Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i've looked thru a few posts here & see a bit of concern re winter temps getting too cold for silver perch - i thought these were hardie little critters & have just had a talk with Fisheries who will support my application to keep a few ponds of them - can someone confirm:-
1) what winter & summer temp extremes they will survive
2) will they breed in a pond environment or do they need running water?
cheers ST.

see this posy here:http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10054&start=30

I have heard of someone with Silvers in Walpole and they apparently had done ok in their dams so you wont have any temp problems where you are ST. They wont grow very quick though as most growth occurs when water temps are above 18C.
They wont breed in your pond or in running water. In nature a summer flood triggers spawning to occur but in aquaculture all breeding is thru use of hormone injection.

Hey ST, I had silvers in a farm dam near Canberra, and it would get ice on it during winter, -10 mornings not unusual.
It is a deep dam so I'm assuming near the bottom temps not so cold. They did breed in there, but not in great numbers, it has a gully running in which flooded at times so this prolly got them breeding.

Thanxs all for asistance. especially appreciate ur local knowledge troutman, likewise ur "in pond" experience bushy....However after eating the r/trout and seeing the fast growth rates, & knowing water quality & temps lets me get thru summer here, i'm going to put in a 3rd pond and an AP system & stick to the one species (R/trouts) with one pond for just letting some keep growing out for sport & eating, but i'm guessing that its a bit like all fish - bigger are good fun to catch but might be of a lesser taste quality?!? Well thats the plan today - tomorrows another day!! why did i find out about all this fun at the short end of my lifetime Cheers ST

Water temps arent quite the same as air temps, the volume of water has a huge effect.
Also it can be disease which gets them when temps get low, some Sap moulds get a handle on them once water temps drop.