Hey, anyone here do fish farming? I know the agg office gives free fingerling once the pond is set up. I'd like to set up something for about 1000 catfish and/or talapia to have a fishfry, reduce dog food cost, and maybe make a little extra on the side. Thanks
Not exactly fish farming; but I did get a small aquaponics system up and running last week at the house. Only 40 tilapia and the Tat Soi and Bok Choi seeds have started germinating. The plan is to have some larger systems constructed at our farm in the next couple of years that should have 1K-2K of tilapia, but the focus will mostly be on the plants. This is really an experiment in seeing what we can grow in aquaponics in the tropical environment, plus get the wife and our son up to speed on running the system and dealing with maintenance. I hadn't really thought about raising catfish as I assumed the grow out rate was slower and tilapia were more popular table fare...I'll need to look into that. Doubt I answered your question, but have been researching aquaponics and aquafarming for years; just decided aquaponics was a twofold opportunity and would work well for what I envision our farm being. Shawn
Nice, I'll start smaller than I expected too. I went to the BFAR office and they stock at 5 talapia/ meter (vs the US where it is a fish per 3 gallons of water). Talapia fry are 100x cheaper than catfish, but catfish grow in higher concentration. Like you, this starts as an experiment before investigating toooooo time and money. The only hydroponic experiment I have been apart of (teen years) is illegal here. Best of luck to you, we can share stories over time. I don't plan on even digging the hole for a month or so, still fixing up the house.
I have a small PVC hydroponics set-up at my office in Guam Tat Soi and Bok Choi as well, another little experiment as the weather is similar to here. I was a little disappointed in germination rate. With the aquaponics at the house I just tossed the seeds across the lava rock and have tons of germination in just a few days. I'll need to check what catfish is selling for per kilo in the market and compare to tilapia. Best of luck and look forward to hearing some updates! Shawn
Old seed or the seed getting overheated can cause low germination rates, I have done much seed sowing in my time and have used some seeds at 5yrs of age, but I always stored them in an airtight container including a desiccant pack in the bottom of the fridge, cool and dry is the answer to long keeping, I sometimes wonder if that is even thought of in Tropical countries?
