Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I feel like I've done my homework before starting a new thread on this, but I'm having a ton of trouble finding out where to get fingerlings (I'm in Nashville, Tennessee). I've tried calling nearby hatcheries, but they weren't much help. Any advice?

Hey Jake:

There is a "fish wagon" that goes around this area sometimes that will stop in certain cities and drop off your order of fish. This is usually for pond stocking. Maybe you have something similar in your area, but I could see this being a seasonal thing - I think the one I was looking into was more of a Spring and Summer thing. HTH

Here are a few pond stocking hits: http://www.agriculture.state.tn.us/Mark ... STRING=AQP

have you look at craigslist ?

Tried craigslist. Nothing. Contacted a few hatcheries a bit further away, so we'll see what they say. How common is it to ship fingerlings across state lines?

I got my tilapia from Florida (to PA) so it's not uncommon. Shipping is not ideal but if you can't get hatcheries that will give you some then that may be the only way.

floridafishfarms.com. They sell tilapia and ship as well. I do know they are making a run up north in December sometime.

Am I the only one who got my fingerlings from the wild? Try a golf course. If they survive in their ponds, you know that they would be a good candidate for your climate.

I don't think they have them just sitting around in Tennessee, isn't it too cold in the Winter? I would think bluegill and catfish would be no problem to get.

Bluegill would probably be common for keeping the waterways clear on a golf course there. I remember as a kid seeing these massive sunfish in the ponds on a private golf course. My memory has them bigger than a skateboard, but memory can be funny.

Oh I thought you were talking about tilapia

I got a quote back from one out of state fishery: "143.93 shipping + 7.00 for the small shipping box + 25 cents for each fingerling". No thanks.

I like the idea of getting some from the wild, but don't have a lot of time to hunt them down. The golf courses I might feel comfortable skulking around are in public parks, and I'm not sure if fishing in them is legal.

Finally! Through a series of calls and emails, I found out these folks http://www.fishwagon.com/ will have a truck in my area next Friday with plenty of blue gill (no advance order or minimum). Very helpful on the phone and nearly knew what I was talking about after I said it wasn't a pond I'm stocking, per se.

They sound like smart business people! Everyone should be happy to diversify, and clearly they see an emerging market!

Just in case you can also try these guys, shipping seems to be a bit more reasonable.

http://goldentilapia.com/shippingreturns.html