dealer for that brand and there are going to be regular shipments to them from the manufacturer, perhaps all it will take for them to get some of the fish feed is for you to ask them to have a sack put on the next truck.
This method works for me, I call the feed store to put in my request before they put in their normal Monday order. Then I can usually pick up the feed on Thursday or Friday.

According to the notes written by Stuart Rowland he recommends protein contents of 25 - 35%. He goes on to say that "diets high in protein cause problems such as high levels of body fat, liver dysfunction and poor health in Silver Perch".

Humm.. I wonder if that paper pertained to near harvest fish Trouty...

Even the Ridley's "Native" fish feed ... 4mm & 6mm ... is 38/10... 38% protein/10% fat...

The Select brand I was using was 45% protein... and the "organic" feed was 35%...

I'll have to have a look at what the Grobest is...

Was recommended for fingerlings and grow out, even in his other papers he advises feeding fry on 35% protein crumble/pellets. The locally (WA) made Silver Perch Pellet also contains only 35% and the formula for this product was based on research done at the Grafton Aqua Centre in NSW.
Im surprised the Select was that high in Protein as that was a specific Perch Pellet was it not??

However isnt fish food fish food, wont one be okay for the other, Exscuse my ignorance but like I said Ive never even raised a gold fish before so this is all new

Actually, checking my notes... I think the "Select" was 42%.... it was marketed as a "high perrformance" feed.... and yes, specifically a Silver Perch feed...

Simso, fish food aint all the same, each type is designed to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the specific variety of fish. Silver Perch being omnivores dont require the same levels of protein that carnivores (Trout and Barra) do. Sure the fish will still eat any pellet you throw in the tank but feed Trout a low protein pellet and you wont get anywhere near the growth rate as when you feed them the high protein pellet. Higher protein pellets are usually more expensive so why feed them to Silver Perch when you could use a cheaper one and at the same time keep the fat levels in the fish lower.

That makes sense,

Yep, feeding the right feed... at the right feed rate... is becoming increasingly important given the cost of feed...

Especially with feed prices likely to rise soon as the cost of energy is factored into production...

Similarly, the cost of fingerling stock looks to be pretty much double that of last year... due to increased costs of power and water... and very likely to double again by the time we pay the environmantal vandals to keep polluting and finance the rebuilding of the obsolete power generation capacity.... and that's without the costs of the carbon scheme... which undoubtably will be passed on to end consumers as well....

Yep feeds vary greatly. Like the fish food people buy for their aquarium fish tend to be rather costly and have special ingredients sometimes to give the fish bright colors and stuff.

Feed for aquaculture tend to be formulated for at least broad fish types if not specific for a species. However it is not always true that omnivore fish should be fed less protein. There have often been extensive studies of aquaculture fish to see what feed formulations grow them out best for the least amount of money. Often if you do some searching on the internet, you can find copies of the papers/studies done by universities on feeding aquaculture fish. I find it interesting that the carnivore channel catfish actually have a lower % of protein recommended than the supposedly vegetarian (though really omnivorous) Tilapia have a higher recommended protein feed level.

The smaller/younger of most any type of fish usually need far higher % of protein in their feed to reach optimal growth rates.