Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Anyone that saw my other thread knows I'm new to the aquaponics hobby, but I have been talking about it with my family. My stepmother lives in the mountains and has plenty of space in her backyard. My stepfather passed away a couple of months ago and they had an idea of using their backyard to raise fish. Of course after hearing this news I started explaining aquaponics and how I wanted to start a system in my backyard, to make a long story short she wants me to help her build one. There isn't a pond yet, and we might have to use above ground tanks due to the location of her house.

They wanted to try and raise enough fish to sell to the local market (small community 10k people). I was wondering if there was a way we can both combine our hobbies (I can get started in my aquaponics, and she could sell fish to the market). All my previous research was for personal backyard aquaponics and haven't looked into selling for profit, but I'm guessing that means no Tilapia for her due to permit issues in Northern California. (I will still have tilapia in my at home system since I will not be selling).

I was hoping I could get some good alternative to Tilapia (I know nothing will be as hardy or fast growing).
Also any considerations on the size for the pond, we have a lot of room but due to the location are limited to hand tools so no backhoe for digging or anything like that. Also the pond will most likely not be heated.

*Info about location*
The warmest month of the year is August with an average maximum temperature of 85.70 degrees Fahrenheit, while the coldest month of the year is December with an average minimum temperature of 34.90 degrees Fahrenheit.

I was hoping for a fish that: 2-4 of these traits will be fine.
* Fast grower* (I'm guessing they need to be at least 1lb to be worth selling)
* Could be kept year round in Northern California*
* Good feed to weight ratio* (decrease cost of feed)
* Can be bred, either in pond or separated in an aquarium* (to reduce restocking costs)

Fish I've researched
~Bluegill; can be bred, good food to weight ratio.
*I couldn't find growth rates for AP specific systems*
~Hybrid bluegill; fast grower, good f/w ratio.
*Will breed but read conflicting data (some say offspring will be terrible, others say offspring will be fine)
~Chanel catfish; good ratio
*Everything I read about growth rates said years but normally harvested at 18 months*
~Barramundi (currently researching)

Any help is appreciated. Sorry if this information is already on the forum I've searched (mainly through google, but I made sure to read any results that linked back to this forum).
Also if anyone could point me in a good direction I have no problem reading through stuff, I don't expect anyone to do all of my work for me I'm just looking for a little help from the pros.

i doubt barra will work especially for breeding
catfish i cant imagine will sell well

id be looking at what the market wants and building a system around that personally

any fish will do fine

whats native will handle the climate

If your fish tank is big enough (at least 300 gallons, and circular) then channel catfish are a good option. Otherwise, i recommend bluegill.

When I was out there a couple of days ago the only fish I seen in the market was Snapper, and I don't think that's a AP fish (saltwater I do believe).

The list of fish that is in the ponds, lakes, rivers etc. are:
* Purplish: Usually only makes it to 8cm so I stopped researching it*
* Tui Chub: Not really eaten by people*
* Speckled face: 4 to 5 inches long*
* Rainbow trout:*
* Silver Salmon: doubt I could keep the water cold enough*
* Channel Catfish:
* Bluegill:
* Largemouth Bass:
That's just the list I know of so far. I think I'll look up some of the phone numbers to the markets out there and see if anyone is willing to talk to me about the fish industry out there. I would drive out there and talk in person but its a 1hr drive.



The tank will definitely be over 300 gallons, I'm pretty sure her minimum is 3,000 gallons. I'll check into a pros and cons for channel catfish, bluegill, and largemouth bass.

Thanks everyone, you all are awesome.

Rainbow trout

Could Rainbow trout go year round? Or would this be a seasonal fish and change types in the Spring/Summer?
I haven't researched much but I think I saw something about trout needing lower temps.

I've been looking at bluegill vs hybrid bluegill today. I've been able to find a lot of info on BG but not on HBG.

I just want to have as much info as I can (We'll be visiting her again Friday or Saturday so I wanted to be able to give her a list of options with an estimated size and time to harvest list. So at least that way she can do some estimates as to how big she will need to go.

The best rates I've read for HBG were 1/2lb to 3/4lb per season. Excuse my ignorance but does that mean per season like winter, fall, summer, spring or per year? I also know that those are probably under perfect conditions which we are not likely to achieve in our 1st attempt.

I've also seen a lot of people saying theirs were about 5"-7" after about a year BG and HBG but the HBG were thicker so they weighed more.

Most of the info I'm finding is in ponds, not to much information about BG in AP.

EDIT: Random question is the Coppernose BG and Hybrid BG the same fish?
If they are not the same fish could stocking male Coppernose BG and female green sunfish be an viable option?
I ask because I read the Coppernose male & female green sunfish result in the hybrid which is 75-90% male. My roughly worked out idea was to get a few large Coppertone males that were old enough to breed (I read that will make other male BG focus on growing in size instead of breeding).
A bunch of female green sunfish for mating and eventually eating/selling.
I would put some type of netting that only lets the fry through to a safe zone when they run from the adults. When they are in the safe zone I would scoop out some to put in a separate tank safe from harm. Then after a year when the other fish are sold or eaten the others will be big enough to take their place.

That's where I hit a snag in my planning. It sounded a lot better in my head before I typed it out, doesn't sound as feasible now....

What part of the state will this be located in? (Ca has a lot of mountains) Have you considered hybrid carp? I don't know if you could breed them, but they meet all your other criteria and they should be marketable in the bay area also.

I'm in the Bay Area but she's in the Santa Cruz mountains so we're about 1 hr. apart.