Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just wanting to scope for some information on those members out there that are wintering their silver perch in outdoor systems.

Info Like:
-Water Temps
-Fish Size
-Growth Period (IE 1st winter 2nd winter etc)
-Range of fish sizes in one tank
-Geographic location

Would be just interesting to know what experience's people have with wintering the Silvers and any other comments about wintering silver perch.

Bought 150 SP in Nov @65mm.

Haven't lost any due to disease or water issues. A few were sqaushed when I cleaned the tank. But that's another story.

Range of sizes from 65mm to 120mm.

Not feeding at all.

Still waiting to see how my silvers go over this winter. I got 25 from livefish 10months ago and kept them in the inside aquariums for a couple of months before they went into the ap, and they would be about 150-200g now. Got another 20 about 4.5months ago and they would be 100mm or so
Copied from another thread

I've grown Silvers through several winters without problems.... not that I spend a lot of attention or effort with them...

It's just too cold to go outside and check them all the time...

Had 80 in November about 70mm from memory.
Some are still 90mm a few are close to 150mm. Tank is down to 15deg but they are still feeding well.
They seem to follow the Koi up.

40mm in Dec
60-120mm in tank April...not much growth since
1st winter:
Tank average @8deg
Lowest recorded 6deg
Put some lettuce in occasionally or some crushed pellets esp if the temp gets above 12deg. Wouldnt have a clue if they feed or not and I never see them except for shadows on the bottom of the tank. They look good though the 120mmish ones have a pretty nice shape and they seem to be silver with a gold tinge....have a nice silver cammo pattern

I have 25 @ 150-180mm.
Been in since last October, so 1st winter.
Feeding every second day but that’s more for the goldfish.
Water temp this morning was 11˚c has been as low as 8˚c.
When ever I open the lid they scamper off, all seem to be coping well.

Yeah, I overwintered 90+ in the Perth Hills last year with no significant losses - water rarely got below 12°C. Sizes ranged from 80mm to 200mm

Have 50 or so this winter ranging from 100mm to 250mm. Water is generally sitting at 15°C, though it's got down to 13°C once.

Outside temp overnight - 1 degree
Tank temp 8 deg
Threw in some wool and knitting needles for the silvers to make some little jumpers for themselves

Got our third frost in a row and tank 8.3. Didnt even look in , just turned on the pump

I'm in Perth, water temp is around 12 degrees.
out of my 100 fish, about 5 are around 40cm, the rest range down to about 15cm, six months old, going through their first winter, tank is 3000lt.

I'm about to drain some of the tank, put in a little clove oil to slow them down, and net my bigger ones for dinner.

The tank has Jarrah (hardwood) hinged lids, in quarters, the lids are very heavy so i'm also going to consider changing these to 5cm hard foam, and then glue marine ply to the top to provide further strength, removing one or all of the quadrants of hardwood, this should provide insulation in winter and summer.

Why use the Clove Oil?? Just drain the tank and net the ones you want.
viewtopic.phpf=25&t=3407&p=230364&hilit=clove+oil#p23034 discusses the pros and cons of using Clove Oil.

yeah, don't use clove oil. You could end up with a lot of dead little ones

Started at around 50-ish fingerlings in december, haven't lost one yet. Since starting my expansion I have given my brother half of those and the remaining 25 are in my new system. They ranged from 200mm down to 50mm. Water temp has got as low as 10 deg, since separating them from the trout they don't seem to be eating at all whereas I thought they may have still been coming up now and then during the onslaught from the trout although the water is so murky its hard to tell.

Interesting thread jamey.

Main idea of thread was to just show the diverse range of temps that the silverpech live in.....

its interesting to see the diffent temps....

iv seen my main tank get as low as 5c over the last few weeks.....

would be interesting to see if the silvers would have handled it... but there warm in my shed