Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello,
my name is Dominik and i come from good old Germany.
So be so kind and excused my bad grammar.

What do you know about growing Lepomis gibbosus (Pumpkinseed sunfish) at aquaponic ?
I've got 6 sunfish in my 375L fish tank (at my appartment) to breed them for my outdoor project in spring.

First: I don't know how fast they will grow (Its only relevant how quick they grow from april to october)
Second: I don't know if i can breed them without a cold winter temperature (10-12°C documentation / 19-20°C in the fish tank at this moment)
Third: In the german wiki stands, that the gibbosus would be max 40cm but in tanks he'll stay slower/shorter.
But i never found any details about their final size.

Here is a link to a video from my new fish in my tank.
http://cossy-network.de/bilder/fische/Sonnenbarsche_20091108.avi


Bye
Dom

Welcome Dom.... never heard of them ... so I can't help...

But I'll dig around and see if I can come up with anything

wecome Dom,
I asked my uncle, but he has no information on these fish.

73 Captain

Just doing some "googling"... how did you end up with Pumpkinseed sunfish in Germany...

I take it that they must be a popular aquarium fish ....

Here's a link on spawning them... haven't read it yet..

http://www.nanfa.org/articles/acpumpkin.shtml

Apparantly ... they don't get very big...

http://www.takemefishing.org/fishing/fi ... ed-sunfish

Hey thank you for your quick answers.
You're fantastic.

It seems that this fish isn't very populated at your location.
Here in Germany we've a mostly cold spring, so i need a coldwater fish.
My other problem is that at my location i don't get lots of fingerlings, so i need to breed my fingerlings in my fish tank (what is the correct world for a glas tank at home?).

But i've read some reports about your sunfish => bluegill, but as far as i know bluegill is lepomis macrochirus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluegill
And wikipedia means that they reach only 13cm.
All what i want is 20cm Sunfish, do you mean it's possible from April to October ?
I think that i'll put the fingerling with a size of 3/4cm to the 1000L Aquaponic fish tank at my greenhouse.

I think about breeding catfish (melas or nebulosus) at my glas tank, but i found at google no one who has successful breed catfish at home.
Do you know if it's possible to breed catfish ?


Thank you for your time and your assists.
Dom

Aquarium

Catfish are most often bread in dams if bred in captivity. Large dark murky waters are required. At least for Australian cold water catfish.

Fish that breed easily at home and will survive at room temperature, are usually illegal (at least in Australia), as they would grow like crazy in the wild if they escaped.

20cm is not what we call a decent sized eating fish, but if you could breed them that may make up for their size. Is there nothing else you could try? Fingerlings are not usually very expensive.

Hello KudaPucat and thanks for your reply.
Oh it's so easy, it's the same word in germany, but i thought that you've another word.

Ok i understand thats illegal at your location, but we can use any fish in aquarium, and so at the garden pond too.
And we declare aquaponic as a garden pond :-)
You're not allowed to leave a lot of species to our lakes, thats correct.
But no one says that you're not allowed to put them in your tank.

The only fingerlings i can get, are carb, trout, tench, roach or catfish.
But catfish cost 2€, carb and trout don't grow very fast.
The others which you use, we don't have it here.

So i think i've a species which i can breed at home.
The most of your species will be too big before they spawn, isn't it?

Why do you grow bluegill if they'll be shorter than my gibbosus ?
Do you think 20cm is possible in a 1000L tank from April to October.
Of course you have to feed them multiple times a day.
And the water must be fine.
At the website from RupertofOZ stands that they will be 8-10", thats my size 20-25cm.
But nothing about the time.
I doesn't find any report of a member who has used Bluegill till the end, so i don't have nothing to compare.


Kind regards
Dominik

Actually Tiggar.... trout grow very fast (4-6 months).... and like colder water...

They begin to struggle when the tank temps get above about 22-24... but seem to survive up to 26... as long as you have lots of air... and don't feed them

Of course, but trout is not very easy for the first project :-)

Trout are very easy for a first project.

Water circulation and aeration. Thats all you need. Follow the established designs that are on this forum, and there is no reason for anybody to kill fish in their first year.

I would suggest using trout also. I have some bluegill in my tank but its a first and I dont know how well they will do. They are eating well and seem happy. I even have one that will jump out of the tank and take a worm from my hand. There have been some studies on bluegill aquaculture done in the USA that suggest it is a possibility but the grow out is slow. As far as I know bluegill get much larger than Pumpkin seed. I have heard that pumpkin seed are somewhat aggressive and therefor dont make a good aquaculture species. Yellow perch have been used widely in the USA as a cold water aquaculture species but I dont know about breeding them in captivity on a small scale. You could check this site out. If any of these have been bred in captivity on a small scale one of these guys probably did it. http://forum.nanfa.org/

Thank you for your posting, bu I think you got wrong.
Bluegill becomes 13cm and Pumpkin seed 20-25cm like the report from Nanfa.

I'll take a look at my local troutbreeder, what they want for fingerlings.
Give you the price tomorrow.

I also like the brown catfish, but i didn't find any report of how to breed them in an aquarium.


Bye
Dom

Thats something that I didnt think of. Bull heads, there are Yellow, Brown, and Black, in order smallest to biggest. I am figuring thats what a brown catfish it. They will breed in a aquarium or in your culture tank as far as I know. They grow slower than channel catfish and dont get as big but they are good eating and will reproduce for you. They are also incredibly tough. I found records of bluegills up to nearly 5 lbs and the biggest pumpkinseed record I could find was just over 2 lbs. I add this photo of a big bluegill.

Hey yes of course the brown bullhead should be the nebulosus.
But i think the brown will be smaller than the yellow (natalis).
I found the following sizes:
- natalis => 18 inches
- nebulosus => 14 inches

But 14 inches should be enough for eating.
Are your sure that i can breed them in my 375L Aquarium?
I don't have any problem to breed fish as food for them.

Oh well this picture is fantastic, but it seems like a picture from the ocean.
Pumpkin Seeds grows in the sea more than in aquaculture.
There catched 40cm Pumpkin seeds but only grow 20-25cm fishes in tanks.

I told you that i've 6 pumpkin seeds in my aquarium, already.
So i'll take a look if they spawn next spring.


Bye
Dom

I cannot guarantee that they will span in a aquarium. I have heard of them spanning in farm water troughs. One of the problems with bullheads is that they reproduce too fast for a pond so if you stock them they take over. This should not be a problem in an aquaculture situation. An aquarium may be too exposed for them to spawn in. You should ask the guys on the NANFA forum about that. I have eaten bullheads many times and they taste great.