Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What purpose do yabbies serve? ( crayfish). Are they the same as fish, or do they cover a different area perhaps? I thougth about getting some but I think they would go after my fish ( especially the smaller ones)

yabbies are aussie for crayfish, their's just get much bigger than us crays..
being "detrivours" they do extra cleanup on the tank..i started with 4 dozen crayfish, had 3 left by the end of the first season, some of it may have been fighting/canabalism, some may have been eaten by the fish

Yep, good for cleaning up the bottom of the tank, and also they are just nice to see in your tank..

Especially if you could get them to this size, Tasmanian fresh water crayfish..

Bloody ell, you would even get meat out of the legs on that thing

yeah right, if it didnt chop your finger off first

Ok back to the question about yabbies....

# they will eat any dead fish in a matter of hrs so there arent any bad stuff left to make your system all yucky...Depends if you want to make a mono culture or make a mini ecosystem where it takes all sorts of thing to work

# yes they will attack your fish if there isnt enough food for them....ie they love fine hair algae, uncooked potato peeling, sinking algae tablets any meatscraps(not the fatty bits thought not good having the fats in your system)

# yes they are territorial, mine travel around and around the bottom of our 10,000 ltr sump tank but in doing that they fit more in the same space They just dodge each other when they come across each other and i have tiny babies all the way to 7-8 inch ones...

#They prefer having the depth of water (600-900mm)that way they can regulate their temp cooler at the bottom of a big tank the shallow 1,000 ltr tanks i have(350mm deep) they like the big yellow snails seem to cook in that water(up here in Qld anyway)... ok what else

# oh and they are fun to catch with a lump of meat tied to a line the kids loooovvee that... oh yeah they taste great too....

#oh and on a very serious note dont have too much hanging around into your tank as they can climb , they are absloute houdini in escapism...as they can demolish a dam
and they can last a long time under rock or in the ground without water as a couple of kids are catching them every friday at touch footy and it hasnt been wet there for a while

I put mine in the sump only with the smaller feeder fish as i dont careif they get eaten ....and if the yabbies get too close to the sump pump that goes back to the jades then the jades get a minced yabbie feed (Iam sure i can see them smile when that happens)...

Our West Australian Marron can get quite large also

From your posts DD you seem to have good success with them. Good to hear.
I have about 20 adult yabbies in my sump (1000L 500mm deep when full), and feed them chook pellets. Dont think any have escaped since we had the massive downpour that flooded every thing, and I think feeding them all over the tank keeps them happy.
Hoping I can get some feeds out of them in time.

Simo how long did it take to grow them out to that big?

I wonder if we can get that breed in NSW?

Not legally...

I didn't grow them Zman, they are dam grown and no idea how old they are but I think they grow quite slowly.

From memory.....and it is hazey...2 years growth until market size.....but 4 years for big ones...depending on their environment.

Are the ones in my photos market size or large? I ain't seem too many larger!

Above simo, my mate down Albany breeds and sells, the one to market/resturants are only just bigger than fully growen Yabbies.
Those you have are a real nice size.........can't wait to taste them

Yabbies can get to a good size as well. Heres three of the haul I got on Sunday