Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Out came the rest of the trout onto the table... water temperature have not been really getting any better, so we thought that it would be best to get them all out since we cannot really push them any bigger anyway...

Got 15 trouts out today, totalling 1.72 kg of trout after they have been cleaned... Not impressive, but we will try harder next season....

Bring on the Barra... if we can get some... thinking of about 20-25 barras.... 1000L of growbed filtration so really half the stocking density... but they are expensive... so cannot justify the cost...

Got 20 barramundi from Golden Ponds yesterday... they are approximately about 100mm or more... all stressed out as can be seen from the white line on their heads... Not cheap ($6 per fish) but I figured I should have a go Barramundi and taste (hopefully) why they are so sought after in restaurants...

Did a check today to see if there were any floaters or sinkers to the best I can looking from the top... do not want to stress them too much more... Seemed that all are fine and none were stucked to the pump...

Any ideas on when I should start feeding them?? They do take floating pellets right??
Will they start eating before their stress line disappear??

Would it be a good idea to get some small feeder fishes into the tank so that they can start feeding on them when they are ready??

Don't know if they will take floating pellets Ivan, they are bottom feeders when it comes to pellets I am Sure, $6 for that size is a good Price, but funny you can get 6 trout for that , but fish will not feed when water is in the low 20's, don't be surprised if they don't eat when water is below 23 I have been told, this is what has me concerned about Barra down here, my water is only 18 at best so will carry on with the trout for as long as possible

Don't get too hung up on their stress line, I've seen some barra that hardly loose the line at all over months but still eat. They should definately eat floating pellets, we got the slightly larger ones for $8 I think, and they have started eating, not a lot with the ones outside but in Carls greenhouse where the water is a couple of degrees warmer they're eating lots..

my barra never really lost those lines, but they grew fine and I had a very good survival rate. I also had them feeding below 20, but they definately feed better over about 23

Thanks guys for your inputs... Just tried throwing some floating pellets standing away from the tank... No response... I do have heaps of air bubbling away at the surface... but I doubt that it will distract fishes from food... tank is about 20degC this morning...

Will try again this evening...

Just an update... Barra are feeding quite well... only under the covers of a tarp over the tank... will not feed when the covers are left open... shy fishes...

Also I found yabbie fingerlings on the shade cloth in the yabbie tank... Cute little things... Decided to pull some of them out and put them in a small aquarium... they are about 5mm long or so... had a air pump running, but I soon realised that all my air pumps have heaps of capacity (more air the better??) but I think in this case, there is too much air... the fingerlings would move near the air-stones and get blown up into the "air" in the water... I don't think that is really good for them... being blown up like a cannon ball... so will need to get a small air-pump tomorrow....

See photo... one on the left and one on the right...

cute Ivan, they are probably having a play, yabbies are hardy little devils, if they didn't like the air they wouldn't go near it, put something in the tank for them to hide in

Steam trout for dinner... yum... still taste fresh after three weeks or so being frozen...

Did it taste as good as it looks Ivan?

Yes... it does... comparable to the steam fishes you could get in the chinese restaurants I would say...

The fishes (barra) having been taking their feed just fine... The question is "How much should I feed them??"

For trout, I read on this forum that excessive feeding will lead only to fats and the food being wasted...

Is it the same for barramundi?? What % of body weight should they be fed??

Ivan I haven't the time to read it, but see if the link below is helpful
http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/frr/frcr008/frcr008.pdf

Thanks Nocky... Decided to start with probably 2%... maybe increase it slightly as the weather gets much warmer... Personally I don't like the warm weather, but I never thought that this summer I am actually wanting more warm weather so that the barra can grow...

Well bought a koi pond feeder hoping to provide feed at regular intervals during the course of the day to boost growth rate... Have barra in my tank at the moment, but they don't respond well to food dispensed by the feeder... I have tried a few times over the past two weeks to introduce the feeder at different locations on top of the tank, but the barra just leave the food floating at the top...

But if I remove the food and the feeder and leave them to settle for a day, they will start feeding when I drop food into the tank by hand... Looks like I will need to get the missus to feed the fish during the day by hand... no automatic feeders for the barra in my tank... damn...