What Fish Grow in an Aquaponics System?
Choosing the type of fish for
your aquaponic system has many determining factors. What you want
out of your system, your climate and available supplies are
probably the factors you would need to consider first. You can use
goldfish if you do not want to have edible fish, or outside of
Australia Tilipia or catfish. Within Australia maybe trout in the
cooler climate or barramundi in the warmer months. Silver Perch is
an ideal fish for an aquaponic system as an all year round fish.
Check what is available at what time of the year to make sure you
can get supplies when required.
There is no 'best' fish. It
depends on what is available to you, what is legal for you to keep
in your location and what will live in your temperature range. The
qualities we recommend for a fish for a home system when a person
is starting are:
- reasonably tolerant of Ammonia;
- able to survive at least 5 Degrees Celsius either side of your maximum and minimum ambient air temperature;
- will easily take to pellet (fish food);
- is happy in a tank; and
- will not eat each other including fingerlings.
- In South East Queensland we find Silver Perch fits the bill very well.
The Silver
Perch is also known as Silvers, Silver Bream, Bidyan,
Black Bream, Grunter and Murray perch.
The Goldfish (Carassius auratus
auratus) was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is
still one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish.
Barramundi can be grown through the
warmer months of the year. There is a little more husbandry in as
if you put fingerlings in with more mature barramundi they will
think they are dinner.
Jade Perch is a
hardy, omnivorous species, capable of achieving rapid growth rates
on relatively inexpensive diets.
Tilapia is the most common fish used in
Aquaponics systems around the world (except Australia). They are
illegal in Australia due to their ability to overtake and dominate
local waterways. This small, low fat fish originally comes
from Africa where it has been used for thousands of years. Recently
it has become one of the most important "aquaculture" fish in the
world. Tilapia are grown in large farms and produced for mass
consumption. Tilapia is a white fish with a slight pinkish color.
Tilapia are easy to breed, taste good, grows fast to about 300g in
8 months in hot areas, can withstand poor water conditions but
require warm water
