Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

G'day Guys
Is there a ratio for yabbies:GB as there is with fish or will the population take care of itself?

They eat each other pretty quickly...

It's more, yabbies per sqm of tank floor and include an X factor in it for the number of hides you include..

That'd equal 1.1 for me but I have access to lots of holey bricks

Sorry I should have said :

X yabbies per sqm of tank floor and include an Y factor in it for the number of hides you include..

Just put in a few, perhaps 6-7 in 1sqm and let them sort things out for themselves see how many you end up with.

Probably one...

At least he'll have a nice tail on him

I have read in a few places online that if they are well fed and have plenty of hidey holes they will tend not to fight too much. I just put a whole heap in a 2m diameter kiddy pool. So will see how many i have in a few months

Started with 4 in a 200 litre plastic tank with about 10 hides in it. Regularly fed. Tank about 80cm x 50cm (not sure about height). 3 got eaten, last one died a short time later.

I harvested 5 out of my sump a week ago and ate them, as they were getting killed/dying so meh

When I say meh, I mean, dont think you can grow them out like fish, as they will kill each other and stocking them to feed an ap system is only possible if you let one of the dead ones fester in the tank producing ammonia
I know one who doesnt post much any more that lost a whole tank of fish to a dead rotting yabby that he didnt find
Rant over

I have 3 IBC sumps with yabbies, I had around 40 in total.
I've seen a few dead in the bottom in the last week, only been in there for 3 weeks.
All different size's won't help... I have a heap off PVC hides for them too..

Although, I did see a pair the were.... umm..... errrrr...... doing the horizontal lambada??

Hmmm, been over this one a few times so here goes...

As previously mentioned, yabbies are territorial and destructive. You only want around 5 per square metre and all females preferably, any more and you will slowly but surely have multiple deaths through cannibalism and territorial attacks.
Hide-y holes are essential but still dont provide a fail safe system. You can feed them till the cows come home but you will find that they dont eat much and a lot is left to rot hence possible system crash. They dont fare well in PH below 7.
The shedding/moulting process can cause issues in a number of ways - they are most vulnerable in this state and run high risk of cannibalism and the shell can also cause issues if left to rot unseen or caught up in your pump.
Ive said it before and Ill say it again, you can manage them if you feed correctly, stock low, provide a complex habitat, manage your PH and keep a really good eye on things. In the past I have used elastic bands around the claws to provide some piece of mind.
Not a good idea to mix these guys with fish either and if you introduce some from a dam keep in mind they need to be salted and quarantined the same you would new fish but more so.

Well it looks like i am going to be stuck eating small yabbies then Oh well, there isnt any shortage of them. Just prefer to not have to peel so many.

cant you get redclaw because from what ive read they got a nice sized tail and they dont fight

Not over here in W.A...