Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Trout man, had any luck with insect actraccting over your tanks?

Steve, I havent tried insect attracting over any of the tanks as yet though I do have a spotlight next to one of my dams which seems to attract plenty of insects that ultimately fall onto the water and become food. During Spring and Summer I trap big mobs of tadpoles out of the marron ponds and all end up as either Trout or Perch food.

how fussy are the trout with food, trout man. I've found silvers willing to accept most things.

Dont seem too fussy though I am pretty sure they wont eat much in the way of plant material ie duckweed like the Perch will. Things I have fed mine over the years are trout pellets, perch pellets, tadpoles, worms, water beetles, bread and even twisties!! They seem to love bread though I dont think it promotes a fast growth rate. Pellets with a 40%+ protein content or any natural foods (aquatic or terrestrial) are the best.

and shelled fresh peas

Will have to try that one C1.
I wonder if they take the frozen ones??

Yes troutman.
If they ever went off their tucker I would give them a feed of frozen(thawed) peas. I removed the pod and then the hush to reveal 2 half spheres. they love em give it a go TM.

Will try it tonight if I can sneal a few off the plate without the missus seeing!!
Truth is in a crowded tank situation I recon the trout would grab anything that landed on the surface. Even in the wild I have caught trout with some weird things in their stomachs, cigarette butts seem to be a common one.

did you eat that one? not the butt the fish.

new meaning to smoking fish!!

man that fish is smokin'. Yeah a beauty. Naaahhh I mean it IS smoking!

New entrant into the world of aquaponics, located in the northern suburbs of Hobart. Plan at this stage is to use a bath tub for the fish, and blue barrels cut in half for the growbeds (4 beds). I would love to see an existing system in operation before I start, but I may just have to bite the bullet and start the system and hope for the best. I am still looking for the barrels, I will get the tub running as an aquarium to start with. What is the legality of going to the local market, where they sell live fish, like barramundi etc.. and purchasing one (or more) and stocking with them? The cost is probably prohibitive though. Just a thought.
Is there a definitive answer as to what fish is best in southern Tas yet?
Chris

Hi Chris, welcome to the forum....

Regarding what fish to stock..... dependant on water temperature to a large extent....

Barra require water temps between 20-26 degrees, as essentially do both silver and jade perch.... so uless you're prepared to either purchase them at an advanced size and growout over three to four months, you might struggle with water temp.... unless you're prepared to heat your tank/tub.

Given your climate down there in Tassie, trout might be your best option, maybe some species of crayfish as well.

Have a read through the volume(s) of information available here on the forum

Silver and Jades can handle a greater temp range than that Rupe. Our water temp this winter was 11 deg celc. and was up to about 30deg in Feb when we got them as fingerlings. They seem to handle those temps without pegging out!

True true Jaymie... meant to indicate 20-25 degrees was the preferred optimum for Barra and Jades..... forgot to include the "wider" range for Silvers...

But essentially while they might not die at say below 15 degrees or lower, they'll begin to and eventually stop feeding and growing.

Temps stay a lot lower for longer outside in Tassie so even covering a tank the "average" ambient water temp will probably drop and stay well below for much longer periods of time what you guys can obtain even in winter in the balmy tropics

I gladly stand corrected 'mam......

Actually, that was from Axl (pinching my bit of the computer)