Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all

After reading Gary's book about home-grown fish feed and a few threads about putting a light source above a fish tank and letting the bugs fall into it for food, I was wondering if any bugs might be harmful to fish - in this case sleepy cod. I know that gheckos don't have any problem with them, except they get so fat from their nightly feast that they fall to the floor.

I live near Mackay in a rural area and seriously... I reckon I could quite easily collect a huge amount of food from bugs that play with light bulbs every night (summer mainly but also winter) - flying ants and moths are the most common, but rhino beatles and a few other interesting varieties are also known to make the odd appearance in big numbers.

Any advice on possible harmful insects and their possible fat/protein levels, would be greatly appreciated.

gav

Gav, I know that perch love the flying ants. We didn't try them on the black stink bugs. Rhino beetle larvae are VERY popular

Some years ago, I had a favorite Sarasa comet named Lipstick in my outdoor pond. The yellow jackets (ill-tempered wasps) had been coming to the edge of the pond to drink, but one took off wrong and landed in the pond. Lipstick ate it of course, and I thought surely he was a goner. Lipstick lived many years after that, so I'd say that either he was lucky or wasps are not only tasty, but safe, too.

(Yes, Lipstick was a boy-fish. He was marked white-and-red, and I named him for his red upper lip. Only after the early Spring hanky-panky did I determine that she was a he. )

In Texas here Ive read about large numbers of fish dying in some of the rivers when the fire ants start flying and fall in the water to be eaten by the fish

Fire ants suck.
but I have heard of people hanging bug zappers (protected from rain) on timers over ponds to feed fish at night.
Fish that east too many bugs tend to get a bit more jumpy though. Have had quite a few kamicazi through glass lids after coming back inside trying to get moths and bugs on the outside.

Thanks all:)

Will look at those floating solar lights (great idea) as well Jamie and make sure that the moths and flying ants keep on coming.

gav

Info gathered so far based on 100grams...

Termite (Macrotermes subhyanlinus): 613Kcal, Protein 14.2g, Iron 0.75mg, Thiamine .13mg, Riboflavin 1.15mg, Niacin 0.95mg
(http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2160.html)

Cricket: 121 calories, 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 g. of fat, 5.1 g. of carbohydrates, 75.8 mg. calcium, 185.3 mg. of phosphorous, 9.5 mg. of iron, 0.36 mg. of thiamin, 1.09 mg. of riboflavin, and 3.10 mg. of niacin. (http://www.eatbug.com/)

Sources to find other nutritional info about insects:
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectnutrition.html

All three have info on different types of insects, but are in a table format and a bit beyond my expertise to attach.

Gav, those little cheap solar lights don't seem to put out much light. You might need larger ones than $10 from Woolies