Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have 15 Sacramento Blackfish. They are omniverous and they always swim w/ their stomachs on the bottom of the tank. I float food on the top of the water and it sinks down. I assume they eat it off the bottom. I've noticed that the food is really building up on the bottom of the tank. Does that mean I'm feeding too much? I assume there needs to be some on the bottom for them to eat, but I know it shouldn't sit there too long. Does anyone have any tips? Can I just let the food sit on the bottom until they eat it? Maybe resume feeding when the bottom is clean?

NOTE: I know their omniverous, but I'm feeding them mostly trout feed. The guy I got them from fed them the same food.

well, they're either sick, your food is bad, or you're overfeeding.

I would go with the last one.

Food on the bottom can foul water pretty quickly. Maybe the requirements or handling is different in an aquaponics setup but I would try to remove the food if possible. If not, stop feeding until it's gone and then adjust your feeding so that no food is left on the bottom for too long.

I don't see a problem with your feed though. If it sinks to the bottom you should be fine, fish typically aren't very picky in general. If they're hungry, they'll eat.

sounds like overfeeding.. if stuff is building up on the bottom of the tank try to siphon it out..
it took a while before my yellow perch were feeding at the surface, to encourage them to take pellets i hydrated some - add water to pellets, i didn't measure but enough water so that the pellets were covered and refrigderate.. i turned the container a couple times as well.. then when you go to feed the fish, give the pellets a light squeeze before throwing in the tank and they'll sink..
you can also hold off on feed for a few days with no bad effects to the fish.. and then try the floating pellets